Special Skills Needed for Social Media Jobs in The Future

Special Skills Needed for Social Media Jobs in The Future

The Last 10 Years

Just about 10 years ago Jonathon Abrams founded Friendster. Based on a “Circle of Friends” concept it was considered the top online Social Network until it was overtaken by MySpace in 2004. Also in 2004, a social networking site for Harvard students was launched, it was called FaceBook. By the end of the decade, Friendster had all but disappeared, and newer social media networks had long overtaken MySpace. About this time companies started to pay attention to Social Media, for customer service and later, for sales. 

The Next 10 Years

The next 10 years will probably see an expansion of Social Media, resulting in companies needing to integrate Social Media in their Marketing Plan. According to Nathan Brown, writing for arkarthick.com says you will need an array of skills:

1. You need to have a complete understanding about the platform(s), i.e. FaceBook, LinkedIn.


2. A passion towards public relationships, since Social Media is all about relationships with customers and potential customers.


3. The ability to use tools like Tweetdeck and Commun.it to analyze the relationships your company has with customers.


4. Ability to mine data and analyze it, this is Statistics.


5. Good marketing skills: Build and Online Brand and be able to promote it.


6. A keen eye for content: Content is Everything Now.


7. Knowledge of Web design: You’ll need to use and be able to teach people how to use the tools for design.


8. Keep up with the current trends: Possibly the most important since the Social Media world changes all the time.

Throw Out the Old Job Titles

John Wilpers is CEO of Degrees 2 Dreams, a company that leverages social media strategies for recent college graduates recommends this 5- step process for finding a job in Social Media:

1. A resume with QR Codes: one taking hiring mangers to a video of you and another link to a video with references.


2. A “Me” Site that serves as a digital portfolio.


3. A Professional Blog that showcases your skills and builds a professional network.


4. A Social Media Marketing Campaign that promotes You.


5. A campaign to interview industry professionals to find out what you have to do to get a job.

According to Thomas Friedman, writing in the New York Times: “They (employers) are all looking for the same kind of people — people who not only have the critical thinking skills to do the value-adding jobs that technology can’t, but also people who can invent, adapt and reinvent their jobs every day, in a market that changes faster than ever.


Phillip Gwinn