One of the UK’s largest social media agencies is offering university students and recent graduates the chance to develop their social media skills, giving them a chance to become some of the most desired talents in an ever-transforming and evolving business climate.
London-based firm Social Tree Global which helps businesses in areas including finance and healthcare, “build sustainable social communities”, has created a “senior leadership programme” to help 100,000 young people develop their “personal branding,” according to a recent statement.
The programme will provide businesses with upskilled talent for when the anticipated demand for services resumes following COVID-19. With digital skills, including brand awareness and using social media to engage with and sell to customers increasingly important to businesses, the programme is good news to university-educated job seekers and firms seeking to recover and innovate following the pandemic.
In terms of furthering young peoples’ careers in the digital economy, the programme has already proven successful, with previous alumni bagging positions with global firms, including LinkedIn.
Sponsored by financial news and analysis company Real Vision, successful applicants to the “Social Tree Academy” will receive “strategic, focused coaching on social selling and personal branding.” Attendees will also be exposed to Social Tree Global’s business partners, leading to career opportunities.
By possessing in-demand digital skills, the programme’s attendees will increase their chances of gaining paid employment over unpaid work experience after finishing their studies. Whether the programme has enabled them to gain an apprenticeship or a graduate role, they can enter the wage economy sooner.
James Saward Anderson, Co-Founder of Social Tree Global, said, “We are incredibly excited to be launching this initiative at a time when the global health crisis has exacerbated pre-existing fault lines in the unequal distribution of graduate opportunities.”
Co-Founder Max Hannah added, “We hope that this programme can go some way towards helping students and those who have been excluded, ignored, or who have found it difficult to secure professional opportunities at this time to finally receive the recognition they deserve and move further towards landing the position or career they’ve studied for.”
The rise of the social media economy
Earlier this year, a survey that included senior marketers’ opinions found that social media was “critical” to marketing efforts during COVID-19, where spending rose by 74% and return on investments grew by 24%. This came after years of businesses not seeing impactful returns on their investments.
There is a widespread opinion that COVID-19 has acted as a catalyst that’s sped up the rise of connecting with customers over social media – and with restrictions likely to be in place for a while, customers will remain more likely to buy their goods and services online.
With customers also increasingly likely to buy from businesses with more altruistic aims, using social media to highlight good work to customers will also be effective in the post-pandemic era.
By helping to upskill university students and recent leavers with in-demand social media skills, Social Tree Global seems to be giving businesses what they need while economically empowering young people, where many have suffered from unemployment due to COVID-19.
With many of this group likely to be from the Gen Z generation, and have been brought up with these technologies in some form anyway, adoption of further digital skills should be a straightforward process, and a godsend for businesses that need this talent in order to remain agile.
