What does COVID-19 mean for graduates wanting to head into the world of digital marketing?

There’s no denying that 2020 will definitely go down in the history books.

It’s thrown so much disruption and change into our lives. The way we used to go about our day-to-day may never be the same. In some respects, this might be a good thing – we’ve had time to stop, pause and reassess where we are. We’ve had more time to connect with our loved ones and those crazy, fast paced days we were so used to now have a much calmer essence to them.

The new norm

So, you might be nearing the end of your studies at UTS, or you might already have finished. You might be sitting there with your extra time wondering what this ‘new norm’ might mean for you finding a role in the world of digital marketing?

Well, as someone who has worked through the pandemic and the months of change as a Digital Marketing Manager at Eloquent, I’m here to tell you that you’ve picked a great career path during this challenging period.

As a start, although many agencies (including the one I work at) have changed to work from home (WFH) practices for the foreseeable future, we are able to do our same job at full capacity from each and every one of our individual home bases.

The only tools required are a laptop and a phone! It really has been a fluid transition.

So, where do you stand finding a digital marketing role?

To set the scene, many of your peers may be looking for roles in other industries which require being in the office. They may have found that hiring is at a standstill for the meantime. One reason behind this is that, with teams not being in the office, they aren’t able to onboard new team members successfully. This ultimately means that there is a long waiting game ahead to find that first role.

For you, the world of digital marketing is thriving. Needing limited resources to get started means that many agencies are still hiring.  Although your onboarding may be in a WFH situation, it is still doable. As a graduate, this is your time to start searching those job boards because as the demand for digital marketing has increased (businesses are changing their approach to marketing and are realising they need to embrace digital) so have the roles that are available.

Personally, at Eloquent, we’ve hired a great new team member from Adelaide! Although we would have never considered this to be a possibility when we were in our static office space in Sydney’s CBD, the fact that we are all working remotely meant that we could hire anyone we felt was right for the role!

Reality check

I will note though that overall, across all industries, unemployment still does remain at an all-time high. So, although digital marketing is doing better than other industries, it is a very real reality that you may still find it difficult to find that first role.

If you are finding the job search process a little slow…

If you are finding it taking a little longer than expected, don’t fret. With a little extra time on your hands, use this opportunity to UPSKILL, UPSKILL, UPSKILL. You’ve now gotten an amazing degree under your belt, so why not keep on learning? You can find a whole suite of digital marketing learning tools across sites such as Udemy, Digital marketer, LinkedIn Learning, UTS Taster Courses and even the Google suite of certifications.

Another amazingly valuable option to learn more is to begin an internship. Yes, this may be remote again, but the amount of skills that you can learn whilst on the job is second to none. You’ll be surprised by what you can learn within a matter of a few weeks or even a few months! These days, internships are really valued by potential employers so this might be your key to securing your next role.

Personally, I spent 6 months interning before I was given the opportunity to undertake my first role at Bauer media Australia. I truly believe that without having these internal connections established and having been able to showcase my skillset to the leadership team whilst interning, getting a job there would have been terribly hard.

Okay, so where to from here?

So, the sky is the limit for you right now. Although you may be Sydney-based, there may be opportunities for you to find a remote WFH role in the digital marketing field in Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin or Perth – think of the opportunity! This is your chance to find a role in a business that interests you.

My recommendation for finding your first job is to make sure that the business aligns with you. Ensure that the team shares similar values to your own. It’s no lie that working remotely can be trying when you don’t have physical connection, but, having the right team members means that you can all get through this time supporting one another.

This really is your time to act if you’re ready to find your first role out of uni. Whilst many job seekers might be thinking that the job market is at a standstill, here’s your little push to go find that role. You never know what you will fall upon. And, if the process takes a little longer, the knowledge you will gain whilst upskilling will make you a formidable force in the candidate space. The world of digital marketing is waiting for you.