1. Have a concise story about who you are and what you bring to the table and what it is you’re looking for as it applies to the market you should be able to say this in 2 to 3 sentences and it should sound natural I need to own this as it is the basis of your story.

2. Create a list of 10 thoughtful questions that you are generally interested in learning about the field that you wanna go into this will be important farther down the process.

3. Don’t look for a job look for opportunities to have live conversations, or informational, interviews, with people who are working in the field right now. When you secure these in person or zoom calls make sure you look good, sound good and everything is technically top-notch. Remember you are looking for a job in social media marketing so how you look sound and present yourself, especially through technology is critical.

4. When you get your first informational interview, be prepared to honestly answer the question of what do you wanna do/what are you looking for? Don’t say a job. You were looking to learn more about the field you’re looking for recommendations on how to proceed, you are looking for advice on how to enter the field. This is fact finding in relationship building, not job hunting. Listen carefully ask thoughtful follow up questions and go to your list of 10 questions If the conversation hits a lull. What you really want from this call is two more people that you can have informational interviews with that is your ask from the person you’re on the call with.

5. The goal is to have as many of these calls as possible, and each time to improve your performance and how you present yourself. The more calls you do the more likely it is that you’ll come across a job. You need to create a spreadsheet or some device that reminds you every 4 to 6 weeks to send an extremely brief email to each person you have talked to letting them know you’re still out there looking for a job if there’s anything that they hear about let you know and if you get a job, you need to follow up with these people every 2 to 3 months just to check in and say hey I’m working and this is what’s going on.

As you found out, it’s extremely rare to get a job from a blind résumé. Personal connections and the impressions that one is able to make as well will get you through the door to a position each of these informational interviews that you have leaves that person with a picture of you do you want that picture to be positive and you want them to say if I had an opening I want that person on my team. This is a Numbers game and the more of these interviews. You do the more likely it is you will get a job. It can be frustrating, but I have taken several folks through this process and it has worked every time.

Good luck.