A Twitter account does not a social media manager make

As of January 2015, more than five million people on LinkedIn claim to be social media experts, while social media job vacancies have proliferated at a scorching rate of 1.357% since 2010, according to the UK’s Guardian newspaper. A decade ago, having a social media campaign was simply unheard of. Now, the quality of a brand’s social media presence can make or break its success.

For many — especially young people — working in social media is seemingly a dream come true. But being a social media manager doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get paid to spend your days frolicking about on social networks. With a career in social media comes a lot of responsibilities, and there’s just as many frustrations as there are rewards. The true advantage, though, is the quality of results you can obtain with a well-run social media campaign. A billboard cannot interact on a personal level with a consumer, but social media responds in real time to conversations about your brand.

So how do you embark on a career in social media?

Which qualification?

There is no right way of “doing” social media, but there are lots of people doing it badly out there. One qualification may provide hands-on experience of using the digital tools in a safe way, accompanied with individual feedback on the ways of doing it. Other courses may focus on how to “do” social media in theory, rather than actually doing it in practice. It all depends on your capabilities and willingness to learn.

Working in social media requires a plethora of skills and abilities such as an understanding of brand, marketing and communications planning, writing and good design/aesthetic judgment. In addition, you require the ability to gain insights and analyse social performance and business results, along with the ability to generate ideas.

Qualifying for social or digital marketing

As a result of social media maturing, the content for social media courses has been adapted and morphed into a fuller, more comprehensive digital marketing approach. Most courses include email marketing, viral marketing, affiliate marketing, online PR, search engine optimisation, pay per click, marketing analytics and social media planning. Consider the following:

Get your hands dirty

Although qualifications are valuable for your own knowledge and security, nothing compares to proven work experience. Employers are generally looking for candidates who demonstrate evidence of having gained traction — increased engagement metrics such as followers, likes, comments, re-posts — for a real social media case study.

Understand different facets of social media careers

Working in social media isn’t just writing clever tweets or pushing out memes and trolling celebrities. It’s a lot more than that, and there are different facets to these kinds of jobs. Social media is essentially a really important problem-solving, action-starting tool in a variety of industries.

Important tips:

Getting a job in social media requires more than just an impressive CV.

A great CV helps, but when you’re being considered for a social media position, you need to bring your A-game and then some. Companies are looking for someone who can not only speak to a community online, but who are also personable and social offline, since you may be meeting with clients and attending conferences or events.

You’ll also want to display your creativity and knowledge of current affairs and even obscure information. Good judgement, reading and writing copy are key skills in this business as well as the ability to be authentic.

Planning for every eventuality is an overlooked but important part of speaking to and being a part of any IRL (in real life) community. The same goes for digital communities.

Expect to be on the job 24 /7

There’s no nine-to-five here. The daily grind is literally daily, including hatches, matches and dispatches. Social media doesn’t sleep. This doesn’t mean you don’t get any rest, but it’s not always glamorous nor is it rewarding for someone who needs constant praise or acknowledgement. If you’re fine with always being ready so you never have to get ready, then you’ll enjoy social media gigs.

Social media is an industry in which you not only get to participate and create, but also shape the future, although not necessarily in an obvious way. It can be a thankless job.

Before you start scouring the classifieds for social media jobs, check out these three not-so-obvious skills that are crucial for any successful social media gig:

iNumba-numba:It’s no surprise that in order to be great at social media, you need to have a way with words. But, as this social media professional discovered, you need to be good with data, too. The ability to collect and decipher data (demographics, growth, and engagement) is an essential part of your daily life.

Learn to read and write: People sometimes make the jump to social media jobs, relying heavily on their writing background without fully grasping that writing for social media is all about small, easily shareable and comprehensive pieces of content. Trying to get your audience excited about what you’re saying is hard enough, but when you need to do it in 140 characters or less, it becomes a seriously sought-after skill.

Think fast but critically:I don’t need to tell you that social media moves at light speed. And as a social media professional, you’re going to be responsible for staying on top of it. If there’s a company crisis, you’re going to need to talk to your audience about it on your social platforms. If you post content that has your audience talking, you’re going to want to be there to monitor what they’re saying and, more importantly, talk back to them.

There is an upside though: I do muck about a lot on Instagram!

Kiri Rupiah is engagement producer and site editor at the Mail & Guardian