What is it like to work for one of the world’s leading social media platforms? The University of Sussex Business School blog recently caught up with International Business BSc graduate Jamila Campbell-Allen, now working as a Content Coordinator for the Editorial team at LinkedIn. She shares how resilience, perseverance and self-belief helped to secure her perfect job role after university.

How did you land your current role at LinkedIn?

It's a bit of an odd story, as I discovered my current job as a result of getting turned down for another role. I was on LinkedIn looking for graduate roles, and I came across the Business Leadership Program, which is the LinkedIn graduate scheme, based in Dublin. You do a variety of different rotations over two years.

It is primarily sales based, which I wasn’t massively keen on, but I knew there would be an opportunity to move into marketing, and potentially the editorial team, so I applied because I thought it sounded interesting. I passed three stages, a written application, a functional; skills-based element, and a group problem-solving task on Zoom. Unfortunately, they didn't offer me the job, so I just thought, okay, it's fine. It’s just not for me.

That was in January last year, then, about two months later I was still on LinkedIn looking for work as I hadn’t secured anything else yet, when I saw a message from my recruitment contact. When you apply for a job on LinkedIn you get paired with an internal recruiter from the talent acquisition team at LinkedIn, they go through the process with you and give you feedback. I messaged her back saying I was still looking for work. She told me they were still looking at roles for high performing candidates who hadn't been offered the Business Leadership Program (BLP). They had a job opening in the Editorial team for LinkedIn and as I had created content, both in my previous roles and in my spare time, I could be a suitable candidate so would I like an interview?

What was the application process like for LinkedIn?

The initial stage was a phone call from the editorial team asking ‘why do you think we do the work that we do in the editorial team?’ The second stage was to pitch a new LinkedIn list that we could launch on the platform to companies based around ‘top companies.’

The final stage was an interview with the senior director of the team, who is now my manager. They asked me more in-depth questions about myself and the way I work, both within a team and independently. I got the good news that I had been successful in May 2022.

I believe everything happens for a reason because I got the job I would have preferred anyway. It is much more closely related to my interests and skill set. Sometimes when you don't get a job it's not because you're not good enough, it's because you’re better suited to something else.

What does your typical working day look like?

Every day is different, which I love. I have tasks that I complete every week; for example, a big part of my role now is branching out the communications in my team because I work across a team of editors and creator managers all over the world, so there are 130 people on the team.

Because of this it’s difficult to share information with everyone at the right time, so I ensure that important information or news from higher up is successfully disseminated across the whole team.  I also assist the senior director, help with leadership presentations, and work with the talent development team on workshop sessions and training for the wider team, which can be challenging to organize as everyone is working in different time zones.

How did you find the first few months of the role compared to being at university?

It was a new way of working for me, because I think when you're at university there is a lot of independent work which is great, it’s good to be self-motivated but coming into this team was an interesting new dynamic to try and navigate. I’ve learnt the importance of communication within a team and how to work effectively with others, and it really builds your confidence.

When I first started it felt a little overwhelming, but the team are incredibly supportive. They reassured me that it takes at least six months to become familiar with the role. I’ve been with the company for a year now, so I finally feel like I know what’s going on.

As you know the job market is highly competitive, do you have any tips on becoming resilient?

I think applying for so many jobs and being rejected helps build your resilience. My current role was my 46th job application. It’s hard when you spend time on applications and go through the interview process only to get rejected, but what I think really helps is positive self-talk. I would always tell myself, this one just wasn't for me and there is something better coming. If you stick at it, the right job will land at the right time.

I also think it’s good to try and do something tangible with your interests too. During the pandemic, I decided to start a food Instagram page. I really like cooking and going out to eat so it was something I enjoyed doing. Creating content about food gave me a focus and allowed me to be creative. I also added my Instagram handle to my job applications which really did help me to stand out. It acted as a portfolio of my interests, so it was another way to highlight my skills and productivity.

If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?

If I could give myself one piece of advice, I would say just stick at it and have more confidence in your ability. Believing in yourself is so important. I used to stress myself out thinking I didn’t have anything to offer which is sad as I don’t think that now. I now know I have a lot to offer. I know what I’m naturally skilled at.

What are your future aspirations?

I see myself at LinkedIn for a good few years. There is quite a lot of opportunity for internal mobility at LinkedIn, so I would like to do some shadowing with the executive engagement team as I'm really interested in the work they do. I’m also interested in the creator manager role. They coach and manage creators on LinkedIn, who are producing consistent content, as well as managing the influencers, like the Richard Branson, so I would love to do that as well.

Long term I can see myself starting my own business in talent or artist management. I think it’s important to start off working for someone else’s company initially. Building a business is a big learning curve, you will come up across a lot of adversity, so doing all the groundwork first whilst working for someone else then gives you the skills and knowledge to apply the same principles and structure to your own business without too much risk.

Who is your role model and how do they inspire you?

I would have to say, my mum. She didn’t do the typical thing of her time like a lot of her brothers and sisters. Her parents wanted her to become a lawyer, but she was strong minded about what she wanted to do. She pursued her passion and became a graphic designer.

I really admire her for doing that because I know for myself there have been points where I thought I should take the safe route. She knows what she likes and likes what she knows, and I’m the same. Doing something different can be quite scary, but seeing her success from following her passion made me think I can do something I love for a living.

Students can connect with an international network of alumni like Jamila through Sussex Connect.

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