Elizabeth serves as Head of Content at Careers24, and she gave us a sneak peek into her calling so we could learn more about her career.
Elizabeth is Head of Content at Careers24, and she gave us a sneak peek into her calling so we could learn more about her career.
Elizabeth told us that she has always wanted to be a writer, but had no idea how to get someone to pay her for her work. "I decided that I would have to get my foot in the door somehow, so, twelve years ago, I bravely walked into a small community newspaper office and asked if they had literally any position for me. I was offered a marketing job but had no experience (I was studying Communication Science at the time and really wanted to write), so I left with a promise to call me if anything came up."
"Not even 15 minutes later, they called! Their journalist had just resigned, and they needed someone to cover Jacob Zuma’s speech in two days’ time!” she tells us.
Elizabeth shares that seeing her name in print was quite amazing, but she also felt the weight of responsibility – she says ethical reporting and accurate editorial is key to success in the media industry. “I learned so much in my years as a journalist and eventually managing editor of the weekly newspaper. Staring small and working my way up was such a great way to develop my skills and confidence.”
Once she started working at Naspers, within a startup unit, she tells us she enjoyed getting into the digital side of things and that moving through the various businesses and brands really exposed her to the inner workings of digital business in Africa.
Check out the photo series on Instagram/Careers24
A content manager or editor is responsible for creating, editing and sharing content to achieve business goals such as brand awareness or increased sales. The job often includes monitoring web traffic and other metrics to identify areas of improvement, as well as defining a content strategy for the year ahead.
“Currently I lead the content team at Careers24. We share career advice and tips with over 3 million job seekers every month. Together we have published over 1 500 career advice articles! I love that I get to help, motivate and inform local job seekers.”
“One of my favourite articles is the one about how to expunge a criminal record – so many people wrote in thanking us for the advice as they hadn’t even known they had this option. Another favourite is our mental health series, and our in-depth look into the realities of being transgender in the South African workplace. I got to interview and meet so many interesting people.”
Elizabeth shares that Media24 has a great graduate program for youngsters looking to break into the industry, “but no matter how you start off, you must be dedicated, passionate and determined. Writing for a living isn’t as easy as it seems, one needs to have a natural talent that must be nurtured, but it can be very rewarding. And don’t lose yourself in work, remember to also write for fun sometimes!”
If you’d like to be featured in this Instagram series, send a mail to editor@careers24.com, telling us about yourself and your awesome job, and we’ll be in touch!
