Author Archives: FreshGigs.ca Team

Branding: It’s not just for Businesses Anymore

The job hunt can be frustrating. You post your resumes, you go on interviews and if you are lucky you land a position. But maybe you are finding that your resumes aren’t getting a nibble or maybe your interviews aren’t landing you callbacks or, more importantly, the job.

You are best at being you, and that is what makes you unique. Your personality is how you will connect with your interviewer, so let it shine.

What’s going on? Maybe you didn’t treat yourself like a business. In other words, you didn’t build your brand.

“The best way to get a job is to build a strong, appealing brand that attracts new opportunities,” Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding and author of Promote Yourself: The New Rules For Career Success, was quoted as saying in How to Showcase Your Personal Brand in a Job Interview, written by author Jacquelyn Smith. “Personal branding is the process of unearthing your unique talents and communicating them, through various mediums, to the right audience.”

So, just like you would help your marketing clients build their brand, it’s time to turn your talents on yourself and bring out your best for your career. The key is to have a strong position, clearly communicate who you are and differentiate yourself from your competitors.

Do your research:

Know the company you are interviewing with in and out, as well as the position you are up for. Prep for your interviews with mock interviews. Also, come up with questions of your own that show your interest in the job. Here are a few to consider: The Best Questions to ask during a Job Interview.

First impressions:

It goes without saying that, yes, you will be judged on your appearance. But, good posture a firm handshake and a genuine smile are all part of your brand. Don’t just plaster on your best family-portrait smile — mean it.

Prepare your tool kit:

According to Smith, a good tool kit includes:

Business card
Cover letter
Resume
References document
Portfolio of work (if applicable)

All pieces should link back to your personal website or LinkedIn profile. Continue reading →

Revamping your Job Search to Compete in 2014

FreshGigs.ca Team

So, it’s 2014. How’s your job search going? If you are unemployed, or are looking for a career change, you are in good company … millions of others are in the same boat. Which is all the more reason to take a hard look at your job search skills and revamp your efforts.

Your peers are often just as important to your career advancement as senior management. They are the folks that can open doors in new positions or new organizations.

Get a leg up on the competition, and most importantly, find the best opportunities to further your marketing career, with these tips, suggested by author Mary Gay Townsend in 7 Tips to Revamp your Job Search for 2014.

1. Be unique.

Finding a job isn’t a cookie-cutter proposition. Your friend might get a job through a friend of a friend. Another might spend years on online job sites. Still another might network heavily through LinkedIn and finally meet the right person who has a job. The point is, it is a personal experience, and you need to find the strategies that work for you, and try as many as you need to get yourself out there. Townsend cites an interesting tactic here. It might be a stretch, but the idea is that you don’t always have to go the traditional job search route to find your dream career.

2. Look at job titles or departments differently.

So maybe you have studied or spent years in a specific position in marketing. But have you considered being open-minded about using your skills in other departments or looking at different job titles? Your skills could actually translate well into other areas of a workforce.

“Be open-minded about your preconceived notions of job titles. Roles in compliance, human resource or administration, for example, are often perceived as being boring, career-limiting or otherwise undesirable. Such preconceptions, however, about the scope, strategic importance and long-term potential of these positions are not always true in today’s market. In many cases I’ve seen, these jobs offer exceptional opportunity for influential and attractive long-term careers,” says Townsend.

3. First online impressions are everything.

It is said so often, but we’ll say it again, with emphasis. JOB PROOF YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES! A Careerbuilder.com survey found that nearly 40 percent of companies will check out your Facebook profile when they researching you for a position.

This is what they are looking for across all of your social media sites:

To see if the candidate presents himself/herself professionally – 65 percent
To see if the candidate is a good fit for the company culture – 51 percent
To learn more about the candidate’s qualifications – 45 percent
To see if the candidate is well-rounded – 35 percent
To look for reasons not to hire the candidate – 12 percent Continue reading →

New Marketing & Creative Jobs in Canada, Feb 21st, 2014

FreshGigs.ca Team

Web Developer with Curious Communications
Calgary, AB

Web Designer with Tagga Media Inc.
Vancouver, BC

Project Manager with Ball Creative & Communications Inc
Calgary, AB

Art Director/Designer with Ball Creative & Communications Inc
Calgary, AB

UX Designer with Booking.com
Open to Canadians but based in Amsterdam, NL

Marketing Support Coordinator with Confidential Financial Company
Vancouver, BC

Account Manager/Ad Production with Ad Vendors International
London, ON

Restaurant Promo & Marketing with KOBE Japanese Steak House
Vancouver, BC

Content Marketing Manager with Terramera, Inc.
Vancouver, BC

Graphic Design Lead/Art Director with Triple Flip
Calgary, AB

Business Development Specialist with Calgary Parking Authority
Edmonton, AB

Success before Breakfast: What Successful People do in the Morning

FreshGigs.ca Team

Turns out “hitting the ground running” isn’t just a catchy phrase. It’s also a key trait of successful people. They use the first hours of the day to take care of their priorities, take care of themselves and overall set the tone of the day. So, how can you use your morning more productively? Let’s check out a few things suggested in 12 Things Successful People do before Breakfast based on information from What Most Successful People Do before Breakfast by author Laura Vanderkam.

1. Wake up early
Vanderkam’s research shows that 90 percent of 20 polled executives wake up before 6 a.m. They know that time is valuable. So, you should use any non-office time you have to your advantage, because when the rest of the world is awake, you are at its beck and call.

Type-A personalities who demand a lot of themselves might benefit from taking a bit of time to calm and clear their mind through meditation at the start of their day.

2. Workout before it loses its appeal

The longer you wait to workout, the easier it is to put it off, and put it off, and put it off … you see where this is going. Working out first thing in the morning knocks it off your to-do list early, before the rest of the days tasks get in the way. But, exercising in the morning has so many more benefits. According to 6 Benefits to Being a Morning Exerciser, it also promotes more consistency in your routine for better results, improves your productivity, boosts your metabolism, promotes your sleep and encourages you to make better diet choices. It’s a win-win!

3. Work on top-priority work or personal projects

Early morning usually offers quiet time, devoid of ringing phones, emails and overall interruptions. It’s an ideal time to focus on projects that really need your undivided attention. Trying to come up a great pitch for a marketing project? Early morning hours are a great time for thinking without coworkers chiming in. Writing a novel? Do it before work, instead of after, when you are still wound up from your day or thinking about what to make for dinner. Continue reading →

Discount Pricing to The Art of Marketing Coming to Vancouver March 19th

FreshGigs.ca Team

Well it’s that time of year again folks and the good people over at The Art of Marketing are bringing their conference back to Vancouver on March 19th!

As you know here at FreshGigs.ca we’re big supporters of anything to do with marketing and creativity in Canada so when we heard Seth Godin was one of the featured speakers it had us doing back flips and cartwheels 🙂

So you’re probably asking what’s the FREE Ticket giveaway all about?

Well it’s quite simple actually, just do these 2 things to enter:

“Like” the FreshGigs.ca Facebook page here
Then on that page tell us why you want to go to The Art of Marketing.

That’s it you’ll be entered into our contest and 2 lucky winners will be chosen on February 24th. Good luck!

Also if you want to register and save at least $50 per pass then you can do that here:
Special Registration Page For FreshGigs.ca Community

2014 Trends in Marketing

FreshGigs.ca Team

It’s an exciting time to get getting into marketing, advertising and communications. The experiences that marketers and advertisers can deliver to consumers, customers and clients are unlike anything before thanks to evolving technology and innovative delivery platforms, like social media.

“It is a period of rapid change and constant evolution unlike any the industry has ever experienced,” says Thomas Kenny, strategic planner at Leo Burnett and author of Six Marketing Trends to Watch. As such, it has never been more important for those seeking marketing careers to stay on top of emerging trends in the field.

Consumers are different. They no longer just want a product that functions. They want an emotional connection.

Here are a few that Kenney suggests to keep your eye on in 2014.

Keeping it Old School

Several ad films, such as Dodge’s Ron Burgundy shorts, were great examples that traditional media is still very effective. “Despite all the new tools of the trade available to advertisers, one of the most traditional media is still amongst the most effective. People still like to sit back and be told a great story,” Kenny relates.

But Not that Old School

Mobile devices continue to be an up and coming trend, even though many marketers and advertisers still don’t give them much thought. But they should. According to an eMarketer study, the average adult in the U.S. spends almost 2.5 hours on their mobile device. That is up by almost an hour from the prior year.

“This is the real deal. For advertisers this means no more sites that aren’t optimized for mobile, no more desktop only experiences (ahem, Facebook apps and custom YouTube channels), and more content that looks just as good on a much smaller screen (see points one, two and three),” Kenney adds. Continue reading →

Multitasking: If you Must do it, Do it Right

FreshGigs.ca Team

Are we really more efficient and productive when we multitask? Not really. Studies have shown that multitaskers, in fact, aren’t necessarily more productive or efficient than those who focus on one task at a time. And, they don’t really manage to do more than one task at a time, anyway. So why do we do it?

“[People who multitask] are not being more productive—they just feel more emotionally satisfied from their work,” that is what a study by researcher Zhang When found, as mentioned in What Multitasking Does to Our Brains. Article author Leo Wildrich goes onto say, “She mentioned that if we study with our books open, watch TV at the same time and text friends every so often, we get a great feeling of fulfillment. We are getting all these things done at once, and we feel incredibly efficient.”

Nothing screws up multitasking more than just jumping from task to task haphazardly.

Admit it; there is something sort of intoxicating about having several devices open and working on them all. We all know we are going to do it. So, let’s check out some tips from How to be a Multitasking Genius, by author Robine Fisher.

Make a list of everything you need to accomplish and group similar tasks. Multitasking 101, right? How much time you waste in a day doing thinking about what you need to do next? Or trying to remember what you needed to get done? Or getting distracted by tasks that really weren’t that important?

Fisher suggests listing everything you need to get done, even down to menial tasks. Cross off the tasks as you finish them to keep track. If possible, group similar tasks together to maximize your organization.

Master The Pomodoro Technique. “One of the reasons people multitask is because they can’t handle doing a single task for a long period of time. With The Pomodoro Technique, you take a five minute break in between 25 minutes of working,” says Fisher. Continue reading →

Fresh Canadian Marketing & Creative Jobs, February 7th 2014

FreshGigs.ca Team

VP, Product Marketing with Vision Critical
Vancouver or Toronto

Web Designer with XE.com
Newmarket, ON

Marketing & Brand Strategist with Studiothink
Surrey, BC

Marketing & Communications Writer with Qtrade Financial Group
Vancouver, BC

Manager, Marketing and Client Services with Jam Van Inc.
Toronto, ON

Account Manager – Experiential Marketing with Newad Media
Toronto, ON

Communications Specialist with Spinal Cord Injury BC
Vancouver, BC

Account Coordinator with RFX Brand + Communications
Calgary, AB

Garment Development Manager with Lululemon
Vancouver, BC

FreshGigs.ca Canada’s First Jobsite to Accept Bitcoin

FreshGigs.ca Team

As of today we are accepting Bitcoin.

If you’re an employer looking to post a job, you now have options to make payment with Visa, Mastercard, American Express and now Bitcoins.

As of today there are currently more than 12,349,750 Bitcoins in circulation according to Bitcoin Charts.

Bitcoins In Circulation

FreshGigs.ca is happy to join other companies accepting payment in Bitcoins including Overstock.com, Baidu, Blenz Coffee, Escapes.ca and Zynga.

Marc Andreessen of famous VC firm, Andreessen Horowitz, recently wrote an article “Why Bitcoin Matters” where he talks in length about how great he believes Bitcoin’s future potential is. Marc knows a thing or two – he was the co-founder of Netscape as well as Ning, as well as being one of only six members in the World Wide Web Hall of Fame.

To purchase your next job with Bitcoin visit our Bitcoin Job Posting page.

The Value of Marketing: How Agencies are trying to Control the Pressure of Cost Cutting

FreshGigs.ca Team

Maybe you have heard this adage: “We offer three kinds of service: Good-Cheap-Fast. GOOD service CHEAP won’t be FAST. GOOD service FAST won’t be CHEAP. FAST service CHEAP won’t be GOOD.”

It could be describing the struggles of marketers and ad agencies the last few years.

It’s been a big year for the Canadian ad industry, says Susan Krashinsky, marketing reporter for the Globe and Mail, Marketers under Greater Pressure to Control Costs. But that hasn’t stopped companies from cutting their advertising and marketing investments.

The challenge is agreeing with a client on the measurement of the effectiveness of the marketing and advertising work.

“The chief marketing officer of the world’s second-largest advertiser, Unilever, said that the company is looking for $500-million (U.S.) in savings next year. Part of those savings will come by reducing the company’s marketing staff by 12 percent; moving its advertising dollars out of traditional media and into digital channels; and trying to curb the fees it pays ad agencies,” Krashinsky writes.

You can thank the recession, as well as a sluggish climb out, for this trend. But that isn’t all. There is an over-reaching lack of spending growth in advertising dollars, and marketers are being asked to do more, faster with less. Why? Part of it is because of a basic misunderstand in the C-suite of the value of marketing.

“They’re just not seeing growth, in a lot of industries. They have to cut costs – so you can’t fault them,” Krashinsky quotes David Leonard, president and chief operating officer of DDB Canada, as saying. “The objection I have is where there’s no understanding for the contributions marketing makes to the brand. These people, unfortunately, know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. We as an industry should be fighting to change the compensation model.”

Fighting Back: It’s not About Slashing Prices

To stay alive in this tough climate a lot of marketers were under pressure by procurement reps to deliver results at rock bottom prices. To stay alive, some had to bow to the pressure, accepting extremely low offers for work. But, it inevitably leads to poor quality work and many have felt that it has hurt the industry all around. Continue reading →