𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥. Most of you start by sending generic DMs like. "𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘞𝘦𝘣3 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸. " This alone does not explain why a project should consider you. 𝗛̲𝗲̲𝗿̲𝗲̲ 𝗶̲𝘀̲ 𝗵̲𝗼̲𝘄̲ 𝘁̲𝗼̲ 𝗽̲𝗶̲𝘁̲𝗰̲𝗵̲ 𝘆̲𝗼̲𝘂̲𝗿̲𝘀̲𝗲̲𝗹̲𝗳̲ 𝗯̲𝗲̲𝘁̲𝘁̲𝗲̲𝗿̲ 𝗳̲𝗼̲𝗿̲ 𝗪̲𝗲̲𝗯̲𝟯̲ 𝗼̲𝗽̲𝗽̲𝗼̲𝗿̲𝘁̲𝘂̲𝗻̲𝗶̲𝘁̲𝗶̲𝗲̲𝘀̲ 1. 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 : Before applying, research the project and understand what you are applying for. Find out: ➣What the project does. ➣Who its target users are. ➣What the team is currently building. ➣What opportunities or challenges you can identify. ➣ What the role actually requires. 2. 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 Do not just list your skills. Show what you have actually done. Highlight relevant projects, contributions, strategies, and results you can demonstrate. Your experience becomes more convincing when you can back it up with evidence. 3. 𝗧𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗿 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲 : Different roles require different skills. Your application should reflect the value you can bring to the position you are targeting. ➣ Community Manager: Highlight community engagement, user onboarding, retention, and community initiatives. ➣ Content Strategist: Showcase your research, writing, storytelling, and content planning. ➣ Growth Manager: Demonstrate your understanding of user acquisition, partnerships, growth strategies, and campaigns. Make your relevance obvious. Do not send the same pitch to every project and expect it to work. 4. 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸: Build a portfolio that showcases your abilities through content samples, campaign strategies, community initiatives, and case studies. Do not just tell recruiters what you can do. Give them something concrete to evaluate, such as: ➣Content you have written. ➣Campaigns you have worked on. ➣Growth strategies you have developed. ➣Community initiatives you have managed. ➣Case studies showing how you identify and approach problems. You do not need an impressive portfolio to start. Begin with the work you already have and keep improving it. 5. 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 : Do not just identify yourself as a marketer, community manager, or growth strategist. When appropriate, identify a genuine opportunity for the project and explain how you would approach it. For example, if you notice that a project has an active community but struggles with user retention, briefly explain what you would investigate and the steps you might take to improve it. You do not need to give away an entire growth strategy in your first DM. Show enough insight to make the conversation worth having. 6. 𝗗𝗼 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: You do not need to pretend you have done everything. Be honest about your contribution. If you do not have measurable results, explain the work you actually completed. Focus on your relevant skills and how you can apply them to the role. Credibility matters more than impressive-sounding claims. Final Thoughts Remember, your goal is not to convince everyone to hire you. It is to help the right team recognize your value. You may not have all the experience a role requires, but the way you communicate your value, how concise your pitch is, and the level of critical thinking you demonstrate can still get you through the door.