Social Media Assistant

About the Company

Hardcore Italians is a US-based e-commerce brand built for the Italian-American community. Our social channels run on speed — a big part of our reach and revenue comes from reposting the right content at the right ---------- nt, not from long-planned content calendars.
Every day, there's Italian-American content going viral somewhere — reels, TikToks, ---------- s, sports clips, family and food videos. The brands that catch it first and repost it fast win the reach. The ones that catch it two days late don't. We need someone whose job is to make sure we're never late.

Important — Please Read Before Applying

This is not a full social media manager role.

This is a focused, execution-based support role. It starts small and specific — finding strong content every morning — and can grow into more social support over time based on performance.

You will NOT:
Wait to be told what to look for every day
Treat this like a casual "scroll TikTok when you feel like it" task
Be responsible for brand strategy, voice, or creative direction from day one
Need to debate direction or feedback — you'll get clear instructions and be expected to follow them

You WILL:
Find and send 10–15 strong repost opportunities every workday morning, without being reminded
Stay genuinely tuned into Italian-American culture, humor, sports, food, and family content — and viral trends generally
Move fast, stay organized, and be consistent every single workday
Take direction and execute it cleanly, without needing to make it your own creative project

If you're plugged into this content already, fast, and comfortable with a role that's judged on daily output — this is a great fit. If you want to build strategy, direct creative, or work at your own pace — this isn't the right role.

What This Role Is — and Is Not

This is:
A daily execution role — you're finding and flagging content opportunities before anyone else on the team spots them
A judgment role — not everything trending is a fit; you need to know what actually resonates with an Italian-American audience
A role that rewards being early — the value of a repost drops fast once everyone else has already found it

This is not:
A strategy role
A creative director or brand voice role
A "scroll around and see what you find" role
A role where showing up inconsistently or catching up on Fridays works

What You'll Do

This role is structured in phases. You'll start with Phase 1. Additional responsibilities are added as you show consistency and good judgment — not automatically, and not all at once.

Phase 1 — Daily Viral Content Research
Every workday morning, find 10–15 strong pieces of content: Italian-American humor, Italian and Italian-American family content, food content, sports and pop-culture crossovers, and general viral trends with a clear Italian-American angle

Prioritize content that is timely, funny, culturally on-point, and likely to actually perform with our audience — not just content that's trending in general

Send your findings clearly: direct links, plus a short line of context on why each one is a fit and what makes it timely
Keep a simple, organized log of what you've sent and what it was

Phase 2 — Content Prep Support
Help prepare content for green screen-style videos — pulling hooks, scripts, reference clips, and images using AI tools and provided instructions

Help keep the content calendar organized and upcoming ideas tracked in one place
Start contributing light creative input on formats and angles, based on what you're seeing perform well

Phase 3 — Broader Social Support

Support side pages, commenting, and community engagement
Help organize repost tracking, creator and source notes, and recurring content opportunities so nothing good gets lost or repeated

Take on more ongoing ownership of the social research and content pipeline
You will not be expected to do Phases 2 and 3 on day one. They're the growth path for someone who's reliable and sharp in Phase 1.

What Success Looks Like

– 10–15 strong content finds sent every single workday morning, without fail
–Content is genuinely relevant — not just "Italian" in a loose sense, but stuff our specific audience will actually stop scrolling for
– Time-sensitive or viral ---------- nts are caught within hours, not days
– Links and context are clear enough that the social team can act immediately, with no back-and-forth
– You're not waiting for direction — you're already tuned in and finding things on your own
– Over time, you're trusted with more of the content pipeline because your judgment has proven reliable

Who This Role Is For

You're a strong fit if you:
– Genuinely follow Italian-American culture, humor, food, family content, and sports crossovers — not just researching it for a job
– Are already comfortable spending real time on TikTok and Instagram and have a good instinct for what's about to pop off versus what's already dead
– Can tell the difference between "trending in general" and "this will actually land with this specific audience"
– Are organized and consistent — you won't forget or skip a morning
– Are comfortable using AI tools as part of your workflow
– Can follow clear instructions and execute without needing everything spelled out twice
– Are available and reliably online during morning hours on workdays
– You do not need professional social media experience. You do need to be genuinely online in this world already, fast, and dependable.

Tools & Requirements

TikTok and Instagram (active, regular personal use — required)
AI tools — ChatGPT or similar (required)
Google Drive
Slack
Must provide your own devices, internet access, and any personal tool subscriptions

Hours & Schedule

Part-time to start: approximately 5–10 hours per week
Fully remote
Core requirement: available during morning hours (CST) on workdays to complete daily research and send findings on time
Flexible outside of the morning research window
Clear path to more hours and expanded responsibility based on performance

Pay

Starting rate: $4 USD/hour (part-time, approximately 5–10 hours per week).
Consistent, high-quality work will lead to additional responsibilities, more hours, and increased compensation over time.

How to Apply

Follow these instructions exactly. Applications that skip steps will not be reviewed.

Please send:
– A short note on your experience with content research, social media, or being "chronically online" in a specific niche or community
– 2–3 sentences on how you currently find trending or viral content, and what tools you use
– Your preferred rate (hourly or weekly) for 5–10 hours/week

Answer these questions:
Q1: Walk us through how you'd find 10–15 strong Italian-American content pieces tomorrow morning. What would you actually do, step by step?
Q2: How familiar are you with Italian-American culture, humor, food, family dynamics, or similar tight-knit cultural communities? Give a specific example of a piece of content from this world that you think would perform well, and explain why.
Q3: What's your day-to-day experience using TikTok and Instagram for research or content discovery — not just personal use?
Q4: Confirm your availability during morning hours on workdays. What does your typical morning schedule look like?
Q5: What's your preferred rate for this role at 5–10 hours per week?
Q6: How comfortable are you using AI tools as part of your workflow, and following structured, specific instructions rather than working from your own creative direction?

Start your application with the word "GABAGOOL" so we know you read this in full.