As Ricemedia expands, we need to recruit ambitious, young and passionate digital marketers to join our ever-growing team. Naturally, we’ve been on a recruitment drive, and the quality of applications we’ve received has been encouragingly high. From enthusiastic graduates to zealous marketeers with a few years of experience under their belts, we’ve been pretty impressed with the CVs filling our inbox.
However, as much as we’d love to, we can’t offer everyone a job. So, what do you need to do to stand out from the rest? From ensuring your CV captures attention to turning up to your interview prepared, here’s what you need to do to get a job in digital marketing!
1. Applying for the role
Let’s start from the beginning – you’ve found your dream role, and now it’s time for the approach. Think about how you’re going to apply for the role. Is the description on the website detailed enough? Does it leave you with any burning questions? Then pick-up the phone and ask, or drop us an email!
We’re more than happy to receive questions about any roles we’re recruiting for – checking the vacancy page and digging shows initiative. What doesn’t reflect well or get you noticed for the right reasons is emailing or calling about vacancies, without checking the vacancies page.
You must also ensure that the role you’re applying for matches your current skills and experience. If you’re a graduate, does your degree match the role in question or are there skills you do have that you could bring to the role? Are you passionate about the role? Have you got work experience in the digital marketing industry? These are things we will look as employers.
2. A Tailored Digital Marketing CV
When applying for a role, you should always include a cover letter with your CV. Your CV should tell us about your work history and education and the cover letter should focus on why you are a good fit for the company and the job role. If neither of these reflect this, then you need to rewrite it. Your CV should also explain why your skills are transferable to the role you are applying for.
The CV must be tailored for the digital marketing role in question. By targeted your CV to a role, you can highlight qualifications, skills and achievements most relevant to the job. This makes it clear to the interviewer what your biggest strengths and weaknesses are. This will make your CV stand out from the crowd, giving you a better chance of obtaining an interview.
3. Understanding The Basics of Digital Marketing
If you’ve heard back from the digital marketing agency you’ve submitted your application and you’ve been shortlisted for an interview, you should make sure that you are adequately prepared. Having a basic understanding of the current state of digital marketing, SEO, social media and more informs the interviewer you know what you’re getting into. This isn’t to say you should know EVERYTHING, as a business is always looking for people they can train up so you can grow within the company.
If your previous roles haven’t involved SEO for example, showing you have taken the time to understand and research its relevance in the digital marketing landscape will go a long way to showing you’ve taken a forward thinking approach to your next career step.
4. Highlight Your Online Presence
Digital marketing is all about selling something online, even yourself as a professional in the industry. You’ll find that the vast majority of people working in the digital space have LinkedIn profiles where they’re essentially creating their own digital brand. More likely than not, interviewers will research a prospective employee ahead of the interview. If you can market yourself online, you can certainly market your prospective employers and their clients. Spend some time building your social profiles to make a great first digital impression.
5. Research the Digital Marketing Industry
When you’re going for an interview at a digital marketing agency, make sure you research and find out the services agency covers. Is it Digital PR, Paid Search or SEO? Or do they focus on CRO, Paid Social or Organic Social? Once you’ve established this, do some research! Find out exactly why businesses are after that specific service and how the KPIs are measured. What tools are used? What publications offer great industry insights? Are there any industry events happening? The more prepared you are, the more you’ll impress the interviewer.
Basic Interview Tips
- Look smart – you no longer need to wear a suit and tie, it’s not the 70’s. That being said, employers do expect people to make an effort.
- Read your own CV. You’ll probably be walked through your previous jobs and asked details, you’d be surprised how often people forget what is even on their CV.
- You are going to be asked why you want to work for the company and why you want that particular job – be prepared with a good answer.
- The employer is going to want to know what you will bring to the organisation – try to think what sets you apart (teamwork, punctuality or honesty are a given).
- Why are you leaving (or left) your current (last) employer? Talking negatively about the people or the organisation is a big no, even if you are in the right, think of a positive reason instead.
- Answer the question that has been asked, if you are not sure what the question is then seek clarification.
- When asked what you know about the company make sure you’ve done your research. If you don’t show an interest in the company you want to work for, a lack of research indicates you are just applying for any job and not really bothered about the company.
- Ask questions and make sure you are prepared. Ask about the job or the company, anything really to show that you haven’t just turned up because you need a job.
Recruitment is a big investment and a big risk for an employer as well as an employee. Your role in the interview is to reassure the company that you have the right skills and attitude and you want to be there for more than just the money. In return, the employer has to convince you that they have the right structures and support in place to make sure your time is rewarded with more than just money.
Be sure to check out our vacancies page to see what roles we’re currently recruiting for and get in touch!
