The pathway
How you actually get there, here
How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.
- 1
Digital Communications Coordinator / Assistant
1-2 yearsSkills to master
- Scheduling content, basic media monitoring, drafting simple social posts, understanding brand guidelines, supporting campaign execution.
You're ready to move on when
- Consistently accurate and timely content scheduling.
- Proactive in flagging routine media mentions.
- Able to draft social copy that requires minimal edits.
- Reliable support for larger digital campaigns.
- 2
Social Media Intern / Junior Social Media Executive
1-2 yearsSkills to master
- Community management basics, content curation, understanding platform nuances, tracking basic engagement metrics, learning social media tools.
You're ready to move on when
- Positive and appropriate interactions with online community.
- Identifies trending topics relevant to the brand.
- Can pull basic engagement reports and identify top-performing content.
- Comfortable using social listening tools for simple monitoring.
- 3
Marketing Assistant (Digital Focus)
2-3 yearsSkills to master
- Understanding integrated marketing campaigns, basic content creation for digital channels, email marketing fundamentals, some exposure to web analytics.
You're ready to move on when
- Successfully contributed digital content to marketing campaigns.
- Can articulate how digital comms supports broader marketing goals.
- Experience with email marketing platforms and basic audience segmentation.
- Comfortable with basic data analysis for digital channels.