As a digital marketing professional, how well are you marketing yourself?

Your CV (resumé, curriculum vitae, life story, etc.) is your opportunity to grab attention and sell the shit out of yourself. Your job search will take a turn for the better when you learn how to write a CV that’s tailored to the industry and the role.

The problem we see at Herd is that so many CVs aren’t clear, focused or memorable.

In a landscape that’s dynamic and usually favours creativity, is yours being thrown in the virtual rubbish bin or is it getting you the interviews you want?

Want some free advice from someone that knows the marketing recruitment business inside-out? Send your CV to AlexisW@herd.digital for a complimentary consultation on how to transform your resumé into something employers want to see.

Highlighting key skills & other marketing CV tips

The CV templates you find online may look like the easy route – but they’re rarely tailored to the digital marketing industry. 

The person in charge of hiring wants to be able to see a clear narrative of your career history, so they can quickly recognise that your skills and experience are a good match for the position. White space, formatting and font all matter, too.

Still not sure where to start? Cast your gaze over our checklist of CV tips below and get yourself that dream marketing job.

The scoop that gives you an edge:

Who have you worked for? 

Were you at an agency or working client-side? If you were in an agency, mention some of your well-known clients’ names rather than using vague phrases such as “travel company”. Don’t be afraid to name-drop!

What did you do for the brand(s)? 

Give us figures, here. Include actual results that are ideally linked to financial success. For example, I increased traffic by x%, which reduced CPA by x% and increased revenue by x%.

Have you gained brand coverage in any major publications?

Include them and mention any positive impact the coverage led to, if possible.

Did you manage people?

If so – how many were in your team?

Key/technical skills: 

Relevancy.

Keep skills relevant to the role. If you’re applying for a PPC position, you don’t need to include your Adobe skills.

Tools and technologies.

Which tools are you proficient in that would help you excel in the role? E.g. Google Analytics, HubSpot, social media insight tools, etc.

Pitches and presentations.

Were you involved in any business pitches that secured a major client or new business?

Languages.

Include any languages you’re fluent in. (Notice we said fluent! If you studied French at GCSE-level and can only recall basic phrases, that doesn’t count…malheureusement!)

Remove generic phrases.

Be brutal here and differentiate “technical skills” from fluff. If you’ve got generic phrases here such as “team player”, “creative thinker” or “problem-solver”, they’ve got to go.

Work experience: 

Primary information.

Each section of your work experience should be headed with Job Title, Company, Dates (in bold, please).

Accuracy.

When it comes to the dates, make sure you include months as well as years, and that these align with your LinkedIn profile. Employers check.

Define the company.

Worked for a company that’s not instantly recognisable? Add an overview in italics next to the company’s name. E.g. Boutique digital marketing agency

Big up your achievements.

Include what you did at the company. The format can be similar to a job description, but should be tailored to your results and achievements.

Link it together.

Create links between the key skills and work experience sections. How did you use your skills listed in your day-to-day activities?

New business acquisition.

If you had exposure to client presentations and pitches, mention it. How much revenue did you generate?

AM roles.

If you worked in an Account Management role, include any additional services you managed to sell and how many accounts you grew or retained.

Cover all bases.

Make sure you address employment gaps in your work history. Were you travelling, freelancing or just taking some time off? 

Making it look good:

Fonts.

Don’t play around with fancy fonts; stick with one legible font throughout and keep text size consistent.

Contact details.

Consider putting your contact details at the bottom of the CV. So many candidates waste page space on contact information – which isn’t the stuff that gets you the job. All it takes is a line with a phone number, email address and link to your online portfolio or LinkedIn profile.

Keywords.

Make sure your key skills are prominent. Hiring managers scan resumés for keywords just like Google does.

Personal statement.

Include a profile (or personal statement) near the top of the page. All it takes is 2-3 lines about who you are, what you do, how many years of experience you have and what you’re looking for. Again, don’t fluff it up with generic babble. (You work in marketing; you’re better than that!)

Hobbies and interests: should they be included?

There’s a topic of debate around whether hobbies and interests should be included on a professional marketing CV. This is especially true nowadays, where many people struggle to think of a single interesting thing they like to do in their spare time… 

We recommend you do include your hobbies. Hiring managers want to know what you’re like as a person and whether you’d be a good cultural fit for the company. In forward-thinking workplaces such as digital marketing agencies, culture can be just as important as your ability to do the job. Not only that, it adds an element of individuality to your application and gives you something to talk about at the interview. 

Include them at the end of your curriculum vitae and view them as a way to seal the deal, not a major selling point.