What’s up everyone! I hope everyone had a great week. I’m happy. It’s Friday. March Madness is here. And we have some good weather here in Charlotte, NC. Life is good. Today’s issue is a good one if you’re looking for some advice in the social media job interviewing process. If you’re going to be interviewing for social media roles, or plan to in the near future, this is for you.
In this issue, we will go over the following:
5 Questions to ask in your next social media interview
Social Pro Spotlight: Eric Stark speaks to the power of organic social influencing paid social
5+ hot social job opportunities that you should check out
Let’s get to it.
-Sam
Interviewing for job opportunities used to be terrifying for me…
But I learned to love them.
What helped me the most was the perspective of “you’re not interviewing me, I’m interviewing you”. This shifted my perspective completely and took the stress and anxiety away from interviews.
What also used to bring some anxiety was the classic “do you have any questions for me?”. Sometimes, I would come with too many questions. Other times, I came with barely any. Or we would address every question I had in the interview.
When you go into job interviews in this field (and just in general), you should come with a structured list of questions to ask. Today I am going to hit on a few questions that you should consider adding to your list if you’re interviewing for social media roles.
1. What would you say the role of social is within the business?
This is arguably the most important question that you can ask as a social media professional when interviewing for a role in this field. This question alone will raise red flags and give you a strong perspective on how the company views social media. This should be the first question you ask without a doubt.
Here, you’ll quickly understand how social supports business objectives. You’ll quickly be able to gather if the brand just wants to go viral, build a strong community, or if they view social media as a revenue generation engine.
2. What does success in this role look like? What are the core KPI’s?
Success looks different in each and every social media role, and I can speak to this from experience. In some roles, I played somewhat of a brand strategist. In others, they just wanted someone to manage a social calendar. Here, you gain a great understanding of expectations in this role and what you should be chasing.
Once again, this is a great question to ask to gauge for red flags. If they push for vanity metrics…run. If they want to just go viral…run. Or in this case, leave the call (just kidding, don’t do that). But you get the point.
3. Is there a brand you look up to and think they are a model brand on social
I love asking this question and I would always ask this question in social media interviews. This is a great question for the hiring manager, as you get a strong understanding of their taste. Taste is essential when working in this field, and not everyone has it.
Do you want to be a one-person social media team? Most would be against it. But in all honesty, this is a great question to ask. It’s standard. But essential.
It’s important to know what resources you will have in this role. And if there are ample resources and you have a large team - you’re most likely to be set up to succeed.
5. What does the content creation process look like right now?
This is a very important question to ask in the social media interviewing process and I feel like this is not a very popular one to ask. But, you should get a strong understanding of how content is being produced right now for the brand on social. This is great to see what resources you have access to, such as freelancers, contractors, agencies, or internal team members (like videographers, photographers, designers) for content creation.
However, you should also gauge what the process looks like and who needs to review every single post. If there’s an extensive process and multiple departments need to see a post before it goes live, this could be a potential red flag.
SOCIAL PRO SHOUTOUT
Social media is a testing ground for brands, and as Eric mentioned here - it’s a creative engine. I couldn’t agree more, and social should influence paid marketing decisions. If a piece of content doesn’t perform on organic, it won’t perform on paid. Make sure to go give Eric a follow on LinkedIn! He’s one of the smartest minds in the category. He also founded Slate - an incredible tool for social media professionals that I highly recommend.
SOCIAL OPPS
If you’re on the job hunt and exploring new Social Media Opportunities, here are some roles to check out.
✌️ KBYG (Know Before You Go)
Before you go…here are a few quick hitters for you! We’ve got a new Instagram update and a few reminders.
‼️ Forward to a friend! If you do find Stronger Social helpful, be sure to forward to a friend.
✍️ Want to get featured? Have you scrolled across LinkedIn and really liked a a post about social media that deserves more hype and attention? You can submit it here for a chance to be featured in the next social pro shoutout.
📲 View the archive. Catch up on previous issues here and learn developing high-performing social strategies, social media lessons/insights, and social media career coaching tips.
🤔 Got a topic that you want to see addressed in a future issue?If so, respond to this email and let me know.
Sam Wells
Thanks for reading and hope you have a great week!
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