An Interview with Cam Richtik

Please Note: This is an interview we conducted with Cam, a fellow that completed the SkillBank program in the Spring of 2022. This testimonial was transcribed from an interview we conducted with him.

Tell me a little bit about yourself and your background prior to joining SkillBank.

I was a wedding photographer from 18 to my early 20s. I had some success marketing myself on Facebook to get clients. While I was in school I was studying journalism, so I was learning how to set up websites and drive in traffic for readership on our newspaper. I had all sorts of jobs and I was always pushed into responsibilities that involved marketing.

I was googling online marketing youtube videos, and how to learn Google Ads and there was just too much. SkillBank was running sponsored ads and the Tik Tok algorithm must have picked up on my interest. SkillBank was really attractive to me because it was 12 weeks. I was at a point where I could go get a job at Target or as a ride-share driver or I could find gainful employment and start a career. SkillBank just made a lot of sense, there was virtually no cost upfront, it was just my time, and I was receiving structure.

What sparked your interest in digital marketing/paid media? Why did you choose to pursue a career in digital marketing?

I was always the one who was tapped to do the technical things for people. I now have all this context about what I can do with all of these marketing channels in the current landscape so that I don’t have to test things out to understand what will work.

How would you describe your experience with the Paid Media course?

The instruction itself seems simple and it can feel like when you are reviewing this material why am I paying to learn this, but it is so useful because digital marketing is a language, just like coding is a language like javascript and HTML. In paid search and paid social, it’s all a language and each channel is its own dialect. It all seems basic, and it isn’t, especially when it is applied to real life and real businesses and real money. The instruction can feel abstract, it’s not math, it’s linguistics, and it’s psychology because you’re guessing people’s intention to buy.

The caution I would give to people is that you shouldn’t run away because it’s abstract, all of it is even in your job, you have to work through that so that you are driving specific results.

The certifications have to be done in conjunction with the coursework. It’s just as supportive as the instruction. The certifications make your projects and your understanding of the channel much stronger.

Career support and networking is the biggest reason anyone should sign up for SkillBank. Getting connected with companies and working with the career coach on mock interviews was incredibly helpful. Having access to instruction and career support is the reason I got the job at Hawke Media.

How are you applying the skills you’ve learned at SkillBank?

I think overall developing a workflow for myself has been the biggest skill that I’ve been continuing on. Collaborating with team members, organizing and managing all of my projects, and staying structured have been essential in being successful in my role.

What advice do you have for prospective fellows who want to join SkillBank?

Find projects to work on, if you have family or friends with a small business. Working on a few campaigns by spending a little bit of money on these paid marketing channels is going to be useful when you are interviewing.