As a nationwide TikTok shutdown looms, more than 100,000 full-time TikTok content creators are scrambling to determine one of the best ways to reconcile their major supply of earnings.
Amongst them are “CareerTok” creators, a bunch of influencers who supply office and job-hunting advice within the type of brief movies. Because the platform disappears, so will their followings and years of previous content material.
Final 12 months, Congress handed a invoice that required TikTok’s guardian firm, ByteDance, to sell its U.S. assets or go darkish this Sunday January 19. Though the future remains uncertain, as of in the present day, no sale has been accepted and the Supreme Court upheld the ban. Each viewers and creators are bracing for an impending shutdown and determining subsequent steps.
We spoke to Hanna Goefft and Courtney Johnson—two CareerTok creators with round 300,000 followers every—about how they’re making ready for the ban and their ideas on the way forward for profession recommendation on social media. The interviews have been edited for size and readability.
“I might not be the place I’m proper now with out TikTok”
Hanna Goefft: Arms down, I might not be the place I’m proper now as a full-time content material creator with out TikTok. From my very own profession journey, I gained a number of career-related job-search-strategy data that appeared like widespread sense to me. However from speaking with my mates, I began to see that it wasn’t. I noticed a chance to start out sharing this base of information that I had an excellent deal with on, so I posted my first TikTok. My movies bought a lot traction and I noticed there’s a actual urge for food for this sort of career advice content material. In 2024, I left my company profession to pursue this full time.
Courtney Johnson: I had labored at a bunch of promoting companies constructing manufacturers for different individuals, and I noticed it was time to start out constructing my private model. So I began posting persistently about advertising and marketing and profession first on LinkedIn after which TikTok, and all the pieces has taken off over the previous few years. TikTok is my greatest platform, and if TikTok is banned, I’ll lose income, alternatives, and a lot of my viewers.
“De-risking and diversifying”
HG: As quickly because the ban got here below dialogue, an enormous focus of mine grew to become de-risking and diversifying my platform. I’ve actually targeted on Instagram progress over the previous 12 months, simply as a option to instantly make out there my brand partnership opportunities that I rely on for income. I’m additionally excited about different channels: LinkedIn is getting a number of traction and is prime of thoughts for career-related creators. YouTube additionally elevated their “Shorts” limit to a few minutes. But it surely’s a completely totally different technique to be creating content material throughout all these totally different platforms. I additionally now have a aim to construct my income in a manner that lessens my reliance on model partnerships. Within the career-advice area, teaching and on-line programs look like apparent choices to discover.
CJ: Instantly, once I heard the ban may occur, I downloaded and saved my TikToks for the long run. I had solely began posting on Instagram a 12 months in the past, however now I’ve actually doubled down on my Instagram. I began posting extra Reels and extra Threads. I’m optimistic that my pivot might help me give attention to what’s essential and achieve success. . . . A couple of third of my earnings comes from my teaching, and one other giant portion comes from programs and on-line supplies that I create for others. I most likely get round half of my teaching clients from TikTok, and I’m unhappy to see that go.
“In contrast to another platform”
HG: TikTok has such a singular content material tradition that I’ve not seen wherever else. Instagram is concentrated on connecting you with individuals you already know, and on YouTube it’s a must to go and hunt down any short-form content material. Nothing else has TikTok’s authenticity or that extremely curated algorithm that is aware of precisely what you wish to see. There are such a lot of full-time creators with no safety; this shutdown is type of like doing a mass layoff with no severance.
CJ: I believe each creator is fearful proper now that their audiences will shake up. TikTok is so distinctive in that the discoverability is not like another platform. It sends you those who align along with your values and the matters you’re inquisitive about, in a manner different platforms simply can’t do.