As a busy student, the ability to work remotely has changed the game. Over the last 10 weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to work for the City of Scottsbluff as a Social Media Education/Outreach Coordinator. The City of Scottsbluff houses approximately 15 in-person workers with few remote employees. Although I grew up in the Scottsbluff area – a small town in the panhandle of Nebraska – working with the City of Scottsbluff has been an educational journey.
Balancing a full-time student role at DePaul University, part-time employment at 360 Chicago, and remote work through the City of Scottsbluff pushed me to polish my time management skills.
So, let’s see a day in the life!
A typical Thursday morning begins at 7:00. I wake up, check my email, catch up on a few assignments, review my schedule for the day, and make the trek to my in-person Entrepreneurship Strategy class at 10:10. After class, I grab some breakfast, find a quiet spot on campus, and get to work.
I use Meta Business suite to schedule posts on the City’s Instagram and Facebook accounts. My work only accounts for a portion of the city’s online presence, so I look at all other posts to stay updated on what’s happening at city hall. The first thing I do is check on the performance of past posts to see what factors drive engagement. The scope of my internship is to provide informational posts for Scottsbluff’s educational outreach initiatives. As general education content generally receives lower engagement, it’s my job to ensure the posts reach the entire community.
One way I learn that the community responds best is through A/B testing. I’m able to test graphics, text length, tone, color theme. . . etc. So, after diving through all recent A/B tests and general content insights, I find a topic to draft. The city previously uses titles such as, “Trash Tip Tuesday,” “Waterwise Wednesday,” or “Safety Tip Saturday,” so I attempt to format my posting to these titles to ensure a sense of familiarity with the community. My manager provides me with a topic/resource list for the various departments.
Now, time for the post copy. My previous A/B tests reveal that the community prefers a casual, conversational tone. I bounce a few ideas back and forth with ChatGPT. With the help of ChatGPT, I can format cohesive, casual, and informational text for the post in a fraction of the time. ChatGPT does not write the text for me but helps to speed the process up by offering different informational points, creative final sentences, or even suitable emojis.
I schedule the post and hop on a call with my manager. We discuss what the different departments are impressed with and areas I can improve. I offer insight into the steps I’m taking to meet the engagement goals I’ve set for the quarter. Moments to check in and receive feedback are crucial!
After successfully scheduling the post(s), I pack up for the day and head back from campus. Peak times for the City of Scottsbluff’s social media accounts are in the evening, so I hop back on to ensure the content uploads correctly and view any initial metrics.
Some Thursdays, I then head over to my shift at 360 Chicago. Luckily for me, I had the rest of the day off to get ahead on a few school projects.
–Day in the life 5/18-
Throughout this internship, I’ve learned how to set attainable goals and the importance of adhering to job guidelines. The goal metrics I had set at the beginning of the internship were a little too bold for a 10-week position. By revisiting those goals at week 5 and understanding what I’m capable of under the scope of the internship, I set new, attainable goals that accurately display my performance in this position.
As for COVID-19 in the workplace, the Panhandle Public Health District has policies for the City Office and all surrounding businesses. http://www.pphd.org/COVID-19.html
Thanks for reading!
