Information in this blog post was obtained from Neil Patel, The Content Marketing Institute, and Sprout Social
Congratulations! You've just landed your first interview for a role in Social Media Marketing. After submitting application after application, you may have started to believe that this day would never come, but here we are! I always say that getting an interview is the hardest part of a job search and the interview itself is the fun part. You know the employer is already intrigued by your background, skills, and education - now you get to show them your unique self and what you bring to the table that nobody else does.
However, it's understandable that interviews can be quite nerve-wracking for some. Having face-to-face conversations with total strangers is already awkward and anxiety-inducing, but when a dream job is on the line it can be ten times worse. The great news is you have time to prepare, and in this blog post, I'll give you some major tools to help you feel confident and ready to knock that interview out of the park. First, take a deep breath. . . Alright, let's get down to business!
Research The Company's Brand
You may have already done some preliminary research and applied to specific companies, but now that you have an interview it's time to really get to know them. Begin with researching the company's mission statement. If you're applying to a big corporation, there are likely pages full of the company's history and mission. Familiarize yourself with their key strategy points and big milestones. The company may also have "moonshot goals" in which they are focusing on their impact in their communities.
Most importantly, you want to familiarize yourself with that company's social media brand. You can utilize the Content Marketing Institute's guide on brand voice to help determine what areas you should be looking at. Who is the company's audience? You can even come up with your own three words to describe the company's brand - the interviewers may be pleasantly surprised to hear a fresh, new perspective.
Build Your Portfolio
Interviews for Marketing in general are a little more in-depth than other roles like accountants. The hiring manager needs to see your work in action to know if your marketing style fits theirs. Anyone who has taken a Marketing class can rattle off terminology like ROI, SEO, bounce rate, and more. Interviewers are going to want to see your actual work. You really are a kind of artist, and they want to see a portfolio. If you haven't already, you should get started on building a website where you can showcase your creative content skills. Neil Patel shares this great article about the best website builders out there to get you started.
This is another chance for you to really display your personal brand to the company. If you're wondering what to include on your website, start with some basics:
Bio page
Contact information page
Examples of your work
Your own amateur (or pro, if you've got the following) blog
You should also take the opportunity to show companies your SEO skills and include call-to-action features on your pages.
Preferred vs. Required
If there is one piece of advice that I could offer to anyone looking for a job, it is to pay attention to two words, and two words only: preferred and required. There is a big distinction between the two and if you know how to use them to your advantage, you'll impress your interviewer big time.
If a position says that it requires a bachelor's degree and you aren't quite there, it may not be in your best interest to spend your time applying to that role. However, if the job description says "bachelor's degree preferred" and you don't have your degree, then you are still fully qualified to go for that role - provided you meet the other criteria, too.
What if you've never held a job in Social Media Marketing though? While experience is helpful, it's not everything. Another recommendation I would make to anyone maybe looking to make a switch in their career is to analyze their past career experience and brainstorm ways that they can relate that experience to the role they're hoping to land. For example, if your background is all in customer service roles, you can use that to your advantage to highlight the way that you really understand buyer personas.
Not everyone you meet in a Social Media Marketing role has an education in Marketing at all. You'll find English majors, Law School dropouts, and Psych majors in these roles too. After all, the essence of Marketing is to promote a product or service to humans (or businesses, but business decisions are made by humans too) so a psychology education background can give you a big leg up on Business majors sometimes (not that I'm biased, or anything).
If you focus your interview preparation time on these three things, you will have set yourself up for a very successful interview! Maybe you're someone who experiences major anxiety when interviewing - that is okay and you're definitely not alone. Find exercises and ways that you can help calm your anxiety and practice them in your preparation as well.
One thing that helps me quell any interview anxiety is knowing that hiring managers expect your anxiety. Some level of nervousness communicates that this is a big deal to you. Don't be afraid to ask interviewers to repeat questions or ask for a moment of reflection before answering a question. Unless you are interviewing with a real jerk, the person (or people) on the other side of the table will be supportive, encouraging, and understanding. Your interview may even be fun! As I mentioned in my blog post about the pros and cons of working in Social Media Marketing, it's a fun industry with fun people. Now go crush that interview!
Resources
Heald, E. (2022, April 6). Brand Voice and Tone: 5 Ways to Define and Use in Content. Content Marketing Institute. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/articles/define-brand-voice/
Patel, N. (2022, April 19). The Best Website Builder for 2022. Neil Patel. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://neilpatel.com/blog/best-website-builders/
West, C. (2021, June 28). Social proof: How to use psychology in digital marketing. Sprout Social. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-proof/
Comments