By Sydney Friedt
For many, graduating college and entering the workforce is both exciting yet nerve racking. It becomes even more frightening when students are unaware of the career paths that their degree opens for them. Communication majors especially tend to wonder what is next for them after graduation.
The good news is that the communications major is broadly applicable with vast careers paths suited for different skill set and passions. The following are only a fraction of the possibilities out there.
- Copywriter
This career is writing focused for those who enjoy that skill. Copywriting consists of creating engaging text for different channels like websites, print ads, newsletters, social media, and more. The goal is to appeal to consumers and promote the business through writing. Copywriters work closely with the marketing team to ensure their writing matches the brand’s tone.
- Editor
For those that enjoy reading and grammar, becoming an editor may be for you. Editors get to review written material including story ideas to decide what will appeal most to readers. They get to read over and revise the content for publication, making sure there are no mistakes before it is sent out to the public to read. Editors must adhere to the style guides and have strong communication skills as they work with authors and publishers.
- Social Media Manager
If you really enjoy social media and want to make a career out of it, then the social media manager path may be for you. Those in this career path are responsible for building and maintaining a brand’s social media presence by creating content, engaging with audiences, planning campaigns, and even evaluating analytics. The goal is to increase the followers a brand has and boost the awareness and popularity of the brand. It’s a career that will allow you to tap into your creativity to best show off the company you work for.
- Sports Media Relations Specialist
If you’re someone who enjoys sports and prefers the PR side of communications then you should check out a career in sports media relations. This career focuses on creating and maintaining a positive relationship between a sports organization and the media. You may find yourself constantly communicating with the media, pitching stories and press releases, or facilitating relationships. You’ll get to work closely with the players and the organization to ensure that the public image is positive and carefully curated.
- Sports Marketing Manager
If you enjoy sports, but you’re maybe not into the PR side of communications you could consider a job as a sports marketing manager. Through marketing tactics, this job involves promoting the team, league, or organization to the general public. You can partake in creating a marketing strategy, campaign and event planning, developing brand loyalty. If you enjoy working with numbers, you can even help create budget plans and monitor them to ensure goals are met.
- Special Events Planner and Coordinator
Do you enjoy planning and feel like a more business-focused job isn’t something you would enjoy? Then maybe becoming a special events planner and coordinator is the job for you. In this career, you will get to manage every aspect of an event from planning, to set up, to tear down. You’ll get to handle the vendor management, planning, budgeting, marketing, and more in order to ensure that the event goes well. You will have to work on your feet for any problems that arise and serve as the primary communicator between all the individual parties involved in the event.
- Marketing Specialist
On the opposite side, if you want to work in the business world you could consider a career as a marketing specialist. You will get to design, plan, and manage marketing projects in order to connect the brand with consumers. The job consists of market research, collaborations, and reports while also adding a touch of creativity to find the best way to promote a brand.
- Director of Communication
A more obvious career choice for those in communications is becoming a director of communication. This path is more business focused with a more managerial aspect. In this field, you will oversee an organization’s internal and external communications. You also get to run a company’s social media, manage media relations, manage any crisis communications, and even focus on metrics.
There are many career paths for students in communications to take once they graduate. Some of these paths are listed above, but there are countless others out there to be sought after. Each path can fit a student through their passions and desires, ensuring that they can enjoy what they do as a profession.