I don’t care about your resume

How to get a job in marketing from someone who’s had eight.

I see a lot of generic advice about job hunting for marketing roles: "Research companies, network, optimize your resume, apply." I have 11+ years of experience in the field and am sad to say I've never once hired someone because of a killer resume. Honestly, I rarely look at them.

Here's how I've seen the process work: once a role gets approved, I'll meet with the recruiter to share a handful of LinkedIn profiles that represent my ideal candidate, e.g., I'm looking for three years of marketing experience at startups, ideally in the CPG industry. I know what you're thinking — "I'll never have a shot if I don't match the candidate profile" — and it's not true. It does mean it will be harder for you to get an interview, but I can help with that (hint: see tips four and seven). The criteria exist to narrow down what tends to be a large candidate pool and make the process more efficient.

Long story short, the perfect resume won't land you your dream job. Instead, I'm sharing seven job-hunting tips that I've picked up throughout my career, including email templates you can steal and advice to help you stand out.

Why should you trust me? I secured my first job six months before I graduated and have changed companies seven times since then, each role a significant step up from the last.

The most iconic job interview of all time?

Tip 1: Identify your motivation

Job hunting can be a slog, so it helps to identify your "why" to revisit as needed.

If you're a new college grad:

Maybe you have no idea what you want to do, where you want to live, or what you want your life to look like. That's perfectly okay. Try to identify a sliver of motivation to tap into when you're clocking your 37th-hour job searching on LinkedIn. Here are some starter prompts:

• What type of lifestyle might be supported by a full-time salary?

• What city (or state) do you find yourself daydreaming about?

• What excites you about living on your own? (If you’re a Pinterest person, this is a fun mood-boarding exercise)

• Who do you look up to? Why? What do they do for work?

If you've started your career:

Maybe you're seven years in and have recently been laid off, passed over for a promotion, or realized you want to pivot to a different industry. That works, too. Motivation is highly personal — there's no such thing as something too small or silly as long as it resonates for you.

Heavily filtered photos from my IG circa 2013. Can you tell I was excited about my first job?

Tip 2: Choose a direction

Remember when I said it's perfectly okay if you don't know what you want to do? That's still true, but it will help to have a direction in mind.

A professor, a personal passion, or an innate talent can inspire your direction. It can also come in the form of industry. Extract inspiration from your hobbies. Love running? Explore fitness apparel companies, workout apps, and wellness supplements. Want to work in social media? Scour LinkedIn for content creator roles across brands and agencies. Find something you connect with and let it guide you.

Tip 3: Apply, apply, apply

Securing a job is essentially a numbers game. The more applications you submit, the more interviews you get, and the more likely you are to find the right fit.

Use the direction you identified to guide what opportunities you submit resumes to, but don't ignore positions that check most of your boxes. Say you find something in your dream city with a decent salary but aren't interested in what the company does. Go for it anyway. No single role can determine the course of your career, so take things one step at a time.

Tip 4: Go the extra mile

Imagine you find a position that fits your skill set with your favorite brand. Do you apply via LinkedIn and manifest an interview as you send your resume into the abyss? (No.)

Whether you believe you're the perfect candidate or don't quite align with the job qualifications, I want you to find the title of the person this role will report to. This is usually in the JD but if it's not, put your internet stalking skills to good use on LinkedIn. Next, you'll need to guess the email of the person you're trying to reach. You can usually find the email structure somewhere on Google, i.e., firstname.lastname@companyname.com. If you can't, drop me a question, and I'll do my best to help. Can you tell I've done this before?

Now, brainstorm an idea or make something relevant to the role to share with the hiring manager. Examples: if it's a social media role, make a TikTok. If it's an email marketing role, look at their current messaging and branding and design an email in Canva for a fun, imaginary campaign. If it's a marketing generalist role, develop a big campaign idea and pitch it in a few sentences.

I've hired many marketers throughout my career, so believe me when I say: NO ONE IS DOING THIS. You will stand out, and it will likely get you an interview.

Tip 5: Prep for every interview

You are all but guaranteed these three questions in an interview:

1. Tell me about yourself.

2. Why are you interested in XYZ role or company?

3. Do you have any questions for me?

Prep your answers to these and tailor each to the role and company. Write out your talking points and practice them in the mirror, with a friend, or in front of your cat. It's one thing to hit the talking points and another to deliver them confidently (reminder: insecurity is normal). A few other things to keep an eye out for:

• Avoid sharing information about yourself and your experience that's irrelevant to the role.

• If you don't meet all the qualifications, call that out. Get ahead of it and tell them why you'd be great anyway.

• Make sure your answers aren't too long. Pause for questions and check in with the interviewer to make sure they're following what you're saying.

Tip 6: Send a thank you note

I'm begging you: write a personalized thank you note after every. single. interview. It's not that hard, and it will help you stand out.

I always want to hire the person that wants the job the most. Now is not the time to play it cool: the tone you're going for is enthusiasm and gratitude rooted in confidence. Here's a template you can steal for your next interview. Tailor it as much as possible to your conversation and reinforce why you are uniquely qualified for the position. Easy.

Hi [FIRST NAME],

Thanks again for the time earlier. It was so helpful to learn more about [LIST THREE THINGS YOU TALKED ABOUT DURING THE INTERVIEW].

I'm confident my background could be helpful for [COMPANY NAME]’s next stage of growth: I have experience [LIST YOUR QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS — THE MORE SPECIFIC, THE BETTER].

I'd love to continue conversations and am excited to learn more about the role and team.

Thanks,

[YOUR FIRST NAME]

P.S. [IF RELEVANT, FOLLOW UP ON SOMETHING YOU TALKED ABOUT DURING THE INTERVIEW. YOUR FAVORITE RESOURCE FOR MARKETING TRENDS? A BRAND WITH GREAT SOCIAL CONTENT? LINK IT FOR THEM.]

Tip 7: Shoot your shot

This email got me a response within eight minutes and a meeting.

Is there a company you love without any relevant roles open? Use the process outlined in tip four to find a contact and send them a personalized, concise email to establish a relationship. Make sure your email answers the following questions:

• Why are you reaching out? Why now?

• Who are you?

• Why might your experience be useful?

• What do you want?

You can ask for an informational interview, meeting, or phone call, but don't be surprised if you don't get a response. Send one follow-up, then drop it. This method probably works 20% of the time, and when it doesn't, it's because people are busy or have no plans to hire in the near future.

What else has worked for you? See you in the comments.

Want advice on your job search? Ask me anything.