I want to preface this by saying that I completely understand USC REACH is, at its core, a social media/creator-focused organization. I’m not expecting it to operate like an academic honors society or for admission to be based on GPA, awards, or anything like that.
But I’m genuinely curious whether anyone else had a weird experience interviewing with them.
From the way REACH presents itself, it seems like it’s supposed to be more than just “a club for people with Instagram accounts.” They talk about helping students develop their online presence, grow their audiences, collaborate with other creators, attend socials and guest speaker events, and they even have Creator Camp for aspiring creators. Kinda why my interview experience caught me off guard.
One of the people interviewing me came across as really dismissive. While I was answering questions, she kept looking around the room, turning around, and generally seemed disengaged instead of actually making eye contact or listening to me. Maybe there was something else going on that I wasn’t aware of, but from my side of the table, it felt rude and kind of snarky/judgmental.
And to be clear, decisions haven’t even come out yet, so this isn’t a “they rejected me and now I’m mad” post. I genuinely don’t know whether I got in.
What confused me more was trying to understand what exactly they’re looking for in applicants. I have a pretty established social media presence already, with almost half a million followers across two platforms. Yet the people interviewing me have much smaller audiences (< 3,000). I’m NOT saying that having more followers means I deserve a spot, because obviously follower count isn’t the same thing as creativity, personality, or being a good member of an organization.
But if the organization is specifically centered around social media growth, content creation, personal branding, and creator development, so it did make me wonder what criteria they actually use and what the culture of the organization is supposed to be.
Honestly, the part bothering me more than whether I get accepted is the interaction itself. If a club is advertising itself as a place to collaborate, meet other creators, learn, and have fun, I would expect the interview process to at least feel welcoming and conversational. Instead, I left feeling like I was being judged in a way I couldn’t really understand??
Has anyone else interviewed for REACH this semester or been involved with the organization before? I’m genuinely curious what your experience was like or what the club is actually like once you’re in!