Written by Sachi Bajaj, and aspiring Public Relations professional from Seneca College.

Gary is currently the Director of Social Media at RBC leading an amazing team responsible for all paid and organic social marketing efforts for the biggest financial services brand in the country. This article explores his learnings and gives an insight into the world of Social Media.

Social Media has changed drastically over two decades and Gary has been a close part of it even before it existed. The magnitude of its change is hard to measure, but it is now a big part of our lives. Something happens online, and automatically everyone becomes a part of it; unknowingly  we are drawn into this virtual reality. From Gary’s perspective, this was not the case in the 2000s; people were not talking about social media back then. Social media started with great intentions and took major turns after that.

Talking about the change in social media after COVID-19 came into existence, Gary agreed that the last two years would have been completely different if social media didn’t exist. Although it may seem like it is difficult to cope up with ever changing trends in social media, the best way to use social media is to experience it, to be in the right shoes.

Gary holds 15 years of experience as a marketer, and he has been the founder of his own social media company. His entrepreneurial spirit and  his passion for social media combined led him to take this decision. However, he decided to not move forward with it and gained a lot of exposure from the experience.

His advice to immigrants who are trying to navigate the Canadian job market is:

“Interact with as many people as you can, make connections and meet people. Marketing community is very supportive, and everyone knows each other.”

As a newcomer, you just have to be there, in the conversation. So, the mantra here is to connect and communicate.

While giving a sneak peek into his current job at RBC he says, “I am closely surrounded with a team of creative people with different areas of expertise. All of them run in different directions, but the destination remains the same.” The crux is to know everything but pick out your strongest skill and constantly work on it. A generalized approach works wonders.

One golden piece of advice that is going to stay with me from this conversation with Gary will be:

“Learn a lot, spread yourself around. It is good to have your fingers in a bunch of different things, and down the line, you will see yourself open to new opportunities in your career.”