This is great sadly I despiceeee linkedin, its truly pure hell but I know either I get a job by being super social (not me), or yeah corporate girl linkedin😔 hate the creative field cuz you need mostly the social part many luckily dont have linkedin
Such good tips! The tell me about yourself question is guaranteed but so many people never answer it well. My answer used to be pretty mediocre but about a year or two ago I wrote out my “0-20 story” that I answer with every time no matter who is asking. I get into unique details about my life before age 20 that shaped me into the person I am today and it’s typically received really well. Everyone has a story that made them who they are, and this is a great place to share it!
I love that. The question can be annoying but it’s such a good opportunity to pitch yourself at the very start of the interview and get someone really excited about you.
Such great advice- thank you for sharing! I’ve been in marketing for about 8 years now, and was recently laid off. I’ve worked exclusively in the wine & spirits industry, but I’m hoping to pivot to a new industry (with no traction yet). I will definitely be implementing these suggestions!
Good luck with everything and let me know if I can be helpful! I'm sure your wine and spirits experience will bring a lot of value to the right brand, no matter the industry.
Wow such insightful and specific advice. Again, I find your articles resonate across a number of fields and disciplines! I’m not in the world of marketing, but I do have my own company, and I wish new candidates would implement these techniques! It’s tough to be on the hiring side as well!!
This is sort of wild, but 7 works more often than people think.
I would love to hear your thoughts on how to land a role for which your skills transfer, but which is still being seen as a big “pivot.” In other words, how to turn your unique experience into a reason for them to hire you, rather than a reason not to. People are risk-averse. If they see you as an outsider, they’re inclined to hire the “safer” person, who has held the same role elsewhere. Even if you’d be a great hire, and even if the other candidate is not as strong. People seem to repeatedly seek out what they know. I find that the more you try to push back on this, the worse it is. I try to lean into it, but then find I’m just affirming their bias for them. There has to be a sweet spot. I think a lot of people are in this situation.
This is a very astute observation. In my experience, new startups and inexperienced founders are more likely to take a risk on someone, often because they don't even fully understand the business challenges yet and therefore, what they'll need in a hire. For job seekers looking for something different, I think you'll have better luck with smaller startups than large companies. That said, I'm biased because that's been my personal experience. What do you think?
“Now, brainstorm an idea or make something relevant to the role to share with the hiring manager.”
This is great advice. A creative team at our agency got hired with no experience (one was a medical illustrator) this way. They knew our founder loved weird, disruptive stunts and so dressed up as FedEx drivers to deliver their resume directly to him.
That won’t work on everyone, to your point you have to research your audience. But the principle of “show me what you can do” is so true.
That's genius! I've always loved projects in an interview process for this exact reason, but sometimes you need the show-and-tell moment upfront to get your foot in the door.
This is such an interesting post to me because I'm trying to move into marketing (I think). I want to do experiential marketing/producing and have 8 years working in events. As a freelancer, I feel like no one know what to do with my resume because it seems like I hate commitment. But I don't. I only get hired as a contractor usually. I'll try directly messaging people. Thanks!
Super interesting! It could help to get ahead of the question about your freelance/consulting experience by putting a statement at the top of your resume. Then, you can reinforce that message and explain why you’re looking for a FT role (and why you’d be great) in an outreach email to the hiring manager.
10 years into my career and recently laid off. I'll be honest, I was a little triggered by the LinkedIn post that brought me here, but I've learned to lean into those moments. I'm happy I did, there are some really helpful insights here, Kate. Thank you for sharing them.
You have a plethora of experience in CPG and the wellness, care, and beauty industry. I fear I've somewhat pigeon-holed myself into philanthropic and advocacy marketing with some B2B thrown in. Any tips breaking into such a competitive industry?
Oof I'm sorry my LinkedIn post caused that reaction! And I hate to hear about the layoffs — that sucks.
I'd love to hear more about your experience before I give advice, but without more details, I wonder if you could pursue companies that still technically sit in the nonprofit or B2B world but engage with an industry you care about. Thinking about skincare...would your experience lend itself to an organization like the Melanoma Research Foundation? I'm sure there are parallels in the B2B space, too. MRF works with a lot of well-known skincare brands, like EltaMD, and could be a stepping stone to working for a CPG brand you love.
Oh gosh, don't worry about your post, that's totally on me. This job market is tough and brings a lot of emotions with it!
My experience has mostly been in B2C international aid and philanthropy covering everything from climate and humanitarian disasters to racial justice and education for an online marketplace. Think GoFundMe but for small, locally-led vetted and verified nonprofits in 170+ countries. It was a very technology-first org with a business development arm so I've also done a lot of B2B marketing for the marketplace, SaaS products, and an API. Before this, I worked for a cybersecurity organization so I'm pretty familiar with some elements of that industry.
Essentially, I've covered a lot of social issues and causes but never really zeroed in on a single one. My interests generally align more with self care, mental health, and environmental sustainability so I've been applying to a lot of companies working in those areas who are mission and values-based. No luck so far.
I'd never thought of looking into the corporate partners these orgs are working with so I'll definitely be doing that, thanks for the suggestion!
I'd love to chat more about this and really appreciate your offer. I'll send you a LinkedIn connection!
Damn I feel the universe is just giving me all the content I need this week. I haven’t been in the job market for 11 years (wow that’s a long time) and have felt so stifled by the process. Thank you for confirming that the stalking and direct outreach is not stalker-like. I recently just sent notes to 3 ppl on LinkedIn who work for the company I am interested in but I like the idea of googling the actual email addresses.
Promise it's not stalker-like! I recently hired for an Email Marketing role — we had hundreds of applications, but I only got a handful of LinkedIn messages and emails. It definitely helps you stand out.
This is great sadly I despiceeee linkedin, its truly pure hell but I know either I get a job by being super social (not me), or yeah corporate girl linkedin😔 hate the creative field cuz you need mostly the social part many luckily dont have linkedin
Such good tips! The tell me about yourself question is guaranteed but so many people never answer it well. My answer used to be pretty mediocre but about a year or two ago I wrote out my “0-20 story” that I answer with every time no matter who is asking. I get into unique details about my life before age 20 that shaped me into the person I am today and it’s typically received really well. Everyone has a story that made them who they are, and this is a great place to share it!
I love that. The question can be annoying but it’s such a good opportunity to pitch yourself at the very start of the interview and get someone really excited about you.
Such great advice- thank you for sharing! I’ve been in marketing for about 8 years now, and was recently laid off. I’ve worked exclusively in the wine & spirits industry, but I’m hoping to pivot to a new industry (with no traction yet). I will definitely be implementing these suggestions!
Good luck with everything and let me know if I can be helpful! I'm sure your wine and spirits experience will bring a lot of value to the right brand, no matter the industry.
Yes to shooting your shot, and yes to a handwritten thank you note. More of this!
This was the definition of helpful as an unemployed marketing girly! Thanks Kate! 👏🏼
I'm so glad! Good luck with the job search and let me know if I can help with anything else.
Wow such insightful and specific advice. Again, I find your articles resonate across a number of fields and disciplines! I’m not in the world of marketing, but I do have my own company, and I wish new candidates would implement these techniques! It’s tough to be on the hiring side as well!!
This is sort of wild, but 7 works more often than people think.
I would love to hear your thoughts on how to land a role for which your skills transfer, but which is still being seen as a big “pivot.” In other words, how to turn your unique experience into a reason for them to hire you, rather than a reason not to. People are risk-averse. If they see you as an outsider, they’re inclined to hire the “safer” person, who has held the same role elsewhere. Even if you’d be a great hire, and even if the other candidate is not as strong. People seem to repeatedly seek out what they know. I find that the more you try to push back on this, the worse it is. I try to lean into it, but then find I’m just affirming their bias for them. There has to be a sweet spot. I think a lot of people are in this situation.
This is a very astute observation. In my experience, new startups and inexperienced founders are more likely to take a risk on someone, often because they don't even fully understand the business challenges yet and therefore, what they'll need in a hire. For job seekers looking for something different, I think you'll have better luck with smaller startups than large companies. That said, I'm biased because that's been my personal experience. What do you think?
“Now, brainstorm an idea or make something relevant to the role to share with the hiring manager.”
This is great advice. A creative team at our agency got hired with no experience (one was a medical illustrator) this way. They knew our founder loved weird, disruptive stunts and so dressed up as FedEx drivers to deliver their resume directly to him.
That won’t work on everyone, to your point you have to research your audience. But the principle of “show me what you can do” is so true.
That's genius! I've always loved projects in an interview process for this exact reason, but sometimes you need the show-and-tell moment upfront to get your foot in the door.
This is such an interesting post to me because I'm trying to move into marketing (I think). I want to do experiential marketing/producing and have 8 years working in events. As a freelancer, I feel like no one know what to do with my resume because it seems like I hate commitment. But I don't. I only get hired as a contractor usually. I'll try directly messaging people. Thanks!
Super interesting! It could help to get ahead of the question about your freelance/consulting experience by putting a statement at the top of your resume. Then, you can reinforce that message and explain why you’re looking for a FT role (and why you’d be great) in an outreach email to the hiring manager.
Thanks! I'll try that.
10 years into my career and recently laid off. I'll be honest, I was a little triggered by the LinkedIn post that brought me here, but I've learned to lean into those moments. I'm happy I did, there are some really helpful insights here, Kate. Thank you for sharing them.
You have a plethora of experience in CPG and the wellness, care, and beauty industry. I fear I've somewhat pigeon-holed myself into philanthropic and advocacy marketing with some B2B thrown in. Any tips breaking into such a competitive industry?
Oof I'm sorry my LinkedIn post caused that reaction! And I hate to hear about the layoffs — that sucks.
I'd love to hear more about your experience before I give advice, but without more details, I wonder if you could pursue companies that still technically sit in the nonprofit or B2B world but engage with an industry you care about. Thinking about skincare...would your experience lend itself to an organization like the Melanoma Research Foundation? I'm sure there are parallels in the B2B space, too. MRF works with a lot of well-known skincare brands, like EltaMD, and could be a stepping stone to working for a CPG brand you love.
Is that helpful? Happy to chat further.
Oh gosh, don't worry about your post, that's totally on me. This job market is tough and brings a lot of emotions with it!
My experience has mostly been in B2C international aid and philanthropy covering everything from climate and humanitarian disasters to racial justice and education for an online marketplace. Think GoFundMe but for small, locally-led vetted and verified nonprofits in 170+ countries. It was a very technology-first org with a business development arm so I've also done a lot of B2B marketing for the marketplace, SaaS products, and an API. Before this, I worked for a cybersecurity organization so I'm pretty familiar with some elements of that industry.
Essentially, I've covered a lot of social issues and causes but never really zeroed in on a single one. My interests generally align more with self care, mental health, and environmental sustainability so I've been applying to a lot of companies working in those areas who are mission and values-based. No luck so far.
I'd never thought of looking into the corporate partners these orgs are working with so I'll definitely be doing that, thanks for the suggestion!
I'd love to chat more about this and really appreciate your offer. I'll send you a LinkedIn connection!
Damn I feel the universe is just giving me all the content I need this week. I haven’t been in the job market for 11 years (wow that’s a long time) and have felt so stifled by the process. Thank you for confirming that the stalking and direct outreach is not stalker-like. I recently just sent notes to 3 ppl on LinkedIn who work for the company I am interested in but I like the idea of googling the actual email addresses.
Promise it's not stalker-like! I recently hired for an Email Marketing role — we had hundreds of applications, but I only got a handful of LinkedIn messages and emails. It definitely helps you stand out.