Specialist Posting

Social Media Specialist

This is a 25—35 hour / week Specialist position for Fall 2026. We’re seeking a Social Media Specialist to work directly under our Social Media Director and support our Social Media team on various client’s work. This role offers hands-on experience in working on social media marketing campaigns.

To apply for this position, you must reside in the greater New Orleans region. We may ask you to work on-site (in our office or with a client) once per week.

We are a smaller business that puts people first — which means we take the time to review each application that comes in ourselves, not with an AI processor. We ask that you approach this application in kind, writing your answers yourself and limiting the use of AI so we get to know the real you.

Abby, our Social Media Strategist, poses with her laptop while Madison and Meara do social media work in the background.

The application period for this position is now closed.

If you applied, you will receive a decision from us by 11:59 pm on July 24, 2026.

If you’re interested in future Specialist opportunities at Online Optimism, please fill out the form below.

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Application Timeline

Job Posted

May 29, 2026 10:47am

Accepting Applications

May 29–June 30, 2026

Applications Close

June 30, 2026 11:59pm

Interviews Conducted

July 6–July 17, 2026

Final Decision Sent to All Applicants

July 24, 2026 11:59pm

Job Responsibilities

Depending on your strengths, you may develop skills in:

Trend research and brainstorming for upcoming posts.
Creating content for social media (you must be comfortable on-camera!)
Planning calendars for clients across industries.
Writing copy for a variety of client posts.

Where You’ll Work

Online Optimism is an award winning creative digital agency founded in 2012 recognized for our commitment to staff and company culture. We’ve been named a Best Place to Work in New Orleans 8 times.

We offer a hybrid work environment where you can choose to work in-office at our headquarters in New Orleans, or at home every day.

Who are we looking for?

You want:

to research and implement new ideas for social media campaigns.
the opportunity to create content, being involved in it from start to finish.
to build out your marketing portfolio with social media work.
to plan and craft calendars for a variety of client industries and needs.

You have:

experience in creating content for social media, across platforms.
confidence in being in front of the camera.
a knack for writing engaging social media posts in various client voices.
a passion for helping organizations across industries succeed through social media.

You’re excited by:

working from start to finish on the creation of a social post for a client.
researching the latest social media trends and posting best-practices.
being on-camera for social media videos.
planning content calendars relevant to a client’s goals.

What We Offer

Read about Our Specialist Program

Our Application Process

First, you should review all of the information on this page to confirm this job interests you!
You apply. Our team excitedly opens up your application.
Strong candidates will be contacted via email to complete a 2-hour assignment for fake clients, which you will be compensated for with a $35 Visa gift card for your time spent on it.
We’ll review all of the assignments and move the top 2–3 candidates forward.
Those candidates will meet with Madison (Social Media Director) for a recorded final 15–45 minute interview.
We make the top applicant an offer, and provide you with 2–3 days to make a decision. You (hopefully) accept and become an Optimist for the season!

Apply Below

Please keep in mind that our application is unique. We strongly recommend that you look through the entire thing before starting. There is a Save & Continue Later button at the bottom should you need it.

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Name

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Any offers to interview or of employment will come from emails ending in @onlineoptimism.com. Don't ever click a link or provide private information to anyone saying they are from Online Optimism if their message does not come from this email domain.

Hi, we’re Online Optimism. What’s your name?*

What would you like us to call you?*

If you’d like to go by something other than your first name, put that here! Otherwise, just put your first name.

What are your pronouns?*

Ex. "he, him, his," “she, her, hers”, “they, them, theirs"

What's your email?*

So important we'll need you to confirm it too!

Enter Email Confirm Email

What's your phone number?*

What is your weekly availability?*

Our Specialists work between the hours of 9AM–5PM (in their local time zone), Monday–Friday. Please let us know days of the week and hours. If you're unsure at the moment, be as specific as you can.

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If accepted, I will work from:

While Specialists may work either in-office or remotely, they must have residency in one of the following states.

Greater New Orleans Region

Do you have a preferred start / end date for your Specialist period?*

The Fall Specialist term usually goes from August through December. We ask for at least 12 weeks but are open to as many as 16 if your schedule allows it.

Are you currently authorized to work in the U.S.?

(We have some governmental contracts that require us to use E-Verify, which is why we ask this question.)

Yes

Let’s Get to Know You!

Below are a few, longer questions about yourself, and the specializations you've chosen above. We have found the answers below give us much more information than a cover letter would, so take your time on these (and don't submit a cover letter, please—we won't read it).

Again, a friendly reminder that there is a Save & Continue button at the bottom of this application, should you need it.

What's your life like currently, education/work related?*

A couple sentences will be fine.

Why do you want to be a Specialist at Online Optimism?*

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Please tell us your favorite thing about whichever city you're planning to work in.*

Please tell us about a brand in New Orleans you feel does great online marketing using social media and video. What makes it so good?*

Please provide a ChatGPT prompt that will successfully generate a good social media calendar that's client-ready.*

Please share an AI tool—not including ChatGPT, Bard, or Midjourney—that you believe is incredibly useful, and how you've used it in your life/previous work.*

Tell us about a brand or company whose marketing strategy you admire. What do you think makes their approach to customer acquisition or retention effective?*

Please share in 2 formal paragraphs a great piece of content marketing that has been created since January 1st, 2025, and what made it so effective.*

Walk us through how you'd approach a task where the instructions aren't totally clear and you're not sure where to start.*

1–2 paragraphs will be fine.

Please provide an uncommon digital marketing platform that you believe small businesses should be taking advantage of at the moment. Explain why you think it has the potential to make an impact in 2025, as well as 1-2 ideas for launching an organization on it.*

1–2 paragraphs will be fine.

What are some of the ways that you can analyze an organization's online presence for strengths and weaknesses?*

1–2 paragraphs will be fine.

Please tell us about an exceptional digital design or development piece you have seen in the past year, and why it was so effective.*

Please tell us about your favorite design in your portfolio, and why it was such a success!*

Don't worry, we'll ask for your portfolio down below.

Please tell us about an amazing piece of social media marketing put out by a company in the past year, and why it was so good.*

1-2 paragraphs will be fine.

Create a 25-35 second TikTok style video that tells us why we should purchase something you have in your house. It can be a pen, a couch, or even your pup. Your goal is to impress us with your on-camera personality, your editing, and your ability to engage the audience quickly then sell your “product”.*

Add a link to your video in the field below — it can be a YouTube video (unlisted is fine), or a Google Drive link (make sure your folder is set to "Public" so we can access it).

Please provide a link to a video that you edited and/or performed in that is less than 60 seconds long.*

Add a link to your video in the field below — it can be a YouTube video (unlisted is fine), a Google Drive link (make sure your folder is set to "Public" so we can access it), or any other accessible link.

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Please tell us about about an exceptional video you've seen in the past year, and why it was effective.

1-2 paragraphs will be fine.

Please provide us with a three emoji, emoji-auto-biography of yourself.

We use this instead of a CAPTCHA 🤖 Need some inspiration? Check out ours.

Do you have a personal website, LinkedIn URL, or other site of yours you'd like us to review?

If you're applying for a position on the Creative Team, you can drop a link to your portfolio here or upload it in the file upload field below.

Please list any creative and marketing tools/software you have experience with.

If you have certifications, here's where to put them. We know some folks include this on their resume, but we appreciate it here, too!

We love files! See below for what to upload here.

Please upload your resume here. We also require a portfolio if you are applying for a Creative Team position — if you didn't already link to your portfolio above, you can upload it and any other project files you'd like to share with us here.

Of course, we also accept GIFs. They're not required, but who doesn't love receiving GIFs?

10 files & 25 MB total, maximum. If the file uploader gives you trouble, you can also email your items to [email protected] with your name and we'll add them to your application manually.

Drop files here or

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, jpg, png, xls, xlsx, gif, jpeg, webm, Max. file size: 25 MB, Max. files: 10.

Got more files? Or more than 25 MB total?

Upload them to a Google Drive/Dropbox folder and add the link below. Double-check that your folder is set to "Public" so we can access it!

If you don't make the cut this time, want to be notified about future opportunities?*

No hard feelings if it's a no, promise! This does not affect our consideration.

Yes, email me future internships & career openings.

Yes, but I only want to hear about careers (not Specialist positions.)

No thanks, this is the only opportunity I wanted.

Would you like to receive Online Optimism’s monthly newsletter?

It's typically full of our latest content, news about digital marketing, and other things that make us more optimistic! We also have a goal of inbox zero, so it's not held against you if you don't check the below.

Yes, please subscribe me

Almost done! Is there anything else you'd like to share with us that may be relevant?

Click Submit Below, and Wait For Your Files to Upload.

Please wait up to 30 seconds after clicking Submit. Your files may take some time to upload. You'll know the files have uploaded when you're taken to a new webpage. If you have any issues, please let us know at [email protected].

Our goal is to provide an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and Optimists. We do not discriminate on the basis of race; color; religion; marital status; age; national origin; ancestry; physical or mental disability; medical condition; pregnancy; genetic information; gender; sexual orientation; gender identity or expression; veteran status; natural, protective, and cultural hairstyles; or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit and business need.

Social Media Specialist

The application period for this position is now closed.

Application Timeline

Job Posted

Accepting Applications

Applications Close

Interviews Conducted

Final Decision Sent to All Applicants

Job Responsibilities

Where You’ll Work

Who are we looking for?

What We Offer

Our Application Process

Apply Below

Let’s Get to Know You!

Click Submit Below, and Wait For Your Files to Upload.

Our Locations

New Orleans | Headquarters

New York City

Get in Touch

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