When you’re on the hunt for a new opportunity, persistence can really pay off in the end. That’s how Vestiigo member Jill de Larzac landed her latest role at Digital Cement as a social media specialist, which allows her to do some really great work with exciting digital media.

When she’s not keeping up to date with the latest digital trends, Jill is an avid sports fan who vlogs about her passion and dreams of being a sports broadcaster. Here’s her advice for fellow career seekers:

Where do you work, what is your current position, and what does it entail? How did you end up getting it?

I work as the Social Media Specialist, Project Manager for Digital Cement. As a social media specialist I get to help the account teams with social media strategies and implementation for our agency clients plus our own branded presence.  It’s a blast, just a bit of a land mine role when trying to navigate the continual changes on social media channels. As a project manager for my department, this is new to me, but as with most PM roles the tasks are pretty traditional with planning, budgeting and keeping things on track.  I got the job as I always wanted to move to the agency world and a friend of mine is at Digital Cement and I simply asked him everyday for months if there was an opening. I’m sure it wasn’t annoying at all, but it paid off in the end!

What’s your dream job? What company would you love to work at?

I have two dream jobs.  One is to be a sports broadcaster for one of the major sports channels in Canada or ESPN in the US.  I have had this one since I was sixteen, just quite a bit harder to get into it I find, especially not being originally from Canada.  My second is a bit more on my career path, but to continue in the agency world and become a social media strategist, and work more on the accounts side of the business.  This one based on my experience seems a bit more likely, but I’ll always keep out hope for the first.

How do you go about getting the attention of a potential employer?

One of the biggest things I advocate is personal branding and not being shy to reach out and ask questions.  In the past if I have seen a job I go onto my Linkedin and look for employees that are in my network from those organizations and simply send them a message to talk about the position.  As a social media person I am a major supporter of building relationships and conversation, I hate to send in a resume blind, I always want to talk to someone about the job first to make an impression that way.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done for a job opportunity? (And did you get it?)

I put together a video and mini-website showing my expertise in sports and PR as that was an internship I was dying to get.  I knew over 3,000 people applied for this and I wanted to stand out. Unfortunately I didn’t get the job, luckily from my efforts I did get feedback that it wasn’t my effort it was simply a graduate student had more experience than I did.  It was a big downer, but it was fun in the end.

What was a mistake you made in an interview? What did you learn from it?

In one of my first interviews I ‘name dropped’ and talked to things I knew in theory but couldn’t really practice.  I was so excited to be in an interview I don’t know what happened but I just kept talking.  I got the role, but had to find something else because they thought I knew much more than I actually did.  I learned that even being around things and understanding philosophies it’s not the same as doing so don’t talk over your experience level.

Any advice for fellow job seekers?

Don’t be shy.  If you need to ask, ask.  People appreciate the enthusiasm of a potential employee that is willing to ask questions and ensure they talk to the right person when applying for a job.

Job hunting is never easy, but always work on your network.  Proving to someone you a a great person, hard worker and enthusiastic about your future can go along way in referrals and recommendations which is what truly helps drive employment.  Make yourself a brand online, stick with it and meet great people along the way and job seeking will continue to get a bit easier.