How Social Media Impacted My Life
As a member of the support team here at 5 Star Courses, I’ve been asked today to write about social media and how it interlinks with my journey to becoming a digital marketer. The two have a very closely linked relationship, as my job as an apprentice relies on it; over the past twelve months since joining the company, I have utilized my existing skills to support our social media development as well as developing a wide variety of skills in customer support, resourcing, and marketing. I’m extremely grateful to have joined 5 Star Courses for my apprenticeship, as 5 Star has supported me all the way in cultivating valuable skills within traditional marketing, as well as growing the essential skills of a professional digital marketer. Working here has also allowed me to further my knowledge in the niche of training and education, which has been extremely educational and interesting in its own right.
The reason I chose an apprenticeship as my pathway into this sector is that I was keen on working straight away, especially in my chosen area of digital
marketing. I believe that University is a great option for many different life paths, however, for a niche like this, I felt as if it was much more fitting to go down the more practical apprenticeship route. To this day, I feel like this is a decision that has paid off in all the right ways. While I believe that university will always be an option for me in the future, possibly in a different area to digital marketing, right now I am keen on working to amass my own personal income rather than dedicating my time to studying for a specific qualification. In my experience, going down the apprenticeship route for a job like this is somewhat crucial, the “learn while you earn” scheme provides the perfect balance to ensure you have all the essential skills necessary for a job whilst also educating you, providing an income, and encouraging a clear progression into the working world.
From the start, having a keen interest and passion for social media has been my main motivator to get into this sector, and more specifically encouraged me to take this route as an apprentice. I’ve always been interested in ICT and anything digital-based since a young age, and over the last four years, I’ve worked hard to amass a considerably sized social media audience of over 25,000 followers over several different profiles. Using my existing knowledge in the IT industry and my own hard work and perseverance, I was able to bloom and develop my presence on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok. Growing from nothing to a five-digit following was certainly the hardest part of my social media journey. I was posting daily (sometimes multiple times a day), answering all DMs I received within a short timeframe, and constantly scouring the explore pages of each platform to connect with new people. I post gaming content on my social media pages, so I always tried to connect with like-minded gamers who had the same passion as me.
Finding people with similar interests to myself was hard, but once I got the hang of it, my profiles did start to see some amazing results. I always looked up to certain influencers in the community for inspiration and as models for my own growth, and amazingly, I have now surpassed some of these people in followers. To do so was one of my original goals, and to be able to say I’m firmly rooted as part of this community now encourages me to push myself even further, and to set myself out as a role model for others too.
I have been able to assist 5 Star Courses by using these social media skills throughout my time here, such as by helping to boost the company’s social media numbers and analytic results, as well as using my problem-solving skills when figuring out customer queries over the phone. I’ve also well utilized my customer service skills from previous employment, earned through my work in a chain restaurant prior to joining 5 Star Courses. My confidence has also flourished whilst in my role here, and my communication skills have also taken on steady improvement. It’s safe to say that many of these attributes and skills are based on my own drive to improve and cultivate my social media, something I did purely as a passion project out of my desire to be involved in a sector I love and admire. Working in this role now as an apprentice is an extension of this passion that allows me to grow, learn, work, and get paid for what I’m good at.
-Thomas