- Nistha Dube took a risky approach to her job hunt to showcase creativity and innovation.
- Instead of submitting a résumé, she sent her TikTok account and media kit to the company.
This is an as-told-to essay based on an interview with 25-year-old Nistha Dube.
After graduating from the University of Virginia in May 2020, Dube spent 16 months building her personal brand online. But when an opportunity as a social-media manager opened up at an agency in Los Angeles, she decided to apply.
The full-time job would offer her financial stability, which she had not yet reached as a founder, she told Insider. Plus, she could use her content-creation skills to set herself apart as a candidate.
That's why she submitted her TikTok account and media kit to the hiring manager instead of a traditional résumé. Her Gen Z, digital-native idea proved successful: She landed the job and stayed at the company for a year before branching out as an entrepreneur.
My social-media presence showed I was a self-starter
@nisthadube All links in bio #podcast #selfdiscovery ♬ original sound - Axey
Gen Zers have been told time and time again to watch what we post on social media because it could hurt our careers. But in my case, social media was an important tool for helping my career.
Not only have I built an online brand as an entrepreneur, but my TikTok also helped me land a full-time job.
Because of my content on TikTok, a friend connected me with a CEO looking to hire a social-media manager.
When I was applying, I wanted to show my innovation and creativity, so I shared my TikTok account, media kit, and website instead of a traditional résumé and cover letter.
Through my content, brand partnerships, and podcast, the CEO saw that I was a self-starter and that I would be able to learn and adapt quickly, which the job required.
Some industries or companies make it easier to ditch tradition
I would not have taken this approach if I were in another industry. If I were to apply for consulting jobs, I would never post lifestyle or mindfulness content. But finding creative ways to shoot content and build a brand is what this CEO was looking for.
But I knew that a social-media agency in Los Angeles would be much more open to this type of application. In LA, they want you to be on social media, to be creative, and to be out of the box.
I wouldn't recommend that all Gen Zers take this route, but the nature of the industry and the culture of this startup made me feel confident in my application.
I backed it up with job-specific credentials
My application still included the metrics I needed to prove my success, just like a résumé should.
I included specific insights on interaction and engagement — like the number of shares and comments I typically receive — to prove my capabilities in community-building.
Knowing the agency worked with both personal and consumer brands, I included information about my one-on-one coaching business. That experience made me a good candidate for leading workshops and strategy calls with personal-brand clients, which was a major part of the role.
And my past partnerships with companies like Wellory, Amazon's Alexa, and Cloudy proved that I could effectively market products and generate partnership leads.
With all of the content I showed as examples, I made sure to demonstrate how I'd used viral audios to gain traction on social media.
Growing up with social media has given many people in Gen Z the ability to be effective marketers. We can break through corporate speak, create humorous content, show more of our personalities, and be more expressive online. Today, even major corporations are looking to do that.
That's why my application worked: It displayed my natural ability to create content and build communities online, which is exactly what the job called for.
After a year, I took the skills I learned at the agency — including content pillars, caption strategies, and creative direction — to focus on my personal brand. That way, I could continue making content that excites me and build a community of my own.