With the world in lockdown, school online, and unemployment at its highest, looking at the job market for the future can feel depressing. You feel like you should be doing something, but what can you do?
Bogged down during quarantine, there’s an easy resource that can help ease your stress. Follow along for some tips and tricks on how to get the most out of TikTok – I promise, it isn’t just an app for dancing.
First, I want to clarify that pretty much anyone can post anything online and claim to be someone they aren’t. It’s really important to check if a post or account is verified! Always double check whether information is true with a Google search. My advice is to stick to verified accounts and their affiliates because they’re usually the most trustworthy.
In my opinion, the best accounts to follow are study inspiration/help accounts. For example, as someone who wants to go to medical school, I love looking at MCAT questions and answers. The MCAT tag on TikTok is full of helpful resources to help you study. You can follow tags like #premed and #mcatprep to get more information and resources to help you along the way.
Something that also helped me a lot was listening to current medical students talk about their interviews for medical school. They give you past questions and their answers to share insight. Hearing from real people about their experiences was so important and helpful not only to get information, but also to stay motivated. There’s something really impactful about seeing students dressed up in their lab coats, sharing their success stories.
Another great thing about TikTok is how social it is. You can really meaningfully interact with content creators (in my case medical students and doctors) by leaving comments on their posts. Generally, the people running those accounts want you to succeed, so they post information and resources to help.
You can also easily network and make connections! There are so many brands that are interested in recruiting through social media apps like TikTok, and making networking connections can really impact your career.
With the pandemic, it’s really hard to find things to do right now. You might feel like all your plans are for “post-pandemic,” but TikTok shows that you can be doing something right now.
Through TikTok, I was able to find out about online shadowing opportunities for medical school. Friends of mine were able to find information about remote internships, ranging from working in public relations to fashion or even pre-law. Often, pages on TikTok will link to other accounts and websites that have tons of helpful links and information.
Again, make sure to double check that you’re looking at trustworthy information, and any time you find a link online, do a test to see if it’s safe. Call the number to see if a human, not a robot, answers, and check when the website was last updated and if there’s any reviews. Be smart and safe when approaching online opportunities, and never give out any personal information like credit card numbers.
We’re all struggling with motivation right now, but watching a few TikToks can make a big difference. You can stay on top of the job field and get some cool tips!