Standing out in a crowded job market
Looking for a new job is a whole different game these days
Hi there, it’s me. Jeff. Just wanted to say thank you for subscribing! Marketing Ops pros unite! 👊
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Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter!
I’ve had the opportunity to have conversations recently with a few people who are looking for new Marketing Ops roles (by the way, if you’re hiring, let me know and I’d be happy to spread the word about your role). A common question has come up:
“With the trend of layoffs continuing and a job market flooded with qualified and motivated candidates, how can I set myself apart when applying for a role and competing with hundreds of other applicants early on in my career?”
Everyone’s wondering how to stand out in such a crowded and unfortunately somewhat commoditized market. Just saying that you’re a Marketo expert isn’t going to cut it anymore.
This is a significant question, and while very relevant to today’s economic situation, is always applicable. With the combination of an influx of talented people into the job market, uncertainty and turmoil in the economy, and the question of RTO/hybrid/remote roles still playing a factor for many individuals, competition is fierce for every job opening out there. (I’m aware of recent Marketing Ops roles that had more than 700 applicants)
I want to help as much as I can, for a few different reasons:
I strongly believe the Ops teams of the world need MORE help
I’ve been on the hunt for a new role within the last 18 months and my experience was different than I thought it would be
My mission with OpsScale (including this newsletter) is to help Ops pros 10x their careers, and it’s difficult to do anything in your career if you don’t have a job
Getting Started
One way I can help is by sharing some advice and ideas. Some of the tips are ones that I’ve used in the job hunt to land my current role, and others are ones that I’ve seen used successfully or have been recommended by others. Some I’ve seen used in roles that I’ve been hiring for recently as well.
In some ways, this could be boiled down to building a personal brand, but I believe there’s even more to it - building connections.
Most of these steps help with the top of the job search funnel - getting a solid foot in the door and not just being another resume in the applicant tracking system.
If you’re lucky enough to be in a role, then I’m happy for you - I still believe that the first section below is still highly valuable and applicable. These are things you would ideally do BEFORE you find yourself looking for work, so consider that before tuning out the rest of the post.
There are also a few specific ways you can help at the bottom of the post, so please be sure to review those as well.
Let’s dive in —
Pre-Application
Be visible
In a lot of ways, this requires being more active on social media, and on LinkedIn specifically. Trust me, I can understand if this isn’t natural. I am not comfortable sharing every little detail of my life for the world to see. The best recommendation I can make here is to do something, even if it’s small, that is comfortable for you to do.
Start by doing one thing a day. Find five people you admire and go write a sincere comment on their latest post.
You don’t need to be a robot - be you.
Share what you’re learning - whether it’s about your job hunt specifically, Ops in general, or something else that shows your passion
The main goal here isn’t to build a massive social media empire and become a LinkedInfluencer (although that’s not a bad eventual outcome) - it’s to generate free publicity for you and your name.
Have a strong opinion on something related to Marketing Ops, even if it feels slightly controversial. Don’t be vanilla - remember, the goal is to stand out.
If you’re not sure what to say, find a way to help - answer questions, provide an introduction, answer polls, even a simple comment on a post goes a long way for a creator - that positive engagement helps!
Join Communities
Multiple Ops-focused teams have put together informal groups of like-minded professionals. These Slack communities are a great place to
These communities all have channels where newly open roles are posted, and some even have a place where you can highlight the fact that you’re looking for a job as well. I’ve listed links to the ones that I’m aware of below. They’re all free to join and have a lot of active participation. I’ve also included the name(s) of the job-searching related channels in them as well
Marketing Operations-specific
RevOps-specific
Once you’ve joined one (or more) of these communities, let’s connect!
Network = Net worth
It’s cliché, but also so true - who you know is so important these days.
And “know” has become a pretty loose term - social networks have made it easy to open doors to all sorts of interesting people.
In general, my experience has been that Marketing Operations pros are extremely generous with their time and gracious in their efforts to help where they can. Don’t be afraid about reaching out or asking for help - I think you’ll find that you’ll often get what you’re asking for.
Your network can help with:
Sourcing opportunities
Introductions
References
Recommendations
Awareness
Credibility
Build your network when you aren’t looking - the best time to start building your network is now. I’ve learned that so many people are willing to help, sometimes they just need to be asked directly or given a specific request.
Be prepared - by doing things that you would do in your job
Just because you may not have a current job doesn’t mean you can’t have access to a best-in-class tech stack. Many tools offer free accounts with access to enough functionality to help you show off your expertise or get a solid understanding of the basics of the tool.
Maybe the future of Marketing Ops hiring campaigns will include nurture campaigns
Some of the popular tools that offer a free tier include:
Tech
Web
Data/Analytics
Project Management
Data Enrichment
If you decide to go this route, I’d recommend treating it like you were working for someone else. You can pull from the job description for the role you’re interviewing for and build something specifically for that.
To help with this, you can use tools like Mockaroo (my personal favorite) or Cobbl.io to generate free sample datasets to help you test for specific use cases.
Use AI to your advantage
One of the easiest ways to apply AI help you is to get help highlighting relevant experience tied directly to the job description. Using ChatGPT or a similar tool, use AI to review the job requirements and then pull from what you’ve included in your resume.
Understand that at some point in the not-too-distant future, AI may be used to analyze your resume objectively and determine if you meet a predetermined threshold.
Disclaimer - AI should make you more efficient in prepping for roles that you’re already a good fit for, not stuff inboxes across the world with your resume. Use as directed.
BONUS AI Tip: Supercharge your search
This video from Clay.com does a better job explaining how you can really (really) take your search to the next level. It’s absolutely worth a watch:
Be aware of the realities of trying to hire for a role today
Most folks I know who are in a position to hire right now are stuck in a tricky position.
On one hand, I believe that they would ultimately prefer to hire someone who has the natural aptitude and abilities that would make them a solid addition to any Operations team.
On the other hand, they’re typically leading teams that are overworked and under-resourced, and my guess is 2024 annual planning revealed little relief on the horizon.
What this turns into is an unfortunate reality where skills and previous experience (AKA the ability to “contribute immediately”) take precedence over hiring for aptitude.
With this knowledge in mind, it’s probably in your best interest to prioritize showing how you can step in and help a team right away, and then finding ways to show off your inherent qualities that make you a good fit for an Ops role.
During the Interview Process
Follow directions
Often, it’s safer to assume that the order of the interview process and specific details included in things like homework assignments are that way for a reason. You would be surprised to learn how often things like “Prepare a short presentation with five recommendations for a martech stack” gets twisted into a 20-slide deck with 30+ “recommendations”
Following directions (whatever they are) confirms that you are:
1 - a good listener
2 - can be trusted to execute independently on a request
3 - able to make some basic educated assumptions for a task you don’t have the full picture of
Things are different in a remote-first world, and any concerns about your ability to be motivated and accurate can be an easy disqualifier.
Wrap Up
I would encourage you to apply for roles that you don’t feel qualified for. Ops roles and teams need a wide range of personalities, skillsets, backgrounds, and expertise - unless you’re clearly out of your league, give it a shot!
If you end up not getting an interview, it can sometimes be a constructive exercise to examine where the gaps are between your experience and what the role is looking for. This can provide a roadmap for skills/experience training.
Let’s rally together and help each other out!
If you or your team is hiring (or you know of another open role) - please email me @ hey [at] opsscale.co and I’ll include it in next week’s newsletter.
If you’re currently looking for a role and would like to connect on LinkedIn, reach out, and let’s get the conversation started. Keep your head up, we’re pulling for you!
Last, I’ll be available on Substack chat on Wednesday, 12/6/23 at 11am PT/2pm ET. Come join the fun and let’s pull together to get great people into amazing Ops roles. It’ll be the first chance we’ve had to get this community together, so come out if you can and introduce yourself!