Its that time of the year again. No, we are not talking about the one for eggnog, shopping, and Elf on constant replay. It’s that time we have to sit through holiday dinners with our distant aunts, uncles, grandmas, and relatives badgering you with those questions.
Yes, you know the ones.
The ones that you have standard answers for.
Or the ones that it's easier to lie to Dear Aunt Susan rather than tell the honest answer. Well, do not fear, The Niche Movement has broken down the most common questions and answers you can armor yourself with to get through dinner in one piece.
What do you do again?
The impact of the technological revolution can be seen everywhere from our shopping tendencies (thank you Amazon prime), to our travel (hello, AirBNB), even down to our job titles. Our business cards went from more simplistic titles like teacher, CPA, or Project Manager to one's infused with technology like Social Strategy Manager or Director of Community. To our relatives (or sometimes even our own friends) these creative and innovative based jobs can seem unimportant to the bottom line or even worse, made up. While social media has caused the confusion, platforms like Twitter and Facebook give us resources to combat the doubters. Both social companies provide analytics to both personal pages and business pages. By spending a few minutes with that data, you can show others your benefit to a company through the number of engagements, followers, or interactions. These analytic reports even break the number down by month so you can compare how well you’ve been doing since you joined the company. By answering this question with hard, factual numbers, no cynical Aunt or Uncle can break you!
Are you still doing that Twitter thing?
Despite the fact that social media has impacted the world with a bang big enough to forever change its day-to-day activities, we all know those who still question if it’s a fad or not. It may be sound like a tall order to make your family see the value of social media by the end of your holiday meal. However, by showing them a few simple aspects of the internet that interest them, you may just turn them from a non-believer to a kinda-sorta-maybe believer. Pinterest and Instagram are the social media platforms best fit for this job. Whether people’s interests are hand knit boots for their cat, WWII memorabilia, or craft beer both platforms are sure to have something for them. Pinterest lays out their data in visually pleasing ways that are very user-friendly while Instagram has the ability to discover your favorite interests through hashtag searches. So, instead of being offended by this mocking question, see if you can turn your relatives onto something new. If you can do this, we guarantee better presents next year.
You know what you should be doing...
Though some of our relatives will be the first to admit they don’t understand technology and the new ways of working, there are often times they are the first to lend their opinions on what you should be doing. These suggestions are often as old school as their outfit choices. Think, “my friend Ellen’s son is the manager at the local bank and you would make the best teller!” With remote working, co-working spaces, and start-ups on the rise, our relatives may be making these suggestions because unlike in generations past, they can’t physically see us in our workspaces. Therefore, they can’t see if we are fulfilled and happy each day. Getting a job even looks different to our generation compared to theirs. Resumes were previously the only space solely for promoting oneself. Now, however, our abilities to connect and network are constant thanks to social media making it so a career opportunity could happen literally at anytime. One simple solution to this issue is to show them your Instagram account. We all love to share our photos through the visual platform and since a huge portion of our weeks are consumed with our careers, why not make our times at work highlighted on the app. Whether it be lunch with our coworkers or a shot of our to-do lists, actually seeing what our day looks like visually will reaffirm our career happiness to our relatives.
By using social media to combat tech doubters, we hope to make this holiday dinner a little easier to sit through for all our Niche Movement followers. If you have a career related question you’ve been asked share it will us @nichemovement on Twitter.
Happy Holidays!
By Emilie Buckley