5 Top Tips for Job Seekers

Senior marketing leaders & executives are experiencing a challenging job market at present.

Here are my five top tips that will go some way to securing your next opportunity.

1, It’s great to be open-minded about your next employer, but try to focus on the opportunities where your skills and experiences align. 

More competition in the market means hiring managers will have more choices over candidates and become slightly more picky.

Suppose your core sector experience is within areas such as FinTech or eCommerce, and you start applying to companies that are in the B2B space. In that case, you’ll have to appreciate that many applicants applying already have that experience, so try and play to your strengths.

Hiring managers will want to see how you can make an immediate impact from prior experience with their sector or business model.

2, If you have a varied background, take the time to create multiple versions of your CV. 

Hiring managers and recruiters (internal and external) will tend to form an opinion of your CV within the first 7 seconds.

With each company looking for something slightly different in marketing leaders, make sure your CV jumps out at them immediately by being highly relevant to what they’re seeking.

3, Network, Network, Network.

They say your net worth is your network, and there is a substantial degree of truth in this.

Join relevant groups across platforms such as WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Slack to network with peers who might know about new opportunities about to hit the market.

4, This is a biggie. Take a leaf out of the top recruiters/headhunters. 

Recruiters and Headhunters who are true specialists in their niche will know when they come across a great candidate and will generally proactively take this ‘MPC’ (most placeable candidate) to the market.

Don’t ‘spray and pray’ as the bad recruiters do. This will take lots of time with little return and most likely add to your frustration and worries. Spend time creating a highly relevant target list of companies that will see extreme value in what you can bring.

This might be a competitor of a previous company or a business that operates in a similar model. For example, if you have exceptional experience in Marketplaces, there are many in a wide variety of areas that could form your list.

Create a personalised email and reach out to the most appropriate person. For a CMO, this might be a CEO/COO. For a Marketing Director, look who the CMO is.

Once sent, don’t just sit back and wait. Pick up the phone and try to engage with them.

Also, use LinkedIn and send a personalised invitation to connect.

Remember, it’s a numbers game, but keep it relevant.

5, Hang in there.

Always remember that just because the market is fractured, it doesn’t reflect the exceptional skills and experiences you have developed over many years.

As we saw with Covid and the downturns of the past, things will get better.

Don’t take a tough market personally.