How to Prepare Your Resume for a Digital Marketer Role

While I was pursuing Digital Marketing, the administration provided us with a sample resume template to each of us. We were asked to attend the interviews and follow the same process of listing out our skill set in the resume. Though many of my classmates possessed a long list of technical skills, they were unable to portray it in the resume.  While, a few, who were lacking some of the primary skills, were hired by the companies. This literally awed me. How could a resume decide the future of a Digital Marketer even before the examination of his skills?

After going through a few samples, I realized the fault: The inability of a candidate to sell himself. We all know, preparing a resume for a Digital Marketing role can be daunting and sometimes, downright frustrating because of the plethora of skills one has to have to grab a Digital Marketing role. Missing out one important ability can also be risky. What if you’re guided the right way to craft a resume for a Digital Marketing role so that your inbox is no more flooded with shiny rejection emails?

Grab a steaming cup of coffee, open a Google Word Doc and start writing, coz’ after this, your CV is going to be the digital marketing CV every recruiter dreams of.

The Resume Screening Process

Resume Screening is said to be the most time-consuming part while recruiting a Digital Marketer. The reasons are many: Improper or Inadequate skill set, Inability to sell oneself like a brand, last but not the least, the formatting of a proper Digital Marketer CV. According to research, a recruiter spends 6.25 seconds on a resume before he gets to decide whether a candidate is fit for a Digital Marketer role or not. With today’s competitive candidate-driven talent market, many companies use various Application Tracking Systems and Resume Screening Softwares to filter out a whole lot of candidates and focus only on the relevant resumes. So, how to get such software to pick your Digital Marketing CV and show it to your recruiter? Let’s find out through a simple process of preparing your resume for a Digital Marketing role.

Things go better with a simple and clean resume

First and foremost, what is the job profile you’re applying for? Is it a Digital Marketing Agency or an IT company? Does the company require particular skills or every aspect of Digital Marketing? While crafting a resume for a Digital Marketer’s role, make sure you keep in mind all key factors and highlight only the necessary keywords in your CV. For e.g. A digital marketing role would not require your customer management skills. Be precise and this will allow your resume to get past the automated machines and reach human hands. And the rest depends upon your portrayal of abilities.

How different are you from others: The Value Proposition

Your statement of purpose is a standout amongst the things used to compose CV – consider it like your own slogan. Your mission statement is the only paragraph on your resume which will outshine your skills from your competitors’. The only opportunity to market your unique selling point which proves the marketing genius you are.

So how would you grandstand your one selling point in a line or two? By getting somewhat innovative. In case you’re a content writer, for instance, don’t simply say, ‘I’m an extraordinary content writer.’ Boring. Unsurprising. Next, Think, rather, of what magic you can create with your words. Would your words be able to create an impact on a group of people to act or else would you be filtered in the automated screening process itself? Let the hiring manager think about a brand in your way.

Hit the target digitally

When you’re preparing a CV for a Digital Marketer role, the main aspect your resume is tested against is targeting the audience with your content. After all, digital marketing is all about targeting the audience and search engines. Is the company looking for a B2B experience or a B2C experience? Would the past work from home internships you’ve done related to them? Are they looking for someone who can create quirky ad campaigns for their products and services? If so, get ready to market yourself as strategically as a brand.

More than just a spelling

Small typos in a traditional CV land is a big no, and when it comes to digital marketing, typos are just indefensible. In a digital land where communication is the key, your grammar should be flawless, to the least, not misspelled. The sentences ought to be sharp and punchy and your center message ought to be quickly recognizable.

Have you ever dreamt of a colleague proofreading your website while you’ve sent a newsletter to him? Embarrassing! Isn’t it?  In a similar vein, typos and inconsistencies on your CV reflect badly on your personal brand. Don’t let them happen.

Where these factors should be adding spice to a resume format for Digital Marketer that is already created, the base lies in the fact of formatting into one. Let’s have a look at those basic points needed to craft a Digital Marketer’s CV.

The Quantifying Factors of your CV

Education

Here’s where most of the candidates fail to use their academics properly. Remember, your degree is as important as the college you’ve studied. Mostly, your degree should compliment your role even in the slightest way possible. For freshers, your CV should be mostly focussing on your academic scores, projects, and internships whereas, for experienced candidates, your focus should be on the relevant work experience. If your academic scores are low, make your resume qualitative with all the accomplishments and projects you’ve done. Or else, removing the scores would not hurt for a Digital Marketing role.

Internships

Internships and Projects add a lot of essence to your existing resume. Your training and internships should be solely based on the role you’re applying for. Don’t add unnecessary elements and frustrate the hiring manager. Be precise, up to the point, and let your skill-set do the talking.

If you’re an experienced candidate, you’ll have to get specific about the successes you’ve achieved for previous brands. Think in terms of percentages, metrics, KPIs, figures and measurable outcomes. This will show employers that you have a firm grasp of the knowledge needed to create, run and measure a successful campaign.

Work Experience

Work experience can help a lot when it is properly structured with all key responsibilities and achievements. Head the roll-up with an informative introduction that summarises:

• What your employer does
• What your area/team do (if working for a large firm)
• Where you sit within the hierarchy
• What the overall goal of your role is
• How your work contributes to the goals of your employer

Keep the bullet points to one line in length to allow easy scanning, and where possible, try to show how your actions benefit your employer. And, say no to paragraphs. Include achievements like:

• Increasing traffic to a website or page
• Building a huge social media following
• Generating a large number of leads for a service or product
• Increasing revenue for an employer
• Gaining an industry recognized award
• Interests and Hobbies

Before listing out all your vague hobbies and interests on your resume, scan the organization first. Is the organization’s culture such that it embraces unique individuals that have a range of background and interests, or is it a conservative organization which views hobbies as ‘distractions’. Try these,

Work / Digital Marketing Related Interests

•     Creating your own websites
•     Writing articles or blogs
•     Selling products on eBay
•     Impressive interests
•     Running marathons
•     Volunteering
•     Organizing events

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