Bridging PR Opportunities together w/ social media skills, knowledge, + expertise

What are the expectations that are being put on professionals today to get a position?  If you are labeling yourself as being someone who is skilled and knowledgable about social media, there are certain expectations and skills that you may have to have on the job.  Managing various roles by wearing several hats to being able to work across various disciplines are just some of the skills outlined in a great info graphic posted on Mashable. Here are just a few that I have seen in the field:

• Doing a little bit each day when searching for a job:  Jobs are not necessarily going to be falling out of the sky, but it is key to be aware of where people are posting job opportunities and where to get the scoop.  Some of these job postings are just posted through Twitter or LinkedIn – but others are available on various websites like Mashable and PRSA. If you are involved in academia, Chronicle for Higher Education is also a good resource as well.
• Review how you are perceived online across various social media platforms:  Consistency is the main theme and goal to focus on when it comes to what you share and present on social media.  Facebook Timelines is going to be a way for people to not only see what you are doing right now, but what you have done previously. This information is not available for others to see in a more organized manner – so this is key to be aware of since this information is going to be what people will use to determine their first impressions / reputation of you as a professional.
• Write, write, and write some more:  Whether it is your blog or contributing to various social media sites – we are in a field where writing and communicating our thoughts and insights concisely is one of the main skills to have.  Volunteer to contribute to the university website and social media team, start researching and figuring out what are some interests specifically involving social media you are interested in, and start putting your thoughts down on your platform of choice (WordPress, Tumbler, Twitter, etc).
• Taking on the role of being a mentor to others: Being willing to share knowledge and insights with not only others in your organization or community, but also helping others coming up in the ranks is also key as well. We need to help advance the field, and the best way to do that is to share with others our lessons along the way as well as provide our version of best practices in social media – so mentoring is absolutely key for success in social media.  Not only will you help others, but you will also learn from the process as well.
• Creativity + Strategy + Research / Evaluation = Success:  Combining the efforts of both the arts and sciences of social media with research is a sound combination and formula for succeeding in the field.  We have to be able to work and wear all of these hats in our work – while we may have skills and expertise in one or more of these areas, we have to be adaptive to grow and continue to learn.