Can you get a job as a "Social Media Specialist" with a BA degree in Mass Communications?

[RyanB1993]

Title says it all.

Or what other degrees would you guys recommend for this career field? I go to Sac State University and they don't offer anything Digital Media/Social media. I want to go into being like a social media specialist (people that deal with Facebook, Twitter, etc). Would a mass communications degree be the choice for me? Or what other degrees would you guys recommend? Thanks for the help!

[festfan]

The advantage to an emerging field like social media is that the "rules" defining who gets to do what and which credentials they might need to do it are still being written. Having a communications degree certainly would not hurt your chances of landing the position you seek, particularly if your hope is to work online for a traditional media outlet. However, there are many companies Desperate (yes, with a capital D) to hire talented people who have a way with social media, regardless of their educational background.

If you can generate huge numbers of friends or followers and use that base to draw positive attention to your employer's products or services, whatever those may be, you will be in high demand.

What you might want to consider is a special major that ends in a degree with the title of Social Media Specialist. My wife attended Cal State and did this for her corporate public relations degree, combining coursework in mass communications and business to achieve her goal. She worked with an advisor in the mass comm department and they came up with a course schedule that satisfied the university's requirements for a B.A. You might shoot for courses that include mass communications, computer science and sociology. I think such a degree would make you very attractive in the workplace of the future.