Key Tips for Marketing Talent
Robert Half expert Amy Mangan shared key recommendations for navigating the job market. Whether you are seasoned talent or new to the workforce, it can be challenging to steer through the ever-changing ad industry.
Mangan, for instance, recommends using AI to aid your job search, including for developing résumés and cover letters, optimizing keywords, and finding job opportunities. As of now, according to Robert Half, 47 percent use AI for résumé writing, 45 percent for writing cover letters, and 46 percent for researching jobs.
Below are some of her top tips:
- Understand your priorities and what you're willing to compromise on.
- Leverage your network for opportunities and skills.
- Seek out training and certification programs to broaden your skill set.
- Identify your transferrable skills.
- Avoid cover letter and résumé mistakes, such as typos and lack of personalization.
- Always be in a quiet space with a strong internet connection for any video calls.
- Don't be afraid to ask what proper interview attire should be, as this can change and vary by company.
Below is a condensed interview with Mangan.
What are compelling questions to ask in an interview?
I think you, as a job candidate, are interviewing the company as much as they are interviewing you. You have to suss out whether this company and this team and this hiring manager is ultimately going to be a match for what you want. So, before going into the interview or [even] before beginning a job search, create your own rubric of what's most important to you, and then create some hierarchy around that. Point your questions to the people with whom you're interviewing to start to understand how that fits into what they're looking for. You need to be honest; be yourself.
Don't make "how often can I work remotely?" or "how much vacation time do you offer?" your first question. Make it about the work, make it about the team. There's definitely stuff that you can and should ask through the duration of the hiring process should you be going back for multiple rounds.
What would be an appropriate post-interview email to send?
I do think it's an important part of any hiring process. Even if you're not interested, sending a quick email to thank someone for their time is still a good look, [as] you never know how your paths might cross again in the future. As soon as you get done with the interview, before you leave the computer, you quickly craft a thank-you email. You [can] run it through AI and make sure that it all looks good. That's par of the course at every step in the interview process; you [should] do that with each new person or group of people that you've met with. No handwritten or mailed notes, as they take too long!
What are the top résumé and cover letter mistakes? How can they be avoided, especially when it comes to layout?
Oftentimes, we'll see typos and misspelled words. You cannot have that. I cannot tell you how many times throughout my career I've had clients discount a candidate and won't even meet with them if there's a mistake. Make sure there's no formatting issues, because sometimes when there's a designed résumé, you [may] see sudden chunks of content are missing or various problems like that.
Be able to really showcase skills and provide some level of ROI. Putting some numbers that people understand where you've provided value to product teams that you were on [is helpful]. Doublecheck your social media presence. See what people see, do a little deep dive, and make sure you know what's coming up.
Don't embellish your skills. Don't add random stuff that wasn't really there. We often see this in the design world where people will put pieces in their portfolio. The manager who did the work themselves will be like, "I did that." That's not going to work.
How much customization should applicants do for each job?
A cover letter should be specific to each individual company or job you're applying for. However, while the résumé is not always going to be one-size-fits-all, you should have a basic standard résumé. For instance, if you are in marketing and you're a project manager, you might be able to have a few different versions of your résumé with different titles based on the various hats that you've worn because you could potentially be very good and applicable for multiple roles with multiple different titles. You don't want a company's AI that's doing the screening to count you out because you didn't have the exact right title match. So, you have to think about that as well and tailor each version of your résumé to a few different titles or skill sets, and then more highly prioritizing those within the body.
It's [also] good to work with a recruiting firm because we help you get past the black hole of the résumé portal and get your résumé, theoretically, directly to a hiring manager.
How much effort should someone put in to designing their résumé?
I do think a well-designed résumé could really go a long way. I do get the sense that depending on how corporate or buttoned up the organization is, and the department itself is, they may not prize a well-designed résumé the way that somebody who's looking for a designer would. But I do think there's less rigidity around what's expected of a résumé today, and it doesn't have to be so templated, and you can be creative.
Is a shorter cover letter and résumé better?
Shorter is better. People's attention spans have changed. You put [what you wrote] into AI and say, cut that by 50 percent — and [AI] can do that for you. That's how you can leverage the technology to help make yourself better.
What are your tips for video interviews, including attire?
As a first step, make sure that you're in a quiet place. If you need to take the interview from your car, give the person you're meeting a heads-up. Make sure there are no pets around jumping on your lap or barking. Then make sure that your connections are all set up ahead of time. I would advise that if you're a Zoom person, but this is a Teams interview, or vice versa, that you try everything out with someone else prior to the actual interview to make sure all the tech is working seamlessly.
[With attire,] my advice is always to ask the person who's setting up the interview what the dress code is, whether that's a recruiter you're working with, HR, or the actual hiring manager. You'd rather ask and know than come completely overdressed or completely underdressed. I've seen people not get jobs because they wore suits and they were like, "that guy was stiff." And then I've had clients who were like, "they were not buttoned up enough for us. We are a financial firm."
You don't want to assume anything; it's better to just ask. Generally speaking, I think a dress pant and a nice top or a button down is usually fine. Some places would want you to have a jacket, some wouldn't. And that might be the expectation for an interview, but not for the reality of the day-to-day there, too.
How should people use AI?
I believe AI is a great tool and people are increasingly using it to aid with their job search or creating their résumé or LinkedIn profile. You should ask it to give you a framework and then you work within that. It's not a bad idea to have it proofread your résumé or cover letter. Then you need to re-proof it to ensure that everything that it says is still accurate.
Are there any other tips or recommendations you have?
I will say that there are a lot of jobs that have some element of onsite work now. And so, if that's the case, you should definitely make the effort to get out onsite at some point during the interview process. Even if the client's not pushing for it, you should, because again, you're making sure that this commute works for you, that this corporate office works for you, and that you like the vibe when you get in there.
The views and opinions expressed in Industry Insights are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the ANA or imply endorsement from the ANA.
Joanna Fragopoulos is a director of editorial and content development at ANA.