It’s an uncertain time out there right now for anyone with a marketing career. As a result of the sharp economic slowdown last spring, companies stopped all hiring activity. Things are improving now but it’s still not quite back to pre-COVID times. So what is an ambitious marketing professional to do? In short, be honest with yourself, your timing and your situation while working with trusted leaders who can guide you.
This edition of In Partnership With considers the changing employment dynamics of our profession. Whether it’s WFH, temporary layoffs, hiring freezes or restructurings, Bruce Powell, Managing Partner and Founder of IQ Partners, has seen it all. More importantly, he has provided coaching to those looking to make sense of what’s next in their marketing career. When speaking to candidates in the marketplace, Bruce finds most are uncertain.
Candidates are asking if they need to add even more change to their lives right now. Lots of people are in ‘turtle mode’ and just dealing with the present.
But at least there is new hope on the horizon with vaccinations increasingly steadily.
The Recruitment Mindset During COVID
Roughly one out of seven candidates being considered for new roles are already in transition but for the most part, the recruited people are already employed. In terms of going through that process, the critical approach is coming into conversations with complete awareness that the world is a scary place right now. Only then can one move the conversation forward:
Are they liking where they’re at? Are they where they want to be in their career? What do they see as the next step?
Only then is it worth exploring if they would consider making a change during this time. Some people say “yeah absolutely” or others say “hell no.” Based on their response, it’s possible to have a career discussion about whether the opportunity represents enough of an upside gain for them to consider taking on the risk. It’s so critical to go into the conversations with a lot of honesty, care and empathy.
Marketing & Sales Recruitment in 2021
There are a number of marketing teams that are just starting to hire up. As we’ve seen over the last year, it’s going to be a longer time in the marketplace if you’re in marketing. Anyone who is a salesperson is going to have more options available to them today. Of course, they need to be capable and versatile and open to potentially switching industries. For timing, if you’re in sales, you could be working again within a month.
If you’re in marketing – and this is going to freak people out – you could be out for a year.
Knowing that, there’s many ways to approach the recruitment and search process. With IQ Partners, it goes back to the founding of the company and reflects the Partner’s experiences when they were on the other side of the table. Even the name “headhunter” carries a negative connotation. At IQ Partners, there was a conscious commitment to treat people well throughout the process. This approach is applied even when there’s no immediate fit for the person or gain to be had by the recruiter.
Employed and Considering a Marketing Career Move
People commonly hit an inflection point where they realize that it’s time for a change. It typically happens during autumn and in January as people come off of their summer or winter holidays. They acknowledge it’s a “fresh” time and that they may not want to work for their company for another whole year.
People want to put their hand up and be available to the marketplace but there’s often barriers. They’ll talk about things like that they haven’t updated their LinkedIn in a while, but don’t want to because they don’t want people to think all of a sudden that they’re looking. They might send their resume to recruiters but that means they’re only working with particular firms and the clients that those firms have.
Remember, recruiters only do about 25% to 30% of all marketing career placements.
That means the vast majority happens with direct hires or referrals. In any case, you have to be ready on an on-going basis.
First, everyone should have a regularly updated and fully developed LinkedIn profile. If you’re constantly updating then there’s no red flags: it’s just good business and it’s just another social feed in your boss’s mind. Second, regular content generation is important, whether it be commenting or sharing perspectives. Once you’ve demonstrated your perspective, others can recognize you for your capabilities and competence and tap you on the shoulder to have you join their team. That’s how you make sure that you’re proactively ahead of the game – all the time – as you’re employed.
Unemployed and Seeking Work
The same tips as above apply to the unemployed right now with an additional caveat. If you haven’t done those things, then start doing them now. Unfortunately, far more people today are looking than there were before so it’s going to be a more competitive landscape. For any job in Toronto, it’s common to find a minimum of 200 people who have got the skills, aptitude qualifications and experience to do that job.
Your goal is to be in the top two or three of those people (in the top 1% of the marketplace).
You have to be have to be working at it every day. It’s not about “looking for a job” but improving your own brand profile proactively. Instead of hunkering down, it’s better to play the long game and start expanding your network on LinkedIn and building your profile now. You must strategically plan for the right marketing career move as opposed to just the one that may come available.
Marketing Career Success is Not an Accident
A successful career is best achieved in a thoughtful and applied way. The most successful person Bruce has seen managing her career is one who – once a quarter – would take a full vacation day off. She would evaluate her accomplishments of the past quarter and reevaluate her goals. Most people take five minutes a year to think about their career. That’s not good enough.
Be strategic and map out your long term career path – because it’s the most important relationship you will have – other than your significant other.
This career roadmap requires you bring some forethought to it and applies whether you’re currently employed or once you get re-employed. Don’t view landing a role as an invitation to stop participating in the networking and the marketing of yourself. You have to do that all the time to be able to get the best and widest array of opportunities in the future.
Let Your Humanity Shine Through
Many people will tell you to stick to the facts on your resume. That’s good advice to position your expertise properly and ensures you get an initial call. Once you meet somebody, it’s about creating some humanity and relatedness to that individual. It’s important that you’re in a position to share some personal information during your interviews. To look for commonalities with the people interviewing you and to just be human. You must distinguish yourself against the masses to be considered in the top 10% or 5%.
As Canadians, we tend to be shy and hesitant to blow our own horn. You can do that by sharing your accomplishments with pride and humility through sharing metrics. Ensure there’s multiple reference points where you note that you overachieved X revenue targets for particular years. For team leadership, that you have X number of people growing to Y as a result of a change.
Share the details – sometimes good, sometimes bad, such as revenue increased in three of the last five years – as there’s no harm in being honest.
Honesty reflects a positive human quality since both recruiters and hiring managers love people who are human. That means taking the good with the bad and above all, being honest about yourself and what you have done – and what you can do for the next organization you work for.
In Partnership With
Bruce Powell leads a team of 32 of Canada’s most passionate, dedicated and resourceful executive search and recruitment specialists at IQ Partners. As a well respected headhunter with 25 years of experience, Bruce is passionately entrepreneurial, strategic and results-driven. He possesses a deep understanding of business issues and requisite solutions. Bruce is a regular speaker on talent and employment topics including talent attraction, talent assessment, compensation negotiations and employee retention.
Tim Bishop, CM is a multi-disciplined executive with a proven record of optimizing strategic efforts to expand the influence of leading organizations, such as the Canadian Marketing Association, Cineplex Entertainment, Lavalife.com, IMI International and Northstar Research Partners. In Partnership With is his latest focus to curate Canadian marketing experts to celebrate the power of strategic partnerships in a perspective-based content series.