A BOY WHO DREAMED OF BEING AN ASTRONAUT, LANDED IN GOOGLE INSTEAD

Jonathan calls himself a Digital Media Professional, Educator, and Marketing Geek.

When he was a young boy, Jonathan  Joson was fascinated literally by the moon and the stars. He wanted to become an astronaut. Eventually however, he realized that there was no educational track in our country that would propel him into a space program–nor an actual space program, at least not in his lifetime!

He enrolled at  Ateneo de Manila  to earn double college degrees: BS Management Engineering and AB Economics (Honors Program). Upon graduation, he aimed to be in Finance. But as fate would have it, his sense of adventure prevailed. Jonathan went into the new and expanding world of digital marketing, where he was readily  recognized both locally and regionally for his impressive work.

In 2011, when he was twenty-five, he became the youngest-ever Young Market Masters Awardee for Digital Marketing.  Jonathan worked for five years at Havas Media Philippines—where he was recognized as Havas Media Asia-Pacific’s Staff of the Year in 2012, the same year that Campaign Asia-Pacific selected him as the Southeast Asia Planner of the Year.

In the April 2013 issue of Campaign Asia-Pacific Magazine, Jonathan was named the youngest member of the “40 Under 40” list of industry movers and shakers.

In  2014,   he was  the Regional Platform Strategy Director for Red Fuse Communications based in Hong Kong, where he worked  on digital strategy and implementation for Colgate-Palmolive’s brands in nine markets across Asia.

And in 2015,  he was appointed  Industry Manager at Google Philippines.

In "Pointers for New College Graduates,"  Jonathan shares  the following pieces of advice:

•  Do not adhere to traditional roles. As things are rapidly changing, be open to for new opportunities. There are jobs and roles today that did not exist at the time you went to college.

• Take risks. You are young, no family of your own to support yet, you have the academic credentials—you have time after graduation to take risks and you could reap rewards. Take the case of Xurpas, a mobile content company. It was founded by fresh graduates more than a decade ago. From scratch, it evolved into a giant. When it launched its IPO in 2014, it generated more than P6 billion. This is one risk-taking venture that paid off big, literally.

• Do not rely on your college curriculum. The academe will always be behind.  Those who are on the forefront of innovation usually do not teach. If you look at the trend in Silicon Valley, fresh graduates look for apprenticeship. So reach out to someone you look up to. If you can afford it, work for free. What you will learn in the process is invaluable in jump-starting your career.

Read more about Jonathan's pointers for those considering a career in digital marketing.

"Pointers for New College Graduates,"  by Gerry P. Siquijor.  Available at Fully Booked, St. Pauls and Paulines Bookstores, and branches of Catholic Book Center.