4 Careers You Can Check Out If You’re Studying Mass Communication
With the world becoming more digitally hands-on in terms of amping up their social media game, more creatives of all backgrounds are increasingly becoming in demand. From video editors to social media managers, the job pool is growing! If no one has laid it out for you plainly, here’s a non-exhaustive list of roles you can consider after graduating with a mass communication degree.
1. Copywriter
If you have a flair for words, something other than journalism that you can consider is becoming a copywriter. But what exactly is copywriting?
Copywriting is writing copy (in other words, text or sentences) that can entice readers in some way, shape or form. From writing captions for Instagram posts to writing up a whole page for a company magazine, the range is indeed wide for any wordsmith, as there’s copywriting for social media, business writing, marketing, and more. Hence why copywriters often work in tandem with other divisions like the product development team.
Why is copywriting important and why do we differentiate normal sentences from ‘copy’? The main goal of copywriting is to be persuasive to readers. Say you want your consumers to buy a new product, or to strengthen the awareness they have towards a brand, your copy ideally should package vital info into relatable or relevant copy that readers will resonate with. You could say copywriting lives in the same space as soft-selling (but you could always hard-sell too if that’s what the client prefers.)
If you’re wondering how to get started on copywriting, or want to know about it briefly, here are some infographics to help you skip 15s ahead of everyone else!
- Why copywriting is important in a design project too
- Brief look into short vs long copy
- How to structure your copywriting process
- How visual design language can help your copy
- How to create copy that cuts through the noise
2. Social Media Manager
If you like scrolling through social media and the Internet, this job allows you to do just that – but what skills does one need to be a social media manager?
A social media manager usually oversees an ‘account’. You basically handle what gets published on that social media account and consistently produce content for it to keep up with the algorithm and your community. It may seem simple to just run an account for a brand or a small business, but there are more layers to it than meets the eye.
Aside from planning ahead what social content you’d like to produce ie. reels, a video for Tik Tok, or a still etc, you would also be handling the community management. This is replying to queries in the DM’s, consolidating that info weekly into statistical reports, and sharing it with other teams such as marketing or product development who would then strategize the next ‘big idea’.
Running a social media account also requires you to be attuned to everything around you. Trends appear and die out fast, so it’s up to you to see how you can insert your client’s brand to be a part of the conversation – and to be involved in a way that brings back positive returns such as more followers or more eyeballs on your account.
3. Video Editor
If you’re a student specializing in video production, you can relax your grip a little when thinking about the future. Why? As video-first content is increasingly becoming the favourite medium to consume content from, that means that the more video editors are needed = the higher the job security!
A general brief from a client could be asking you to do A-Z editing such as:
- Developing a concept, storyboard and treatment
- General video and audio editing (offline and online editing)
- Test and apply colour grading
- Doing transcripts and editing subtitles
You can even have a niche to specialize in when it comes to video editing. Maybe you’d just like to be an online artist, or you only edit the colour grading. The possibilities seem endless, and you could always freelance full-time straight out of university but that’s usually if you’ve already got some clients.
If you don’t have an existing clientele, check out this cheat sheet on how to get design clients (applicable to video editors too). If you’ve got no experience, it’s always good to get a job at a company first, that way you can grow your portfolio and connections before going solo.
Before you go: Video editing and design software are generally pricey in Malaysia, so here are free and cheap alternatives for Photoshop, Illustrator and more to practice with first if you need it!
4. Communications Specialist
You might be wondering what a communications specialist is? In short, this role is within the same space as public relations, but has a wider scope as it also handles the communications division too!
The overarching goal for this job is to ensure constant positive publicity for the client’s brand. What your everyday tasks could look like are:
- Gathering research and strategizing what the internal and external facing communications should be
- Plot ahead with other divisions on potential media activities for any future campaigns
- Supplying media needs by organizing press releases, press conferences, product or campaign launches etcetera
- Secure media engagements to amplify what your project or products are about
- Oversee and handle crisis management and assess when you have to put out ‘fires’
Communication and negotiation are a key part of this role but don’t sweat too much if you’re still a newbie in this scene. Most of the time, you would be working with a team full of other communications specialists as there are many moving parts that have to be taken care of. Just always be open to creating new connections with people from different industry backgrounds, as you can turn any link into a partnership.
Fret not, this isn’t the official end of the list! There are many more jobs in the creative and mass communication industry, but it really depends on what skills and interests you alone have. If you’re still studying or have the time, experiment by learning different skill sets and see which sticks with you.
