Susan Gill attended the University of Missouri, earning a Bachelor's degree in journalism.

Gill
started working at Virginia Tech eight years ago as the Digital Content Specialist for the College
of Agriculture and Life Science. In 2016, Gill was then named the Director of New Media, the
position she holds today.

Gill sat down with Braden McMahon on February 7th, 2020, to discuss her career in
communication for a media writing assignment.

[Edited for content]

What was your first job right out of college?

When I graduated, I moved to Riverside, California, where I got my first job at a local newspaper
called The Press-Enterprise. I was the newspaper’s designer, meaning I worked a lot on the
design page layout. I was able to very thankfully get a job actually in my career path right out of
college. I felt very lucky because that does not usually happen. I worked as the newspaper
designer for about four years, until they moved me to marketing. For newspapers, this sadly
means you are designing these very large and ugly pages with small pictures of cars or real
estate. It was by no means sexy but I did start learning about marketing as opposed to journalism
and the distinction between the two. I was able to take all of those learning experiences I had at
the newspaper and from other jobs, and apply it all to the work I do here at Virginia Tech.

What is your position here at Virginia Tech and what does it entail?
I am the Director of New Media for Virginia Tech. I had a really great opportunity because the
position I am in did not exist before. I was able to figure out what the need was, why they were
creating the position and what I could bring to it. My team oversees the social media strategy for
the main university accounts. We also advise anyone else who uses social media on behalf of the
university on best practices and on different ways to make sure we are all cohesive in our brand.
The other part of my job is working with the university's Advancements, which includes the
fundraising and alumni engagement for our university. I have gotten to learn a lot about
nonprofits and fundraising through this job.

Do you like the aspect of social media and engagement in the communication industry
better than working strictly in journalism?
It definitely has its pluses and minus. I went into journalism because I believe in the idea of a
strong institution for a strong democracy. However, it has changed so much since I have been in
it, in terms of the geopolitical landscape as well as the technological side of things. It is nice
working in higher education because it is a lot more stable and the pay is better. I enjoy doing
marketing here at Tech more than I did when I was doing corporate marking because of the
product we are putting out there. I feel good about promoting higher education because it is so
vital and important to our society.
How do you think social media has shaped the communications industry today?
From a public relations standpoint, it has made everything very reactive. Public relations used to
be: the company controls the story, they put it out there the way they want it to be out there and
they have anticipated questions that you would get back. Now, and really in the past four years,
there has been this big shift in trying to be as proactive as possible. Social media has made things
move so quickly, causing things to have the ability to get out of hand really easily.

How do you handle the fast pace of social media?

Another large part of my job is monitoring with a lot of listening. I let my boss know what
people are saying, and then I will make recommendations about what we say and how we say it.
We get a lot of information from social media. The danger is that when there is so much volume,
it can seem so loud. There is this jerk reaction where we feel we have to respond to something
right at that moment, but in reality, it's usually not the smartest move. Sometimes, it's just people
venting, but it could also highlight a greater issue.

Has there been a recent situation on social media that has highlighted a larger issue on
campus?
There have been numerous people over the last couple of years that say there are not enough
counselors at Cook Counseling. The reality is that the university has actually added a bunch
more counselors but because that's not something we want to capitalize on, the fact that we were
short-staffed, there have not been many updates about this issue. From the public relations side,
there is a really good way to tell that story so that people know that there are more resources than
there used to be. If that story is not out there, then people will just harp on their one bad
experience. To try and prevent that from happening, we have to respond and let the community
know of the changes.

For your position, what do you think are the most important qualities for someone to have
in order to excel?
You have to have a good sense of humor. Social media can be a very dark place sometimes,
therefore, you have to have ways to help you not get dragged down by it. Knowing how to build
relationships is also really key, especially because most teams are like mine, only one or two
people doing a very large amount of work. I would love to have two more people on my team
just to do content creation and project planning. It is also good to have a risk assessment
mentality because it stops you from doing anything that can harm you or your company.

Do you see any growth in your team coming in the near future?
I hope this summer to be able to list a position. I am not exactly sure what that looks like yet
because I am still trying to pinpoint where we need the most help. One area that we do need help
in is analytics and reporting. Measuring and reporting on the data that is created through social
media campaigns is very important because it allows us to determine the success of the campaign
and plan ways to make the next one even better. You may find when you are in the workforce
that it is very difficult to get people to stop and measure because by the time something is done
you are so sick of looking at it and you just want to move on. From a project management
perspective, measuring is really important.

Were there any moments where you remember questioning the career path you went
down?
The only time I questioned or was scared of the future was when there were layoffs at the
newspaper I worked at in California. It was a very nerve-racking experience. It was a good
experience because it made me think and figure out my translatable skills, more commonly
referred to as soft skills. These are the extra skills that are not necessarily trained but are the
innate skills that you have developed. You pair those skills with the skills you have been trained
on or that you have experience in to create your portfolio of skills. During that time, I was trying
to figure out what I would be doing if I was no longer working for this newspaper. All of this
uncertainty on whether or not I was going to keep my job, gave me the motivation to try and
expand the learned skills that I had.

What advice would you give a communications major who would one day want to have
your job or a similar one?
I think giving yourself a breadth of knowledge helps a person in the communications field. If you
get the opportunity, you should try and take as many courses that are completely different than
your required major classes. This will give you access to a vast amount of knowledge that could
potentially help you in your future career.

What is one of the greatest achievements you have had in your career?
More recently, it was Giving Day. A specialist came down to work with my team and others to
create a culture of philanthropy that did not exist here at Tech. We have a lot of alumni who give
back and donate money but these individuals tend to only engage with Tech when they reach the
age of 50. Giving day made it more manageable for people to participate in donating back to the
university at any age. This was the first project that I managed from start to finish, since
receiving my Project Management Certification. I was able to put the skills I learned to use,
which was gratifying and exciting seeing that my hard work paid off. We wanted Giving Day to
become a tradition. We had to not only plan it and make it happen, but we also had to implement
software for its continuation, educate colleagues about it, and figure out how to set ourselves up
for success years down the line. It was bringing all of those things together that was very
energizing. I have been lucky to be able to hand it off fully to our annual giving team, who are
the fundraising experts. I feel really good that I was able to at least get it off the ground and then
hand it over to the people who can continue to make it a success.

You mentioned a Project Management Certification, what is that and what does that
entail?
If you have the opportunity to do any project management training, it can make you incredibly
marketable. I find it extremely valuable because it has taught me how to properly organize my
work. I decided to do the self-guided online version of the curriculum because it fits best with
my schedule and was the cheaper option. After finishing the curriculum, you register to take a
test and if you pass, you are a certified project manager. I am able to take what I learned during
the course and apply it to the projects I am doing here at Virginia Tech. In order to keep up with
it, I have to earn 60 credits in the two years after I received my certification. To earn these
credits, I can go to chapter meetings, participate in webinars, or go to different events that help
to continue my professional development. Overall, it has taught me how to keep things moving
forward in an efficient manner.

What would make a recent graduate looking for a job in this field stand out in the job
market?
One quality that I was definitely looking for in a candidate when I was hiring was maturity. We
deal a lot with confidentiality and sensitive topics so I was really looking for someone with that
high level of maturity. It is very different doing social media for an institution or a business
compared to doing it for yourself. An individual who can separate themselves from their
personal accounts, while still bringing a voice is valuable to a company or business. I look for
those qualities in a portfolio. I like to see a demonstrated ability to do a variety of different skills,
as well as maintaining awareness for the voice. It comes down to personality because on paper
everyone is pretty much the same. It is not until you get to meet someone when you figure out
how qualified they are on a deeper level. It is really about getting to know the business and what
it needs. The fast-food restaurant Wendy's, for example, gets to be super sassy and that works for
them as their brand. Unfortunately, we do not get to be as nonchalant about what we say, but it's
all about finding creative ways to get messages across while still keeping the level of integrity of
Virginia Tech intact. It is truly all dependent on the industry for which you work. If you want to
go work for a corporate brand, there could be a lot more leeway, with a ton more ability to put
personality in it compared to an academic institution where we have to appeal to a much broader
audience. I think it depends on what your ultimate goals are and your ability to adapt to where
you are and what is really fulfilling to you.