Following on from Sean’s superb article about how clubs can utilise the often forgotten about powers of Linkedin. I wanted to cover another aspect that involves the platform which will be very relevant to many out there at the moment.

With the end of University and College years coming up there will be many after post-graduate jobs and gap year ‘work experience’ roles.  There are others as well who may be looking to switch from their current jobs into a social media role (who wouldn’t want to work in social media, especially if in sport?!) and of course people who are looking to get back in, something our times of austerity is more and more common.

Often spoken about is the power of how social media, and especially LinkedIn, can help anyone out there looking for a role and develop their careers.  The thought nowadays, which is a bit counter-intuitive, is that people need to become more like brands (and brands more like people).

This is especially prevalent as we will look at getting a career in social media and sport, a very tricky and new field but seen as the most exciting and fast moving.

The main aim is to build up a profile where people can easily find you…this is the platform or your stage… and you then have the opportunity to tell the world about what you know and how good you are.

You could do this by providing answers and discussions on LinkedIn, a great idea as many employers, CEO’s, CTO’s, Heads of Social Media are on the site.  LinkedIn also has a massive network of groups, many of whom are dedicated to social media, and they have job listings in them.  many employers now post their jobs on their company profiles and in relevant groups so it is furtile ground for starting your search for social media roles.

You could start up a blog talking about the subjects you are most passionate about.  This was the option, was well as using LinkedIn, that I used to get my thoughts out there and get myself noticed.  You can also guest blog, so you don’t have to go out there and set up the whole thing from scratch.  Get in touch with people like myself (you can really go for the sky with this one so think higher than just me!) and ask if you can write on their blog.  I’ve people do this for me over the last 18months and also on sites such as www.sportsnetworker.com where I know many people have done the same.

If you are going for social media roles you are expected to be active and either a thought leader or a doer.  The last couple of years has seen an explosion in social media/digital roles coming up and people have come into them from a huge variety of backgrounds.  The most common will be PR and IT due to the nature of the content and platforms involved but that doesn’t mean there is huge variety of backgrounds being taken on (mine is in events and sponsorship for example).

The most important thing is to get your name out there, make connections online on the various platforms (usually LinkedIn and Twitter), share your knowledge/ideas/thoughts with people in the field and meet up with as many as you can. 

We talk about Word of Mouth quite a lot in social media and this applies in equal measures when it comes to jobs.  People will ask if they have heard about or met a certain person, do they have any one they would recommend for a role and be put in touch with potential candidates by others who are active online.  Even during the interview process, the company will be asking questions and finding out more between your interviews. So there the better known and well connected you are the more chance you have of 1) being put forward for a role and 2) getting the job ahead of everyone else.

The best way of getting into a social media role is to prove how creative, influential, dedicated, resourceful and /or knowledgeable by using social media….. obviously.

There are examples of people using Google AdWords to target certain CEO’s in business, to get their attention.  Others are using really creative ways of using YouTube to try new ways in which they can land their dream role….with varying success.  But if you’re going for a creative role then that’s the way you need to think right?

Social Media is obviously not just all about the creative, high energy side.  Analytics may be the unsexy side of the industry but is none the less an important one depending on the role you’re going for.  This is a growing area within the industry as businesses make it a key focus in their social media/digital operations.

When it comes to the role you really want to go for; look at the job description and the experience/skills you need.  If you have them then go for it and find a way of landing your dream job.  If you don’t then don’t be afraid to work at those areas and get that knowledge/experience….there is plenty of help out there, networking opportunities and now more and more courses to help plug those gaps.

Remember though that sports taking on full-time social media specialists is still quite rare and occurs mainly at the top end.  More often than not it will be the responsibility of someone within PR or Marketing who has a passion for social media to take this on and drive it forward.  It is becoming more important and am sure more roles will come up in the coming months and years.

To me the most important aspects were LinkedIn, and the network I formed from this and people I met, and blogging. Even now people have heard of my blog more than they have of the company i work for and relate me to that.  This has been why it has been important to keep on writing despite the switch from working for myself to a full-time role.

Good luck in your search.  Any questions, ask in the comments below and we’ll do our best to answer them.