Back on a Saturday morning in May of 2018, I waltzed into the QT Hotel in Melbourne ready for a weekend of training with The Digital Picnic. 

As someone who was newly employed as a Marketing Coordinator and not yet graduated from my [slightly outdated] bachelor’s degree, a weekend of training with some of the best in the biz had me hooked. It was that very weekend I told myself that I’d be working for them one day and now over three years later, I’ve landed the dreamiest of roles as a Social Media Strategist. 

My journey to working at The Digital Picnic [while a bit of a windy one] helped me learn a few things and grow into the employee and person I am today. If you’ve got your heart set on a dream role or company, here are a few things to keep in mind. 

Learn About Yourself

Continual growth and learning is hands-down one of my most important values and I am always looking for something new to learn [just ask me about my three new hobbies I’m juggling]. 

While it’s pretty darn important to stay up to date with the changes in your industry, I think the most important thing you could ever possibly learn is about yourself. Learning about your values, your strengths and your passions is such a powerful tool – it helps you harness what makes you you and if you put those learnings into practice, I can guarantee you’ll come out better for it.

If you’re looking for a few starting points, here are some of my favourite resources: 

• Amy Pettingill is an incredibly passionate CliftonStrengths Coach and I highly recommend following along (or booking in a session if you can)
• Lucy Allen (of the Graceful Collective) is your go-to for all things confidence and career coaching. I was lucky enough to do a career coaching series with her quite early on in my career and gained so much insight into what I needed to be happy in a role.
• 16 Personalities Test
• The Enneagram Personality Test
• DISC Personality Test

Get Connected

I’m a strong believer that networking should be part of your daily work routine [or at the very minimum, your weekly routine], regardless of whether you’re looking for another job or not. You never know when you might need to lean on your network, whether it be to help with a job search, learn more about your industry or to learn about other’s career journeys. 

That wasn’t always the case though. When I first started out, the idea of networking scared me more than Chucky in Child’s Play. But I learned very quickly that networking doesn’t have to be a transactional experience. It also doesn’t have to be for the sole reason of furthering your career. Networking is building out a relationship that is work-based [rather than your mutual distrust of dolls] and it should involve people that you trust and admire. 

So head on over to LinkedIn and find people in roles that are similar to yours. Find people in roles that you aspire to. Find people in completely different industries that inspire you. Once you’ve found them? Send ‘em a personalised message request and start that conversation! 

I’m also extremely grateful that I could be a part of some wonderful mentoring and networking groups, both through She Mentors and Marketing Women Inc. Both of those groups have provided me with the opportunity to connect with people both within and outside of my industry. 

Show Up

Once you’ve got your eyes set on that dream role or dream company, don’t wait for the stars to align. Instead, show up and reach out to let them know you’re interested in an opportunity, no matter if they’re hiring or not. Let them know why you’re interested [enter learnings about yourself] and what you think you could contribute to the team. While this may not translate into the opportunity being offered to you right then and there, you will be top of mind when the perfect opportunity comes apart. 

Once I decided that I had my heart set on TDP, I made sure to never fall off their radar – whether it be through interacting with their content, chatting to Cherie or taking part in their training offerings, I made sure that they knew I’d love the opportunity to work with them and that I was continually growing and developing until the perfect opportunity rolled around. 

I’m now a couple of months into my new role and I know I’ve landed a role within a team that aligns so well with my values, my passions and my goals and I couldn’t be happier. 

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I’d love for you to connect with me on LinkedIn – I absolutely love meeting new people and am always up for a chat about all things personal development, career growth or anything social media related! 

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