In a crowded job market, standing out is a challenging yet rewarding task. Tips from this article will certainly help you make your resume and cover letter more appealing and increase your chances of being recognized and then hired.
The number of marketing jobs is certainly increasing, but the competition is increasing as well. Even though you might be a marketing prodigy, finding ways to show that in a proper way to your future employer needs to be your priority.
There are various job-seeking tips that you can stumble upon, and they will likely work, but the tips below are tailored for marketers, regardless of their experience level, looking to find their next role.
Depending on their size and reach, companies can have hundreds or even thousands, of applications in a short period of time. A resume serves as a screening tool that allows the recruiters to give an initial evaluation of an applicant.
In the same manner, a cover letter gives the employer a sense of your personality, desires, and context for your resume. Without having a good enough resume and cover letter, the company won’t proceed with additional steps such as interviewing or testing you.
Both of them should give the employer a comprehensive portrait of yourself, allowing them to quickly understand your experience, path, and whether you’re a good fit for the company.
A resume is a professional snapshot of your skills, work experience, volunteering experience, and education at the time of applying for a job. Some individuals use a tailored resume for each job they apply to, while others use a single one for all of their applications.
What’s important to understand is that a resume shouldn’t only contain all of your amazing accomplishments, it should also be visually appealing, and written in a clear and concise manner. Imagine if every applicant would write a 10-page memoir about how awesome they are, the hiring process would last for years.
Instead, the more you can say about yourself and your experience in a resume and cover letter in the least amount of words, the better.
Although the more experience you have, the more likely you’re going to be more valued, lying or making up about them won’t do any good. Instead, if someone quickly finds out about this, it’s unlikely that you will be considered for the role anyway.
There are many more ways that you can make an eye-catching resume and cover letter than the ones I’m going to mention. Furthermore, you should first learn the basics of creating them before you start implementing advanced methods such as the ones laid out here.
In the sea of hundreds of resumes and cover letters, recruiters will likely only find text documents without any visual appeal. However, to stand out, you can take a step further and improve your chances of getting a job by creating a cover letter in the form of a video.
My advice is to either create an introductory video to yourself that’s up-to-date or rely on making your cover letters in video form. You can record yourself using the most basic camera, or you can opt for an AI video generator.
Regardless of the choice you make, a video is a good example of your desire to get a job and take a step further with the goal of getting that role. In the marketing world, where attracting and holding someone's attention is the goal, a video will certainly make your application memorable.
While I’m advising everyone to make their resumes as authentic and personal as possible, hiring a professional to guide you or do the job for you can be of great benefit. Some people just aren’t talented in writing or are struggling to effectively lay out their experience.
There are numerous platforms where you can find an experienced individual, or you can find a resume writer tool that will do the same work quicker and cheaper. There are numerous tools that use artificial intelligence to allow you to quickly design and write a resume.
However, you should find a professional who specializes in writing resumes for marketers. Of course, there are general rules and guidelines for resume writing, but writing dozens of resumes for marketers and developers isn’t the same.
In the same way, if you opt for an AI tool to create a resume, you should also find one that’s targeted toward writers. AI software uses data to train results, and if you choose a tool that specializes in making resumes for developers, the outcome can be imperfect, just like when hiring a professional who is not experienced with marketing resumes.
Including all of the relevant information in your resume and cover letter is essential. However, don’t make them sound like you’re a robot. Feel free to include a bit of your personality, make a joke, and be direct and honest. Furthermore, they should be tailored according to the job offer.
A personalized application shows that you’ve invested some time in thinking about the role and how to outline your skills to align with the job offer. On top of the skills themselves, you should personalize the application in a way that aligns with the company’s mission and vision.
To make this as meaningful as possible, do thorough research on the company’s past, its work culture, mission, vision, and overall appearance on its social media profiles. For example, a recruiter can prefer you over other candidates because your tone in a cover letter aligns with the tone that’s used in their marketing campaigns.
When talking about your skills and experience, you shouldn’t rely on long chunks of text. Instead, make appealing bullet lists of your previous responsibilities and skills that you’ve learned in each role.
For example, if you had the opportunity to use a specific task management software, feel free to include its name in the related section. Each role where you’ve worked as a marketer should also mention all the different tools and software that you’ve used and mastered.
Make a list of the marketing tools and platforms you’re proficient in, for example:
However, I would suggest you personalize this as well. If there’s a specific software that’s mentioned in the job offer’s description, and you had the opportunity to use it, put the related experience in a section where it will most certainly attract attention.
Currently, the growth of remote work has given employers the possibility to access global talent. Along with amazing professionals and passionate interns, there are numerous individuals who fake their experience or perform other forms of fraud.
For example, a recruiter sees an individual with 5 companies they’ve worked for, and they can’t exactly confirm the performance of the applicant for each of the roles. This is why showing specific achievements and analytics can be even more valuable than experience to some companies.
Let’s say you’ve had an affiliate website in the past. Starting with developing the landing page up to doing SEO and social media marketing, you’ve had the chance to see how your actions reflected on the website’s numbers.
Making a case study out of your personal experience and mentioning it or sending it to the company along with your application can help you stand out significantly.
Marketing is a broad term, and there are numerous sub-fields of marketing, from SEM to social media marketing to leveraging billboards and flyers. Creating a good resume and a cover letter will show your future employer not only that you’re an experienced marketing expert but also an authentic human being.
Making a good resume requires you to have at least some degree of experience, at least with personal projects. Without being actually qualified, a resume won’t magically help you get a job. But, if you’re someone who already has some experience, a resume and a high-quality resume can significantly increase your chances of landing a job.
Continue improving you personal and professional skills along with polishing your portfolio, and you’re going to have a bright future ahead of yourself.
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