It’s been months since you finished an online digital marketing course! Perhaps it took you a few weeks (maybe a month or more) to complete it, but that’s okay. The good thing is that you are done. And after several lonely days and nights spent reading those pdf course materials, or watching those series of modules on a course portal, you finally learnt a digital skill.
There’s just one problem. You have learnt a skill, but no one seems ready to offer you a job. And unfortunately, this isn’t Hollywood, where there is a happy ending thereafter. This is the real world, where human fates aren’t just subject to the mere concept of luck and chance.
If you thought you would automatically land a remote digital marketing job after completing most of the online courses available on the internet, don’t feel down. You are definitely not the first person to complete the available online digital marketing courses and struggle to find a job. I’ve got you covered.
In this precise article, you’re going to learn the fastest ways to get a job after completing a digital marketing course online, and live the life of your dreams.
The first few paragraphs will help you understand why you have been struggling to find a job after putting in all the efforts and submitting several digital marketing job applications, while the concluding paragraphs will carve you a perfect path to your first ever digital marketing job.
If you’re yet to enrol in an online digital marketing course (maybe you’re having trouble deciding whether digital marketing skills are worth it), check out my complete guide on choosing a career in digital marketing.
Got no time? Skim through this article:
- Are online digital marketing courses another online scam?
- How to secure a job after completing a digital marketing course online:
- Get trained by a digital marketing expert, not study online course materials.
- Find a digital marketing career mentor.
- Join a digital marketing community.
- Optimize your social media profiles and professional resume.
- Apply for a digital marketing internship.
- Waiting through for your first digital marketing job
Are online digital marketing courses another online scam?
Some time ago, I received a student who had been recommended by an acquaintance for professional mentorship. It’s been five months since he completed an online digital marketing course. After several attempts to secure a job, he concluded he had been scammed by the online course provider.
As an expert who has handled millions of ad spend and led digital marketing teams, I’ve learnt valuable lessons along the way. Online digital marketing course providers aren’t scammers, except for a few who have taken such endeavours as a get-rich-quick scheme.
Related: The ultimate checklist to spot fake online digital marketing course providers.
The problem, however, is that, many of these genuine tutors fail to realize the role of the internet in digital marketing learning. While the internet serves as a connector that connects them with aspiring students like yourself, it does not replace them.
Thus, buying a course after seeing an ad on Facebook, Instagram, or Google does not guarantee acquiring such skills. Likewise, receiving and studying such course materials does not translate to understanding them.
How to secure a job after completing a digital marketing course online
The killer steps I’m about to share below are instructions I have handed over to dozens of digital marketers I have trained in the course of my career and have landed them the jobs they desired. Read through them carefully and make sure to act on them. If you do, there is a 99.9% guarantee you will also get hired in 90 days.
1. Get trained by a digital marketing expert, not study online course materials:
Did you get that? I doubt you do. Right now, you must be wondering if I need to be reminded you recently completed an online digital marketing course. You may be saying, in your mind, ‘Look, I’m seeking to get hired not to enrol for an online digital marketing course.’
I understand how you feel. Nevertheless, the first step to correcting a problem is to first evaluate it. It’s true you’ve completed an online digital marketing course, but we need to be sure that you truly have. If what you have done is to study and watch some online digital marketing course materials provided by an online digital marketing course provider, then you have missed it.
Here is how you got it all wrong! Just as digital skills are not learnt but acquired, digital marketing skills are also acquired, not learnt.
In primitive societies, medicine was taught not in the four walls of a school but by the observation of a medical practitioner as he administered medicine to his patients. Although, in these times and eras, medicine is now taught in a school, it is still compulsory that students go on housemanship, which is a practical observation of a medical practitioner as he applies his craft.
You cannot acquire digital marketing skills by reading course materials alone; you need practical and personalized training from your online digital marketing course provider. He must find the perfect time for personal online learning sessions where he walks you through the course outline. Click here to learn more on how to get the most out of your online digital marketing course.
2. Find a digital marketing career mentor.
Recall when you recently got admitted into college. How easy was it to navigate the campus? Not at all, isn’t it? Despite the different signage, you still needed help to master your way.
This is no different from acquiring digital marketing skills. You’ve got to have someone to help you navigate your way to becoming a professional digital marketer. Digital marketing career mentors take over when your strength and present digital marketing knowledge fail you. They’ve got the experience and connections essential to kickstarting your career.
Have you heard the saying, I bet you haven’t. Only digital marketers know where the digital marketing jobs are. From experience, this is also true in the banking sector. A banker friend of mine some years back boasted that if he wanted to secure another job in a bank, it would only take him a call or two. Then, I was silly. I had just started my career as a digital marketer. I doubted him. I laughed and said, ‘Don’t be silly. If it were this easy, everyone would have a job.’ Well, it happened some months later and I was the silly one after all.
Some digital marketing experts offer paid digital marketing mentorship plans you can subscribe to. MentorCruise and GrowthMentor are my top two examples of such websites that grant you access to hundreds of indexed and verified digital marketing experts you can choose from.
Getting a mentor isn’t all. You also want to verify him or her and ensure that you aren’t making another career mistake. To get started in your mentorship journey, I’ve written on the 5 essential questions when choosing a digital marketing mentor.
And if you would rather be trained and mentored by the same digital marketing expert, check out my professional online digital marketing course. Along with my training, I offer some exceptional benefits no online digital marketing course provides at this time.
3. Join a digital marketing community.
Imagine that you find yourself in a new country. What will be your first line of action? I believe you will be out there seeking a community—a place where you feel at home.
Everyone craves a sense of belonging. The perfect way to find the confidence to be yourself and practice your newly acquired digital marketing skills is by belonging to a community. Digital marketing communities are breeding grounds for the next digital marketing genius. They provide support and insights into the digital marketing world.
Digital marketing is not a sprint race. It is a consistent learning process. Life events have, over the years, revealed a similar trait possessed by several heroes who have revolutionized their industries and our universe: a stubborn resolve to kick the norms in the ass. They have taken everything known to be industry facts and trashed them, choosing to try out new intuitions.
However, to ignite change in any sector, one must first learn, expertly, the principles that hold water in such a sector. Only when one familiarizes himself with the order of things can one rebel against it in search of new discoveries. Online digital marketing trainings are to acquaint you with the fundamentals of digital marketing.
As such, the benefits of digital marketing communities are immense. One not to be ignored is it’s ability to ignite a thought process capable of opening your eyes to groundbreaking digital marketing discoveries. Discussions on questions raised by members often generate further understanding of a concept, which, if well utilized, can impact any digital marketing project you may have in the future.
More specifically, you can access thousands of job openings shared by members—perhaps in their organizations or forwarded by a recruiter. Often times, I have been contacted for a digital marketing job, but realizing the conditions and pay grade, I have recommended members of my digital marketing community. I know of several other digital marketing experts who do the same.
4. Optimize your social media profile and professional resume.
Believe it or not, social media has come to stay. As of July 2024, there are 5.17 billion social media users around the world, which represents 63.7 percent of the total global population.
The question is, how are you using your social media handles? Are they places where you go wild? What about your profile? If I search your name on Facebook or Instagram right now, what will be displayed?
Yes, not every successful digital marketer has personal social media pages. I agree. I know some who don’t, but guess what? You are no match for them. The first proof of a beginner digital marketer is his ability to effectively deploy the internet.
Recently, I learnt that some government agencies in Nigeria make use of social media to find law violators and prosecute them. Isn’t that surprising? Even agencies find suspects on social media. Your social media profile is an informal proof of your true identity.
Ensure to upload a high-quality profile image. Even better, a headshot pic works just fine. Also, remember to do the same for your header image, but this time, a better image of you at work will smash it. Remember to include the links to your Discord and Github profiles along with your email address. They will be a good way to provide concrete evidence of your originality.
5. Apply for a digital marketing internship.
Supposing you are a business owner, you’ve invested your savings and investor fund in the business. Then you discover you need to bring in a digital marketer to better optimize your marketing efforts and bring in more revenue; would you hand that over for a trial and error? I know you won’t.
Believe it, that’s exactly how every employer thinks. It’s hard to hand over such a crucial part of the business to a novice. He would rather jump into the jungle of recruitment to pick out the expert from the over 50 applications.
He might even decide to dial his CEO friend and request a recommendation from his digital marketer. This is how it works everywhere!
Imagine waiting for that employment email from the recruiter. You might wait forever unless a miracle happens. The right thing to do is to seek out a digital marketing internship. Most companies will gladly offer you this. Although companies hardly pay interns. The assumption is that by offering you an internship, they are training and offering you the required experience, which will later determine your pay.
Don’t worry. You won’t be the only one to experience this. Brace up! Juice off the good from it. Learn with commitment and foresight. It will all add up to making your resume irresistible to any employer in the near future. Furthermore, you also get to refine your newly acquired digital marketing skills.
Securing a digital marketing internship can be tedious sometimes. Relax! I’ve got you. I have included a free 3-month and 12-month internship in two of my online professional digital marketing course packages. At the completion of your training, you will be placed on an internship at Adsreap Incorporated, an SME-focused marketing and advertising agency with an operational presence in Nigeria and Zambia.
Waiting through for your first digital marketing job
Waiting is hard. No one likes to be kept on hold. We want it quick and fast. But that’s not how the world works. Waiting is natural and sometimes who you utilize those few days may be crucial in your digital marketing journey.
Now that you are armed with these fastest ways to secure your first digital marketing job, keep in mind that it takes time for a seed to become a tree. Rather than attempting to expedite beyond the methods outlined here, make a commitment to executing them one after the other. Have faith in the secrets you’ve just unravelled.
