Professionally Social

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With the “potential careers” landscape changing about every 2.6 seconds, it can be overwhelming to try and decide which direction you want to go in. So how do you get a taste of a potential job, industry, or type of working environment without actually taking the plunge and committing to a full-blown career change right off the bat?

1. Research and narrow it down.

You can’t just say you want to do “marketing” or “social media” or “PR”. Those are enormous, broad industries that include thousands of different types of jobs. Do your due diligence; read industry blogs, interviews, and ask people questions to figure out things like:

Would you prefer an agency setting, or in-house? Big agency or boutique shop? What kind of client(s) do you want to work with? Do you want to actually manage accounts, or work on them internally? What kind of companies and work really speak to you?

2. Pick some brains, zombie style.

I live by the ABC rule: Always Be Coffee-ing. There is practically no one on this earth I won’t agree to get coffee with. You never know what cool projects they’re involved with, the advice they may have for you, the connections they might be willing to exploit on your behalf (wink!). Find people who are doing what you think you might like to, and (in a polite and un-stalkery way) ask them to grab coffee to chat and get a feel for their day to day work, and whether it’s something you would enjoy.

3. Intern! (Like your mama said, practice makes perfect…)

While talking to a friend in college last weekend, she asked for advice on the kinds of places she should be applying for internships. In the marketing world, you have two options, the way I see it; you can go for a big house agency, where A) they’ve got every job and department under the sun, which means you’ll get to examine all the different career opportunities up close, and B) chances are you’ll get to work on some pretty cool brands and have some big names to put on your resume afterwards. (I’d love to be able to say that this doesn’t matter, but unfortunately, it often does – people can’t help but notice recognizable brands when scanning a zillion resumes). The second option is to work at a boutique agency or in-house, either of which means you’ll probably get an insane amount of varied experience and really get your hands dirty.

Both are good options, and I told my friend to go after both types, and then choose the one she was really the most excited about. Hopefully you’ll be able to do more than one internship, and can try one of each.

4. Moonlight like a mofo.

When trying to switch professions, you need to just accept that you’re going to be doubling down for a while. (I spent years working a day job I hated to pay the bills while I built my blog, online brand, and industry experience enough to be able to transition to a full time position in social media marketing. I even interned remotely for a big local non-profit, in addition to my 40 hours a week and all my extracurricular activities.)

If you aren’t willing to work twice as hard for as long as it takes, this leap may not be for you.

5. Take it from Nike: JUST DO IT.

I get asked a lot, “How do I do social media professionally?” Well, if we ignore how annoying that question is given its utter vagueness and lack of direction (help me help you!!), the answer is simple: Just DO it.

Do it for your own profiles and brands. Do it for a friend. Do it for a local business, for free if you have to at first. Just do what you have to do to get experience – something to put on your resume – because this ain’t the kind of thing they can teach you in school.

Yes, it’s hard, and a lot of work. But not nearly as soul-sucking as accepting a job that isn’t perfect for you and having to stick it out while you find the one that is.

And just remember, if you do all this, eventually? You’ll end up here.

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