# Social Media Jobs: The Types of Roles and How to Get One > Social media jobs range from entry-level coordinator roles that schedule posts and reply to comments, through specialist, manager and strategist roles that own a brand's channels and results, to specialist tracks in community, creator partnerships, paid social and analytics. Most people start as a coordinator or in a neighboring role and move up by showing results they drove. Canonical: https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/social-media-jobs/ Published by the Know the Room team (https://knowtheroom.ai/authors/know-the-room-team/). Updated 2026-10-24. ## Key takeaways - Social media jobs run from coordinator to head of social, with specialist tracks in community, creators, paid social and analytics. - Most people start a social media career as a coordinator or specialist, or by running accounts for a small business, club or themselves. - Hiring managers for social media jobs look at accounts you have run and the results, often before they read a resume closely. - The same social media job is posted under many titles, so search for social, content, community and creator roles. - The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has no separate social media occupation; most roles fall in the market research analysts and marketing specialists group. ## What kinds of social media jobs are there? Social media jobs split into two groups: roles that run a brand's channels, and specialist roles that go deep on one part of the work. The channel roles form a ladder from coordinator to head of social. The specialist roles cover community, creators, paid social and measurement. Titles vary a lot between companies, so read the responsibilities in a posting before you decide what level it is. | Job | What it does | Typical level | |---|---|---| | [Social media coordinator](/career-guides/social-media-coordinator/) | Schedules posts, writes captions, replies to comments, pulls reports | Entry level | | [Social media specialist](/career-guides/social-media-specialist/) | Runs one or more channels day to day, makes content, tracks results | Early career | | [Social media manager](/career-guides/how-to-become-a-social-media-manager/) | Owns the brand's social plan, team or agency, and results | Mid-level | | [Social media strategist](/career-guides/social-media-strategist/) | Decides where and how a brand shows up on social, and why | Mid to senior | | [Community manager](/career-guides/community-manager/) | Looks after the people around the brand: comments, groups, forums, events | Early career to senior | | [Influencer marketing](/career-guides/influencer-marketing-jobs/) | Finds, briefs and pays creators, and measures what they deliver | Early career to senior | | [UGC creator](/career-guides/ugc-creator/) | Makes videos and photos for brands to post or run as ads | Freelance | | Paid social ([media buyer](/career-guides/media-buyer/), [performance marketing](/career-guides/performance-marketing-manager/)) | Buys and optimizes ads on Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn and others | Early career to senior | | Social analytics | Reports on social performance, listening and competitors | Early career to mid | | Head or director of social | Sets social strategy across the brand and leads the team | Senior | ## Where can you find social media job openings? Search the big job sites and company careers pages under every title the work goes by, not only "social media." The same job is posted as social media, social content, community, creator partnerships, influencer marketing or paid social, depending on the company. - **LinkedIn Jobs and Indeed.** Save a search for each title above, filtered by level and remote or location. - **Careers pages of brands you already follow.** Consumer brands with busy social accounts hire social teams; check the careers page of the ones whose posts you admire. - **Agencies.** Social and creative agencies hire coordinators and strategists in batches when they win clients, and their careers pages list roles that never reach the job boards. - **People.** A short note to a social lead whose work you like, with one specific observation about their channels, gets more replies than a cold application. ## What does each social media job do? Each social media job owns a different part of the work, from scheduling posts and replying to comments up to setting strategy for every channel. Here is what the day looks like in each role, in plain terms. ### Social media coordinator A coordinator keeps the calendar moving. You schedule posts, write first drafts of captions, resize assets, reply to comments and messages, and pull the weekly numbers. It's the most common way in, and the [social media coordinator guide](/career-guides/social-media-coordinator/) has a job description and the skills hiring managers look for. ### Social media specialist A specialist does the hands-on work with more independence. You might run TikTok and Instagram yourself, shoot and edit short videos, and suggest what to change based on the numbers. At some companies "specialist" is the entry role; at others it sits between coordinator and manager. The [social media specialist guide](/career-guides/social-media-specialist/) explains how to tell which. ### Social media manager A manager owns the plan and answers for the results. You decide what the brand posts where, brief designers and creators, approve work, manage a coordinator or an agency, and report to marketing leadership. See [how to become a social media manager](/career-guides/how-to-become-a-social-media-manager/) and the [social media manager job description](/career-guides/social-media-manager-job-description/). ### Social media strategist A strategist works on the why: which audiences matter, which platforms to prioritize, what the brand should sound like and how social supports the business goal. The title is common at agencies, where strategists write the plan and pitch it to clients. Read the [social media strategist guide](/career-guides/social-media-strategist/). ### Community manager A community manager looks after the people, not the posts. You run comment moderation, a Discord server or Facebook group, ambassador programs and sometimes events, and you feed what customers say back to the business. The [community manager guide](/career-guides/community-manager/) covers the role. ### Influencer and creator partnerships These roles find creators who fit the brand, negotiate fees or product deals, write briefs, make sure sponsored posts are disclosed properly and measure the results. Titles include influencer marketing manager, creator partnerships manager and talent manager at an agency. See [influencer marketing jobs](/career-guides/influencer-marketing-jobs/). ### UGC creator A UGC creator makes content for brands to use, usually short videos that look like a customer filmed them. It's mostly freelance work paid per video. The [UGC creator guide](/career-guides/ugc-creator/) explains how it differs from being an influencer. ### Paid social Paid social roles plan, buy and optimize ads on platforms like Meta, TikTok, Pinterest and LinkedIn. You live in the ad manager tools, test creative and audiences, and report cost per result. The work overlaps with [media buyer](/career-guides/media-buyer/) and [performance marketing manager](/career-guides/performance-marketing-manager/) roles. ### Social analytics and listening Analytics roles turn social data into decisions: weekly reports, competitor benchmarks, social listening on what people say about the brand, and campaign readouts. It's a good fit if you like spreadsheets more than shooting video. The skills overlap with [marketing analyst](/career-guides/how-to-become-a-marketing-analyst/) roles. ### Head of social or director of social The senior role sets social strategy across the brand, owns the budget, leads the team and agencies, and represents social to the CMO. You're judged on what social does for the brand and the business, not on single posts. ## Which social media job is right for you? Pick the role that matches the part of the work you already do well, then check the posting's responsibilities rather than its title. - **You make content and love the platforms:** coordinator, specialist or UGC creator. - **You're good with people and conversations:** community manager or creator partnerships. - **You like numbers and testing:** paid social or social analytics. - **You think in plans and audiences:** strategist, then manager. - **You've owned results and led people:** manager, then head of social. If you're new to marketing, the [entry-level marketing jobs](/career-guides/entry-level-marketing-jobs/) page shows how social roles compare with the other ways in. ## How do you get a social media job? You get hired by showing work and results, because a hiring manager can look at accounts you've run in a few minutes. A degree helps for some employers; proof helps with all of them. 1. **Pick a target role.** Coordinator, community or UGC if you're starting out; specialist or manager if you've already run channels. 2. **Build proof.** Run social for a club, nonprofit, local business or your own niche account for a few months. Keep the before-and-after numbers and screenshots. 3. **Put it in a portfolio.** Three to five short case studies: the goal, what you made, what happened, what you learned. The [social media manager portfolio](/career-guides/social-media-manager-portfolio/) guide shows the format, and it works at every level. 4. **Learn the tools the postings name.** Usually a scheduler (Sprout Social, Hootsuite, Later or similar), native analytics, Canva, CapCut and for paid roles the ad managers. Free courses from [Meta Blueprint](https://www.facebookblueprint.com/), [HubSpot Academy](https://academy.hubspot.com/) and [Hootsuite Academy](https://www.hootsuite.com/academy) are a reasonable start; a certificate never replaces a portfolio. 5. **Tailor each application.** Match your resume lines to the posting's top responsibilities and lead with results. The [social media manager resume](/career-guides/social-media-manager-resume/) guide has examples you can adapt for any level. 6. **Study the brand before the interview.** Look at its recent posts, comments, creators and ads next to two competitors, and come in with one or two specific ideas. If step 2 feels like a big ask, start smaller: a few weeks of steady posting on one account is enough for a first case study. ## What do employers look for on a social media resume? They look for results you were responsible for, on the platforms they care about. A line like "Managed Instagram" says very little; a line with the goal, the action and the outcome says a lot. ```text Grew [platform] followers from [starting number] to [ending number] in [time] by [what you changed: e.g. moving to three short videos a week built around customer questions]. Ran [number] creator partnerships for [product launch], from shortlist and brief to disclosure checks and reporting; the posts drove [result: e.g. clicks, sign-ups, sales]. Cut average response time to comments and DMs from [before] to [after] by [what you set up: e.g. saved replies and a daily triage rota]. ``` Use real numbers only. If you don't have them, describe the scope ("three accounts, five posts a week") rather than guessing. Treat these lines as shapes and put them in your own words; your resume is the first sample of your writing they'll see. ## How much do social media jobs pay? It depends on the role, the level and where you work, and BLS doesn't publish a separate social media occupation. Most social roles fall in the BLS group for market research analysts and marketing specialists; our [social media manager salary](/career-salaries/social-media-manager/) and [marketing specialist salary](/career-salaries/marketing-specialist/) pages show those figures by percentile and state. Senior social and paid media leaders sometimes sit closer to [advertising and promotions managers](/career-salaries/advertising-manager/). ## What interview questions do social media jobs ask? Expect to walk through posts you made and why they worked, how you measure success, how you'd handle a negative comment going viral, and what you'd change about the brand's channels. Many teams set a short take-home such as a content plan or a channel audit. Talk about your work the way you'd talk about it with a friend who also loves social; your own taste and voice are part of what a social team is hiring. Our [social media manager interview questions](/interview-questions/social-media-manager/) cover all of these with example answers, and most apply at coordinator and specialist level too. ## FAQ ### Can you get a social media job with no experience? Yes, at coordinator or intern level, if you can show accounts you've built or run. Experience doesn't have to come from a paid job. A [social media internship](/career-guides/social-media-internship/) is another common route in. ### Are social media jobs remote? Many are hybrid or remote, especially at agencies and online brands, because the work happens on a laptop and a phone. Roles that involve shooting content on site, events or retail tend to want people in person. The posting will say. ### Do you need a degree for a social media job? Not always. Many postings list a degree in marketing, communications or similar, but a strong portfolio often carries more weight, especially for coordinator, specialist and creator roles. ### What's the highest-level social media job? Head of social or director of social at most companies, sometimes VP of social or social and content at large consumer brands. From there, people often move into broader brand, content or communications leadership. ### Is social media a good career? It can be, if you like making things, reading numbers and working in public. The platforms change constantly, so you'll keep learning, and the skills carry into brand, content and creator marketing later on. ### How can you use social media to find a job? Use it to be found and to get noticed by the right people. Keep your LinkedIn headline and summary clear about the job you want, follow the companies you'd like to work for, and comment thoughtfully on posts from people on those teams. For social media roles especially, your own accounts are part of your application, so post a little about what you're learning. Our [LinkedIn headline examples](/career-guides/linkedin-headline-examples/) help with the first step. ### Do employers check your social media? Many do look, and for social media jobs you should assume they will, because your accounts show how you write, what you notice and what you'd bring to their brand. You don't need a polished personal brand: make sure public posts are ones you'd be comfortable with a hiring manager seeing, and highlight anything you've made that shows your skills. ### Are paid social media jobs legit? Real social media jobs are, but be careful with offers that pay you to like, post or follow, or that ask you to pay for training before you start. The FTC warns about [task scams](https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2024/11/task-scams-create-illusion-making-money) and [social media job scams that charge for training](https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2024/06/job-scams-start-social-media-appointment-setters), and says honest employers never ask you to pay to get a job. Check the company's own careers page, and report scams at [ReportFraud.ftc.gov](https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/). ## More on Social media jobs - [Social media coordinator](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/social-media-coordinator.md) - [Social media specialist](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/social-media-specialist.md) - [Social media strategist](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/social-media-strategist.md) - [Social media manager](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/how-to-become-a-social-media-manager.md) - [Community manager](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/community-manager.md) - [Social media internship](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/social-media-internship.md) - [Social media analyst](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/social-media-analyst.md) - [Social media coordinator cover letter](https://knowtheroom.ai/cover-letters/social-media-coordinator.md) - [Social media coordinator resume](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/social-media-coordinator-resume.md) - [Social media coordinator interview questions](https://knowtheroom.ai/interview-questions/social-media-coordinator.md) ## More on Creators and influencer marketing - [Influencer marketing jobs](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/influencer-marketing-jobs.md) - [UGC creator](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/ugc-creator.md) - [Content creator resume](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/content-creator-resume.md) - [Influencer marketing interview questions](https://knowtheroom.ai/interview-questions/influencer-marketing.md) - [Affiliate marketing manager](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/affiliate-marketing-manager.md) - [Brand ambassador](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/brand-ambassador.md) - [Brand ambassador resume](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/brand-ambassador-resume.md) - [Brand ambassador cover letter](https://knowtheroom.ai/cover-letters/brand-ambassador.md) - [Content creator cover letter](https://knowtheroom.ai/cover-letters/content-creator.md) - [Brand ambassador interview questions](https://knowtheroom.ai/interview-questions/brand-ambassador.md) - [Content creator interview questions](https://knowtheroom.ai/interview-questions/content-creator.md) - [How to become an influencer](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/how-to-become-an-influencer.md) - [Micro influencer](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/micro-influencer.md) - [How to become a content creator](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/how-to-become-a-content-creator.md) - [Make money as a content creator](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/how-to-make-money-as-a-content-creator.md) - [Content creator jobs](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/content-creator-jobs.md) - [LinkedIn content creator](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/linkedin-content-creator.md) - [Affiliate marketing jobs](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/affiliate-marketing-jobs.md) ## More on Community manager - [Community manager](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/community-manager.md) - [Community manager interview questions](https://knowtheroom.ai/interview-questions/community-manager.md)