I’m sure this question gets asked fairly often in different ways, but I spent a few minutes scrolling and not too much came up that would apply. TLDR below since I know I’m wordy.
I’ve been working part time in marketing for 2 years now as an assistant. There’s no indication of any kind that I’ll ever move to full time (or even get a raise from minimum wage) so I’m trying to develop my skills to meet requirements for jobs that will pay a little more than minimum wage and provide me with more opportunity for career growth. I have a 2yr degree and am still paying off student loans so I don’t want to take any more out to get my 4yr.
In my job I assist with any design that my boss doesn’t have time to do, I occasionally do photography and video production, support internal communications, and maintain our sales website (which is just updating the deal end dates). There are many days where I have almost nothing to do or am just waiting on feedback on projects. I’ve completed a few online certifications in digital marketing, but many jobs seem to look for experience managing or executing paid campaigns, search campaigns, seo, etc. My performance reviews are always “you’re awesome, the whole team just needs to grow with xyz small detail!”. The industry I’m in really doesn’t have a strong social media need (I don’t want to be too specific but our main engagement is employees and other companies like ours) and much of my job involves designs for our socials.
I’ve offered many times to help with other things or ask if there’s anything I can do during my free time and I often either get a no, or asked to just do something quick like proofread. I’m very grateful for my job and appreciative of the fact it’s very low stress (especially compared to other jobs that I’ve had or applied to), but I feel like I’m not growing other than some design and video exposure. Online certifications are great and fill my time, but they don’t really give me much to talk about in a job interview when I’m asked about my experience. I also feel that I don’t retain the information from them as much bc I’m not getting any real experience with it.
I’ve applied to ~50-100 jobs in the past year and when I do get interviews, I end up being passed over for candidates with more experience. I have reached out to some local businesses to offer marketing support, and a couple have said they’ll keep me in mind for any future needs. Even then, I would like to have more confidence going into those opportunities that I know what I’m doing to help them.
I guess I’m looking for words of wisdom or ways to grow my exposure to more responsibilities that I would take on in this career path. For example email marketing, automation, seo, paid search and digital campaigns, strategy, etc. I know my creative skills are an asset, but many jobs that focus more on creative duties also want me to be a 3d/motion designer, social media manager, project manager, and event planner for just barely over minimum wage and I don’t want to have to be a “marketing superstar!” as many clearly-chatgpt-written job postings seem to want for very little pay.
I’ve thought about just working in retail or getting a second part time job, but I also want to use the blessing of my extra time to level up my skills and set myself up better for my career.
Tl;dr, Stuck in minimum wage part time role and want to grow skills and confidence beyond online certifications to be able to either take on freelance clients or step into a better paying role (with benefits preferably).