I Am Seeking Employment

Tom Williams Resume

I have recently decided to seek a new job.  This post will function as an informal cover letter as I describe my qualifications and what I’m looking for.  In addition, by posting this on my blog, it is my hope that you will go back and browse through my past posts to get an idea of how I think and what sorts of ideas and talents I would bring to your organization.

I am a New York based (but willing to relocate) marketer and publicist whose primary interest is in social media and marketing via the internet, especially as it relates to music and other forms of media.  My college degree is in marketing but I believe myself to be largely self taught when it comes to social media marketing and PR.  Thanks to a long-time avid interest in the internet and technology, I’ve been a very early adopter of most of the internet-based technological advances in the past decade.  My constant toying around with and research of these technologies has resulted in a great depth of knowledge and appreciation for these new tools and how to use them in a marketing or PR strategy, as I believe is reflected in my writing on this blog.

Since November of 2008 I’ve been the Director of New Media at [ name redacted] in New York City.  We are a boutique music public relations firm with a roster of between 5 and 10 bands and music-related businesses at any given time.  In my role  I am responsible for all online press and promotion of our clients, working closely with bloggers and other online media outlets to gain  them exposure and positive press.  In addition, I design social media strategies for our clients, working directly with them to establish an effective online presence through which they can build relationships and promote their products.

We work primarily with completely unknown and emerging acts at [name redacted], which is a challenging but rewarding task.  I’ve learned that gaining publicity for a well-known client is similar to being a successful stock broker during a bull market; almost anybody can do it.  Working to get press for unknown clients who have no previous press is a much more difficult task and requires talent and skill.  If I may go back to my stock market analogy, I’d like to recall a classic Warren Buffett quote: “It’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked”.  Well, it’s only when you give a music publicist an unknown client do you see who has been swimming naked.  I swim with trunks; we have seen our revenue more than double since I started as Director of New Media at [name redacted] nine months ago.

Over the past year I’ve managed to focus my long time writing hobby into two successful blogs.  The first is Hit Singularity, the blog you’re reading right now.  This is my forum to discuss the intersection between music, marketing, and technology.  Since I started this admittedly niche site in January I’ve had thousands of views and have seen my work reprinted, discussed, or linked to by a multitude of high traffic and influential sites such as HypeBot (on multiple occasions), the Los Angeles Times, The Daily Swarm, the official Hype Machine blog, Prefix Magazine, Chromewaves, and a large number of other, smaller social media and marketing dedicated sites.

In addition to Hit Singularity, I write about music for Radio Exile.  Joining their staff as a writer in August of 2008, I have since worked my way up to Co-Editor.  In that time my work alone as been viewed over 160,000 times and has been linked to by sites such as Rolling Stone and AOL’s Spinner, in addition to reaching the front pages of Digg, Reddit, Fark, and Buzzfeed.

A few more quick notes.  I was a successful distance runner for 11 years, culminating in my being voted captain of my NCAA Division 1 Cross Country team.  I am active on Twitter (http://twitter.com/wingedfeetxc) where I have 750 followers and 3,500 updates.  In addition to the positions listed above, I’ve worked a number of other jobs, which are described on my resume.  Employers and co-workers frequently say that I’m dedicated, hard working, extremely passionate, and ahead of the curve when it comes to social media.

I am actively seeking employment.  If you are aware of a company or organization that you think might be a good fit for me, please feel free to contact me at tom@hitsingularity.com or to forward this post to any place where it might be a good fit.  I thank you for reading and greatly appreciate your assistance.

- Tom Williams

Here are a few short references:

Jonathan Thaler of When I’m Mobile: I look back on the day I met Tom Williams at this year’s SXSW as a very important day for When I’m Mobile. His insight and understanding of what I am working on was immediate and profound. After just a few minutes talking to him it became clear to me that I need a publicist — no, that I neet Tom as my publicist.

Tom understands what you need before you do; in fact, he had discovered the need for my service before we even met and was therefore very naturally prepared for our first conversation. I look forward to a long and fruitful working relationship with Tom. and I would recommend him unequvically to anyone looking to further their presence in new media.

Rachel Gomez, Director of Client Relations and Marketing Strategy at [Name Redacted]: I’ve worked alongside Tom for 8 months now and I’ve found him to be exceedingly hardworking and with a seemingly endless supply of great ideas.  I would love to have the opportunity to work alongside him again.

Brandon Smith, Supervisor at Hudson Valley Magazine: I supervised Tom for a semester at Hudson Valley Magazine and I found him to be an extremely dedicated, hardworking, and passionate intern.  At the time he interned with us he was far ahead of the curve in social media and marketing issues and his advice has proven to be instrumental in the social media strategy we use today almost two years later.  I am still in touch with Tom on a regular basis to make sure we are not falling behind the curve in the social media world.

Tom Polapink, Treasurer at World War I Aeroplane Magazine: Tom Williams was hired to temporarily fill in a position with a variety of responsibilities. He was able to learn quickly and performed the job well. He also offered creative suggestions above and beyond what he was hired to do.

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