I think I have read 10,132 entry level resumes in my career. Well, maybe not exactly but it feels that way. During my career hiring new talent, I’m often surprised at how poorly these resumes market the individual applying for a marketing job. When asked for advice, from friends and family, I share the following secrets and tips.
Ten Secrets of a Great Entry Level Marketing Resume
- As the hiring manager, I am interested in one thing – what can you do for me?
- Does your resume highlight areas of competence and skill that related to my needs?
- Do you have clear sections that explain to me what relevant experiences you have had in your high school, college, post-grad or short, working career?
- Can you write? – Tell me about your competencies around this area. It can be editor of the high school newspaper or your blog. It doesn’t have to be work related, but I want to understand if I can use you to help write copy?
- Can you manage logistics? – Have you ever run or assisted in managing a live event? I don’t care if it’s for your college chess club or with a non-profit fundraiser. What first –hand knowledge have you had with all of the elements of managing an event from booking spaces, renting hotel rooms, creating invitations, scheduling team meetings, distributing name tags, etc. Can you demonstrate you could help me with my live events?
- Can you jump into social media? – What experiences and projects have you executed in social media? Do you understand the ins and outs of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn? Can you run summary reports in Google Analytics? Have you ever built a website, even if it is with Wix or Square Space or some basic ‘plug and play’ software? Do you have experience with Mail Chimp or iContact or other email marketing software?
- Have you ever created a video? – Did you help your softball team produce a fundraising video in Animoto using an iPhone? Have you written a script or blocked out a story board for a short video to promote classes at your synagogue, church or mosque? How skilled are you using Youtube or Vimeo and have you had experiences that might relate to the work my company does?
- Have you ever guided a graphic artist or small design firm? – Most brands have lots of brochures and design projects and any experience in working on flyers, simple brochures or posters, is relevant to marketing. Creating any sales or marketing materials is useful to me.
- Did you ever work on a research study? – What was your role in recruiting or helping develop the questions? Did you sit in on insight analysis from a third party and get a general understanding of an issue as a participant, or in some leadership role? Do you have a basic understanding of qualitative and quantitative research? Ever sit in on a focus group or conduct a survey and summarize the results?
- Provide links to your work – Demonstrate in your resume that you are digitally savvy. Link to an article about an event you helped organize. Link to a sample of your writing on a blog (yours or a guest post). Link to photos from you in the local newspaper helping clean up the environment. Show me you get it digitally.
For entry-level candidates, I want to see evidence that you have some practical skills. Don’t give me too many acronyms that are meaningless to me. Tell me that you created a video for a church group. But I also want to get some evidence of conviction and work ethic.
I would like to know that you volunteered for seven consecutive years to help clean up a creek or pond as part of a community project. It will be of interested to me that you tutor students at night during college. Give me some practical examples that help me see the person and the competencies.
A resume is still the most accepted way to tell a story about yourself, but it isn’t the only tool. There are strategic networking documents that can help people you know, help you find opportunities. This post on strategic networking may be a useful read to someone searching for that first marketing position too. Another helpful career post is about finding your happiness at the center of the circle. Check it out too if you are wondering what type of work might make you happy. Click here to read it.
It is my hope this is helpful to you. Please pass it along to anyone looking to find an entry level job in marketing.
Email me if you have questions on this topic. I’d be honored to help you if I can. JeffreyLynnSlater@gmail.com You can also hire me for a coaching session. My last client said, “your advice was worth 10X what I paid.” Set up an appointment.
