The Queen is Hiring a Social Media Manager: Can You Make the Cut?

How does living and working in a palace – specifically, the Birmingham Palace – sound? How about earning a consistent salary of over $3,200 bucks a month? Yep, that’s not bad considering you also get over 30 days of paid holidays and free lunches among other perks.

When the job ad was posted a while ago, over 200 social media managers applied in no time. But if you applied, would you have made the cut? Would you get the job? It is a mighty task managing digital marketing for Her Majesty; it’s so challenging many people wouldn’t even consider applying.

According to the Royal Household’s website, “Whether you’re covering a state visit, award ceremony or Royal engagement, you’ll make sure our digital channels consistently spark interest and reach a range of audiences. With an eye to the future, you’ll help hone and shape our digital communications through analytics, monitoring and exploring new technologies.”

If you have the guts, you can make the cut with the right qualifications and skills. And in today’s post, we show you exactly how to become the social media manager who can get any job, even in Queen Elizabeth II’s royal palace.

TL; DR: Unfortunately, the vacancy was closed to applicants on 31/05/2019, but if a similar job opens, are you ready for it?

Without further ado, let us learn how to become the digital marketing manager every employer wants.

How to Become the Most Sought-After Social Media Manager

The following tips will come in handy whether you’re a beginner or working professional. Today’s post will prime you for any social media manager opening in any industry.

Get the Right Education

To work in the Birmingham Palace, you must be a degree holder, according to the job advert. That’s right, most employers worth your time require a degree in social media management, digital marketing, communications or a related field.

As a social media manager, you are mainly responsible for promoting the brand of a company, organization or The Royal Family through social media platforms. To fill the role perfectly, you must have the right educational background.

A formal education gives you an advantage over self-taught candidates. It helps you to get through the door for positions that explicitly require a degree. On top of that, formal education allows you to learn all the basics of social media management in a structured manner.

Note, however, you don’t necessarily need a formal education in social media management to break into the career. After all, hiring managers are interested in knowing you can run and grow a social media account. Still, a degree gives you a head start.

If you cannot earn a social media management degree for some reason, you can take an online course that offers you the basic techniques. Some online websites such as Udemy.com, LinkedIn Learning and Alison.com offer you great online courses to prep you for a job in social media management.

Gain Experience

“Educated to degree level with previous experience of managing websites and delivering successful digital communications and projects, preferably in a high-profile environment, you’re the expert we need.” – Royal Household’s Website

From the previous section, we established hiring managers just want to know you can run and grow an account. Gaining experience is one of the best ways of showing you can run and grow a social media account.

For starters, begin creating a community of your own while still in school. Building your own community helps you to put the skills you learn in school to practice. On top of that, you can use your community as part of your repertoire.

If you create several successful communities, it becomes increasingly easier to demonstrate that you’re suitable for the job. After all, it means you possess the knowledge and skills required to build a community on social media.

Other than that, you can volunteer or work for a small fee to gain the required experience. Look around on forums or within your local community for any volunteer opportunities. If that doesn’t work, try an internship position in one of your favorite companies.

Getting hands-on experience helps you to internalize the knowledge and skills that you need to ace your dream job. Yes, that’s include a job with The British Monarchy.

Create an Online Portfolio

How else will you demonstrate your qualifications, skills and experience? Many people in your position have landed lucrative jobs thanks to their online portfolios. A portfolio website is one of the best ways of putting your name out there.

If that’s not good enough, the portfolio offers you the perfect place to showcase your job experience and expertise. In most cases, it may be the only thing you need to clinch the job. 

For example, Kyra Mancine said that “…She showed the company her online portfolio of websites and social media channels so they knew what she brought to the table, and even showed off her personal blog during the interview process.”

Doing so landed her the job on the spot. The same applies to marketing coordinator Drew Henry, who secured his dream social media management job via a lifestyle blog he created with friends. As a social media manager, you cannot afford to run around looking for a job without a solid portfolio.

It adds to your education and experience, which is exactly what hiring managers are looking for. 

Never Stop Learning

Social media is a fast-paced environment where things change so fast. What worked last year is probably obsolete today. With Facebook and other social networks updating their algorithms regularly, you cannot depend on old methods.

The job advert on the Royal Household’s website says:

“Abreast of the latest digital communication developments, you’ll put forward and support new ideas to increase our presence on social platforms. 

Innovative and with creative flair, you’ll also have accurate and compelling written and editorial skills, with expertise in designing digital content for different audience groups, purpose and formats.”

They are articulate on the type of social media manager they want, and staying “…abreast of the latest digital communication developments,” is one of the traits. 

Social media networks come and go (hello, Myspace), which means you cannot afford to remain complacent in the skills you already possess. Technologies change, algorithms change, marketing principles change, so why wouldn’t you?

Never stop learning and adapting. Keep up with the latest trends in social media marketing and stay flexible. In other words, adapt to changes quickly.

So that when that dream job finally turns up, you won’t be left dumbfounded when the interviewer throws a new social media marketing term to your face. I hope that makes sense.

Nurture Your Other Skills

You wear so many hats as a social media manager. On a daily basis, you collaborate with other graphic designers, writers, bloggers and other creatives, which necessitate the need for teamwork skills. If you were to work in the Birmingham palace, for instance, you’d work with many other professionals.

As such, you don’t want to be the guy who is dragging others behind. You must hon your communication and collaborating skills. On top of that, you must manage your time well among other things.

Social media management is a multi-faceted job. It involves a lot of things whether that be writing, replying to users, or posting images; it requires not one but a cocktail of skills. Sharpen your photography, writing and other social media skills through practice and extra training.

Or as the Royal Household’s website puts it:

“With initiative and a flexible approach, you’ll be comfortable managing a varied proactive and reactive workload.

Your excellent planning skills, and ability to quickly respond to changing priorities, mean that you’re able to deliver in a fast-paced and deadline-driven environment.

A natural communicator with a genuine user focus, you’re self-assured liaising effectively with a broad spectrum of people on a daily basis. And you’ll enjoy working within a small, supportive team.”

Final Words

We hope our article helped you as seek to become a successful social media manager. The above tips will help you to clinch your dream job, whether that’s a junior position at a local company, or a revered position at the Birmingham Palace.

What are your thoughts? Please share in the comment section.

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