Embracing a digital presence

I

So things have been coming to a head for a while now. At this point in my life, I think I can safely say (well, as sure as I can be about anything, at the nascent age of 20) that my passion is marketing, and working in this industry is something I foresee myself doing for the rest of my life.

But, like many my age, I’ve been having a bit of trouble going about actually getting there. I can see where I want to go, I can visualise my goals, I have my two/five/ten-year plan — but it’s the little steps that seem slightly less tangible. As my years in university slip by, the classes I need to take to realise a Marketing major are becoming increasingly divergent from prospective job descriptions (SEO specialist? Copywriter? Nothing I’m learning at university is applicable to these skill-sets in any capacity).

At a certain stage during our studies, most of us will come to the stress-inducing conclusion that our haphazard floundering up to this point has been supremely ineffectual in creating a foothold into our respective industries. And at this point, the internship route is one which many tread in order to stave off that almost debilitating panic.

I, myself, have been exploring this route of late, and have met with mixed results thus far. Once the initial hurdle of being offered a position has been surmounted—after all, it’s difficult to revolutionise a firm when your academic studies offer little to back this claim—the next obstacle is aligning what one hopes to gain with one’s actual day-to-day activities. On a personal note, I’ve found that it’s been difficult to 100% capitalise on an experience if the role itself does not fill a specific HR gap in the firm, or when my own objectives are less-than-defined. “An insight into the industry” just doesn’t cut it anymore.

So a few days ago, I decided that in order to increase my competitive advantage and solidify those pesky objectives (for my next intern position), I needed to put some work into growing my digital presence. Through this pet project of mine, I wanted to: a) gain some first-hand practice in the tools of the trade, and b) have a working portfolio showcasing my ability to navigate a digital world.

There is nothing more practical to market than oneself.
— Christine Deng

As a Luddite and a thoroughly private person, I’ve disavowed the use of a lot of social media in my everyday life. I’m not on Snapchat, I don’t Instagram, and up until recently, I didn’t really do YouTube or Twitter either. Perhaps to my own detriment, I’m often a middle-to-late adopter of technological trends (using the median of Generation Y as the benchmark).

In any case, this marks the beginning of a personal revolution. My peaceful existence, my entire way of living, my repudiation of photos—all is about to become upended through self-inflicted disruption. Stay tuned.

Follow me @MarketingDyad as I attempt the impossible.