Bob Van Rossum — July 1, 2019 — July 1, 2019
As a marketing recruitment firm, every day we get the opportunity to help marketers move their career forward. Since 1996, MarketPro’s marketing recruiters have successfully matched high-performing marketers with clients who need a specific set of skills and experience to take their business to the next level.
The shortage of highly-skilled marketers in today’s marketing landscape makes it harder for companies to find top talent. Majority of the time, when we search for talented candidates, they aren’t in the mindset of looking for another job.
As a result, they are not always up to date with how to write a resume and interview appropriately. Therefore, it’s only natural candidates will make mistakes during their job search process-and don’t even know- it costs.
Your Resume Is Too Artistic
Far too often, we see great candidates who are perfect a role, but their resume doesn’t reflect themselves in the best light. Your resume is your chance to highlight and showcase your experience and accomplishments.
However, many candidates use their resume as an opportunity to demonstrate their creativity. Instead, show off how creative you are through your portfolio. The exception would be for very creative roles, such as graphic designers or UX designers. So, general marketers need to be cautious about creative they craft their resume, and here’s why.
From our experience as a marketing recruitment firm, we know all resumes go through some version of an applicant tracking system. The resume is then scanned and searches for keywords. Thus, formatting your resume in PDF format instead of a Microsoft Word document limits your opportunity to get picked for a role.
Unfortunately, the truth is most HR software is not smart enough to read PDFs. Thus, it is crucial to think about who is going to read your resume. If the font is too small or if they’re too many distracting images, most hiring managers aren’t going to take the time to really through your resume.
Additionally, the hiring process isn’t going to change for you as a candidate. There are specific rules and procedures everyone has to follow. Providing a chronological and straightforward resume that aligns with your LinkedIn account profile is the first step to you securing an interview.
Resist Poor Opportunities, Not Assessments
Usually, roles from director to CMO specific to senior level marketing, about 85 percent of the time, requires some testing component. Examples include various personality tests or Wonderlic assessments. From the candidates perspective, this is a great thing!
Companies conduct these tests for two main reasons. First, they want to assess candidates to see if they are the right cultural fit. Secondly, the company wants to verify if the candidate is the right fit for the role.
The assessments ensure you as the candidate will find the right opportunity that meets your needs, and it shows the company cares about making the right hire and fit. Also, think about the assessments as another lens in which recruiters and HR teams can look through to make sure you’re going to be happy and prosperous in the new position.
Consequently, candidates who push back on these assessments risk losing a role that is a perfect match for them. Why would you want to limit yourself for a new opportunity for refusing to do a standard test?
Not Picking Up the Phone
If you don’t try, you’ll never know. Sounds familiar?
Not answering the phone call and hearing what a recruiter has to say potentially means you would be missing out on the best opportunity in your life.
About ten years ago, an incredible marketer we worked with became a CMO at the age of 39. Except for small startups, it’s rare for someone to achieve C-level success before the age of 40. Wondering what her secret is?
She always picked up the phone.
Her motto was to always listen to marketing recruiters who contacted her, within reason. As a result, she was able to climb the corporate ladder quickly. Furthermore, she believed establishing a relationship with a recruiter early on will bring better opportunities in her future when she least expected it. Whether or not she was looking for a new job, she understood the long term value in creating a relationship with expert professionals in marketing.
At the end of the day, you have more to lose by not picking up the phone or responding to a recruiter’s email than by completely ignoring it.
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