How social media helped me get a job during the pandemic.
As a dancer in progress, going into lockdown was a big knockout punch to my plans. Studios were shut and performances were cancelled. The only option I could see to make some money was through teaching dance online.
Online? Over video calls? Was it possible? Well, it turned out that it was going to become the norm, for a year at least. I did have an in-depth knowledge of various contemporary and Indian classical dance techniques, and was qualified to teach the beginner level at least. So, I began. I asked a good friend of mine to make the poster on photoshop while I began planning how my classes would be. It turned out that I could make a pretty fun and creative 5 session course. Great! Let’s do it.
How many joined in the first batch? Four. How many of them were my friends? Four.
How many joined for the next batch? Zero.
Video classes becoming the norm resulted in everyone teaching everything online for very minimal rates. There were classes for Bollywood dance, dance and fitness, zumba, salsa, hip hop, jazz, ballet and a whole lot more. And this was only in the realm of dancing! There were infinite other areas of interests people could find online classes for. The result? My classes started and ended with only one batch despite being fun and informative.
It seemed like my dance career wouldn’t survive the pandemic. So, after wasting a whole lot of days playing games on my laptop, I stumbled upon a 20 video long beginners course on learning Illustrator on Youtube. A light bulb lit up inside my head. This had the potential of being a new outlet for my creativity.
And so I began. I finished the beginners course in no time and started making simple illustrations. Surprisingly, people liked it. At least 30 of them on Instagram did. So, I went on to the advanced illustrator course and my new illustrations got me 35 likes. I was gaining momentum. I started learning all the apps and design theories I could find on the internet. I found a video on learning everything about Premiere Pro, which led me to make two dance video projects; shot, danced and edited by me, loved by over 1k people (yeah, big number). I started designing logos for my cousins’ businesses and that led to designing logos for their friends’ businesses. I finished beginners and advanced courses on Photoshop and in the process learnt how to make composites and turn my imagination into a reality. The photo on top is an example. Pretty cool.
Next step. Testing. To test my proficiency in each of these apps I took online quizzes on Pluralsight and lo and behold, I got an expert level result in two out of three of them. Naturally, I wanted to seem cool and show off a bit on Instagram so I shared screenshots of these results on my stories, with a gif saying “I’m the boss, Imma shine like gloss” (I’m proud of it). And that story right there, changed the game for me. I got a text from the director of a marketing startup, asking me whether I’d be interested in joining their team as a graphic designer. Really? A job offer? Yes, it was. I took the job and I’m still happily employed.
My takeaway?
Don’t be afraid to showcase your achievements. The world isn’t as unforgiving as it is thought to be. Creativity and learning is appreciated and encouraged. Otherwise why would there be so many online classes? Learn and share. You might find someone who’ll start paying you for it.
