By Blake Hollingsworth | Reporter
Baylor held a “Gen Z Social Media Career Panel” Thursday, consisting of four young professionals who currently hold social media positions. Each one shared their professional journey, offering insights for students interested in a social media career path.
According to Christian Clark, social media coordinator for the College of Arts and Sciences, social media is more than a platform for self-expression; it serves as a reflection of one’s own personal brand.
“Each one of you is a very unique individual, so you have to showcase that, whether it’s in an interview or a personal website or your social media,” Clark said. “I think ultimately, that can be the difference between you getting a job or an internship and you being passed up.”
Clark also went on to emphasize the importance of developing a broad range of skills to distinguish oneself from other job candidates, even if they might sound unappealing initially.
“I would challenge you to do some things that you know you’re unsure about sometimes, because you never know, you may end up liking it,” Clark said.
Furthermore, students can gain key skills by simply asking for opportunities, Molly Weaver, employment specialist said. Weaver said that virtually every job she’s had came from simply asking for it, including her role at Nightlight Donuts, which led to valuable digital marketing experience.
“I was a shift lead at Nightlight Donuts, and I asked the owner, ‘Can I do your social media now and be your little marketing intern?’” Weaver said. “I gained a whole bunch of other skills that had a whole different genre of marketing. It wasn’t so much silly, goofy content, it was more aesthetic and friendly and all those things that developed a whole new style of marketing.”
Additionally, Juliane Humphries, social media specialist of Student Communications, emphasized the significance of consistency when trying to build an audience.
“We’re posting all the time almost every weekend, twice a week if we can,” Humphries said. “The more you do that, the more news you get, the more people just see your stuff.”
Adding to this point, Humphries shared her team’s creative process, stating they have a content meeting six months before each school year.
To stay organized, they use a week-by-week, day-by-day content calendar with built-in room for adjustments, while color-coding different types of content for reels, TikToks and Instagram stories. This ensures an appropriate mix and balance of content types, rather than over-saturating one format.
Humphries encouraged students to take advantage of workshops, classes and events by making connections, including the panelists themselves.
“You can network with us, you can ask us questions, and it’s like free advice. You don’t pay for it,” Humphries said.
