This summer, we were fortunate to have four talented interns join us virtually at NISM. Throughout the internship, they gained hands-on experience crafting content, engaging with our community, and applying social media strategies learned through our course materials. They participated in weekly SMS prep courses led by Jennifer Radke and benefited from insightful feedback sessions with their mentor Celeste Russell. Additionally, Q&A sessions with our Advisory Board members provided them with fresh perspectives from seasoned professionals. Each of them has shown a strong commitment to learning and growing in the field of social media marketing, and they’ve worked closely with our team to prepare for the SMS Certification exam.

As their internship comes to a close, we’re excited to highlight each intern and share their journey with you. Today we’re pleased to introduce you to Joseph Scalzo. Learn more about Joseph and join us in supporting his professional journey by connecting with him through LinkedIn or leaving a comment below.

 

Hi, Joseph! To kick things off, could you share a bit about your background and what led you to join this internship?

I am a graduate student going into my final year at San Francisco State where I play baseball and study Communication Studies. I graduated from California Lutheran University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing. I grew up playing sports and have been surrounded by them my entire life and they are a huge passion of mine. I have just wrapped up my summer as an NISM Social Media Strategist Intern allowing me to use the knowledge I learned, in the real world. This was my first opportunity to gain real-world experience and I am thankful that I could become part of the great community at NISM. I have been drawn to marketing since the beginning of high school as I was a member of DECA. Pivoting to social media occurred because it is the largest aspect of marketing and will not dissipate anytime soon. What draws me in is the ability to connect with individuals online globally which drives my excitement for community engagement. Social media is the future and it was intriguing to me to jump on board.

We couldn’t agree more – social media marketing isn’t going anywhere anytime soon! What aspects of the internship did you find most impactful?

I found every aspect of the internship beneficial as they all allowed me to grow my skills and gain experience. The weekly mentor meetings were a highlight in my ability to learn from others. Having the experience of Jen Radke and Celeste Russell at my fingertips and being able to learn from them every day was a great chance to grasp new information. I was constantly asking them questions trying to gain any insights I could. I believe the best way to learn is from your own and others’ experiences. This also fits in with the meetings we would have with board members where we got to meet amazing individuals that are on the advisory board. Once again, learning from the experiences of professionals in the field is a great opportunity to gain knowledge. 

Another great aspect that allowed me to learn and grow from my mistakes was our content feedback. Submitting around ten pieces of content per week including one blog, there were many times where something needed to be tweaked. Working with Celeste and getting feedback on what needed to be changed each week, allowed me to get constructive criticism and learn from my mistakes so they do not keep happening in the future. While not every comment was about mistakes, it provided insight into how I can continue to make my content more visually appealing and engaging.

We’re so glad you were receptive to our feedback and we loved seeing you hone your skills creating content over the last 12 weeks. Not only did you create content for our socials, but you also engaged with our online community. How did this hands-on approach shape your understanding of social media strategy?

For the most part, people who are not in the industry significantly diminish the effort and skills it takes to be a successful social media strategist. However, it is quite the opposite. Several different aspects of social media strategy can be daunting to cover.  While you can have a strong suit in one of these sections, it is essential to be good at all of them. This was best put by Katy Spencer Johnson, an advisory board member who spoke in one of our meetings, when she said “You can be a generalist with a specialization. I am good at marketing and can do anything you need me to do but I specialize in…”. This stood out to me because it is so important that you can be good at everything, yet great at something. 

Given the hands-on experience throughout the summer, I learned so much about what goes into being a well-rounded social media strategist. I found something that I enjoyed but also built my skills where I did not feel as confident. It helped me understand that there is a lot that goes into social media strategy but it all happens to work together. Each aspect can build off one another and when you can have that happen efficiently and effectively, it creates success.

Yes, social media strategy can be complex, which is why we’ve broken our learning materials into 6 content domains. Which SMS content domain is most interesting to you?

My favorite content domain was community management. I have always been drawn to connecting with others and building an online brand identity. I was extremely excited when we were able to practice what we had learned when we took over a social media platform for NISM. Taking over LinkedIn was somewhat daunting as I did not want to do something wrong but I have thoroughly enjoyed connecting with our community and new members online.

You ended up being a geart conversationalist online! Was their anyone you met through this internship that you feel is particularly impactful to your career?

While it might be the most obvious answer, the person that I met through the internship who is the most impactful to my future career is Jennifer Radke. Jen has endless amounts of experience not just in the industry but in work life. Throughout my summer working as an intern, I asked her so many questions that did not always have to do with the task at hand. She has been extremely open and willing to share experiences and ideas that she has for me and my future.

You were smart to take advantage of Jen’s wealth of industry knowledge. How do you plan to use the knowledge and skills you’ve gained during this internship to achieve your professional goals?

Throughout my academic career, I have been confident in my writing skills whether through essays, blog posts, short responses, etc. This is something that I knew I would be strong in first starting in the internship. While I continued to develop this skill, I was mainly focused on improving my graphic design and videography experience. This was a goal of mine to become a well-rounded professional in social media marketing. All these skills will apply to my future in marketing no matter what industry I enter. As I previously mentioned, a generalist with a specialization, and this experience has set me up to be just that.

What advice would you give to future interns or aspiring Social Media Strategists who are considering pursuing the SMS Certification? How can they make the most of their learning and internship experiences?

I encourage anyone contemplating getting their SMS certification with NISM to do so. Not only do you get the certification which assists tremendously in solidifying your skills in social media marketing but you get to meet and connect with the amazing team at NISM. The certification is great but joining the community is the underlying amazing opportunity. For future interns or those of you in a situation similar to mine, do not be scared to be yourself and show the value that you have. We all can offer something substantial to the team, but it is only beneficial if we do not hide it! 

Joseph, it was a pleasure having you with us this summer. We wish you all the best as you prepare to sit for your SMS exam. Readers, we hope you’ll connect with Joseph on LinkedIn and support him as he continues his journey!