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Entering the job market at the best of times is hard. But I found myself trying to get my foot in the door of marketing whilst stuck in the middle of a pandemic. I was about to enter my final year of university with no major work experience, especially within the world of digital marketing, and no idea what I was going to do after I left university.
However, I have to say one plus side of the pandemic is that it left we with not much to do but think about the impending doom of applying for jobs. It forced me to do something about it, because otherwise I would have pushed it off as a job to do later as so many of us do. But I’m glad I did it as it paid off for me. Four months after starting my marketing journey I find myself with a job in influencer marketing the week after finishing my three-month digital marketing internship with Digital Trails.
It wasn’t easy and some of it was down to luck as I wasn’t really sure what I was doing at the start. That’s the reason for writing this article, to give you some tips that I wish I had known before getting started on this journey.
Keep LinkedIn Updated
There are so many different social media platforms to keep up with now, but I promise you this is the most important one. I am no LinkedIn expert, but I learnt that even just having a profile that is actively looking for work gets your name out there to recruiters. To stand an even better chance of being noticed add all your qualifications, volunteering and work you have ever done. This shows recruiters what you can offer them, so add descriptions and a bio too.
Since I started adding things to my LinkedIn, I have received lots of different job offers that I would never have seen before as most people look through LinkedIn before even posting the job application on other job searching websites.
Even if you aren’t looking for a job right now you can use it to find internship opportunities or even follow companies you find interesting to keep up to date on what they are doing and how they can help you.
Ask Lots of Questions
This seems like an obvious one but when you are thrown into a new company and career it can be quite overwhelming and asking technical questions could be the last thing on your mind. Or you have loads of questions and you don’t want to annoy your supervisor with emails every ten minutes.
My suggestion is to make a list of your questions as soon as you have them. Even just a quick jot down on the notes page of your phone, so you don’t forget worked for me. This means you are really getting all you can out of any experience you do and take in as much information as possible.
Asking questions also shows that you want to learn and care about what you are doing. Showing interest will really work in your favour when it comes to your internship offering you a full-time job or even writing an amazing reference for you.
Google is Your Best Friend
Like I said, I began this with no idea what I was doing, and Googling things was the way I worked out how to start.
I discovered my internship through Googling ways to get into digital marketing and discovered Acadium, an app that connects digital marketing interns with companies, and within a week of finding this I had an internship with Digital Trails.
It isn’t possible for everyone to get an internship nor practical and it can take a bit of time so whatever you are looking for I would use Google’s free courses while you wait and continue them throughout your internship or other work. They have so many starter courses all about digital marketing, SEO and Google Ads completely for free. Whatever you end up doing they are really useful skills.
Completing these courses not only allows you to add something to you CV and LinkedIn but also shows that have interest in the subject. Most importantly it shows that you have initiative, you are willing to take charge of your own learning. This is so important to any company as they want to know that you can work by yourself and be in charge of projects without being watched all the time.
Finally, enjoy yourself and don’t stress
We are all probably experiencing one of the most stressful periods we will ever go through, so why stress yourself out even more with the fact you don’t have job or an internship yet. I promise it will come if you just keep at it and stressing will not help.
I still have a long way to go in my journey but am so grateful for all the help I have had along the way from Digital Trails to get where I am now. So, I hope this was helpful and wish you all the best of luck!
