I’m hearing from people who’ve been out of work for awhile [for whatever the reason] that they’re landing gigs in the digital marketing and advertising space.
This is good, since from what I’ve seen, the space is hot and getting hotter. While job boards like indeed.com and simplyhired.com are a great way to get a feel for what’s happening out there, don’t rely on them completely.
Find yourself a recruiter or two and establish a relationship. Remember, you don’t want to be just one more resume in a pile of hundreds on that recruiter’s desk.
Take an [really good] inventory of your experience and successful jobs/projects and develop a resume that’ll get someone’s attention. My Buddy Julien Sharp over at Stylo Creative Communications can help you put a resume together that’ll sell you right and help you get an appointment.
Once you find a recruiter that seems like a fit, before he/she submits you for any gig, take whatever time is necessary to help that recruiter get to know who you are, where you’ve been, where you are now, and where you want to be tomorrow. This is critical if the recruiter is going to be a champion for you. Take just as much time getting to know the recruiter, too.
Once the recruiter knows you, he/she can and will be able to talk you up to prospective employers even when there’s no specific job or project available. It could be the result of a side conversation where the recruiter hears something that connects the person he/she’s talking with to you and your skill set/experience. “Hey, you know…I have this person you really should talk with…”
Where do you find a good recruiter? Great question. Besides the obvious route of contacting people in your network for referrals, use job boards and search engines to find positions that look juicy, even if you’re not qualified or they’re out of your area of expertise [but in the same field]. Most often, those gigs will be connected to a recruiter. Research the recruiting firm and find a contact there and reach out – by phone, not e-mail. The same thing goes for companies that post jobs on the job boards. Even if the gig isn’t perfect for you, do some research and try and connect with a hiring manager for a conversation.
It’s hot out there. Are you ready to catch the wave?
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As an executive recruiter who has seen a lot of new recruiting assignments recently, I can tell you with certainty that the digital sector is hot. This is promising for talented professional candidates. There are three categories of advertising people emerging in today’s job market: 1.) the Digital Savvy/Digital Native who has spent the majority of his or her professional hours working on interactive and digital activities in the past several years, 2.) the 360° Integrated Pro with a “T” shape, i.e., a deep understanding of a number of functions from digital to traditional to direct and experiential, but deep in any one of them, and 3.) the Dinosaur who has little or no digital experience. Which classification do you fall into?
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