Marketing & Creative Jobs in Canada Blog - Part 60

Inside Jobs: The Job of an Online Marketing Specialist

Internet-Marketing-Working

What is an online marketing specialist? That is a very loaded question.

In broad strokes, an online marketing specialist could be defined as someone who helps bring more leads to a business through online marketing. The term “inbound marketing” is often used to describe the idea of making yourself easy to find online and drawing people to your website through things like blogs, videos, e-newsletters, SEO, social media and whitepapers.

On the other side is “outbound marketing”. Outbound marketing will usually refer to what I like to call ‘analogue practices’, such as cold-calling, direct (hard-copy) mail, TV ads, flyers, and plain old traditional print advertising. (Yawn)

Meanwhile, behind the curtain, someone is analyzing your every move. Which emails did you open? Did you click on any of the links? Which one?

It’s been widely discussed that traditional advertising is no longer as effective as it used to be. Now companies must ‘earn their way in’ by providing meaningful content to consumers and allowing themselves to be found quickly and easily online. Continue reading →

The Trouble with Itchy Feet

Fg-Itchy-Feet-Jobs

When I worked in the pharmaceutical industry, I used to be on a team that interviewed job candidates for upper management positions. One thing that struck me as I sifted through the short-listed candidates was that the fast-trackers who quickly rose to the top of the corporate ladder did so by job hopping. They moved from company to company every few years, taking on increasing responsibility with each move. It made me wonder why I was working so hard to establish myself within a company, when the key to success seemed to be to move to a different company when you were ready for the next level.

Job hopping is a hotly debated topic. Some people believe it’s the only way to get ahead, while others say that switching jobs too often signals a character flaw.

Workers today know they could be laid off at any time – after all, they saw it happen to their parents – so they plan defensively and essentially consider themselves ‘free agents.

The Evolution of Job Hopping

In an article for the Harvard Business Review, Monica Hamori, a professor of human resource management at IE Business School in Madrid, wrote, “Climbing the hierarchy used to be a reward for loyalty. But in the 1980s, as firms stripped out layers of management, promotions became fewer and farther between. To get ahead, executives started moving from company to company.”

Now job hopping is “the new normal for millennials,” according to Forbes contributor, Jeanne Meister. “Workers today know they could be laid off at any time – after all, they saw it happen to their parents – so they plan defensively and essentially consider themselves ‘free agents.’”

The phenomenon of frequently switching companies has also accompanied the shift in technology and its influence on culture. An article on the website of Michael Page, an international recruiting firm with offices in Toronto and Montreal, states:

Up to a decade ago, interviewers frowned upon a resume that betrayed you as a “job hopper”. However, this attitude has started to shift with industries such as technology, advertising and PR firms who have elevated job-hopping to a lifestyle and a necessity to keep up with industry changes. Because of this, the tables are turning in the more traditional industries as well, and the once negative image of job-hopping is now being seen as ambitious. In fact, according to one recruiter, in some industries, if you stayed at the same job for five years, you’d have some explaining to do.

Indeed, serial entrepreneurs are the quintessential job hoppers. “Job hopping makes Silicon Valley hum,” say ReadWrite business commentators Tim Devaney and Tom Stein. Continue reading →

How to Get the Most Out of Your Internship

Interning is no easy job. So we compiled a list of some simple rules to help you get the most out of your internship.

1. Be Sure You Can Afford It:
Taking an unpaid internship can be a difficult decision, especially if you don’t have the financial backing of a family, spouse or a big, fat savings account. You need to be sure you can afford to intern. Yes, there are some paid internships, but those are very often few and far between, especially in a competitive market like advertising.

An internship provides exposure to the work and the field; you are not being called in to run the business.

2. Find the Right Internship For You:
Figure out where you want to work and what you want to get out of an internship. Be prepared. Compile a list of questions to ask in the interview, like what sort of hours you’re going to be expected to work, what a typical day would be, and what responsibilities you will have. Go in having done research on the company, their work, and their clients.

3. Set Goals Early On:
Forbes recently did an article on interning, and their first piece of advice was to voice your expectations and goals in the interview. Once you’ve accepted a position with the company, write down your goals. What do you want to learn? What do you want to accomplish? Some internships are very structured. Others, not so much. Having set goals, even personal ones, can help you stay focused.

4. Aim for Tangible Accomplishments:
Keep track of your tasks and experiences. You’ll want to be sure to list your accomplishments from an internship on your resume and LinkedIn page. Continue reading →

How Volunteering May Be The Ticket To A New Job

Volunteering
verb
“Freely offer to do something.”
“A person who performs a service willingly and without pay”

…Willingly and without pay…

I know what you’re thinking.  Looking for a job is difficult.  You try to take in all the information you can – any tip, any ‘system’ and any book.  And when the words “willingly and without pay” appear together, it doesn’t appear relevant.  But bear with me; this advice may be exactly the unconventional nugget you’ve been looking for.

Why Do We Volunteer?

Volunteering has been around for a long, long time.  It’s in our very human nature.  The concept is quite simple: in order to survive as a species, mutual self-help is a vital component of living in groups as humans do.  Whether it’s begrudgingly volunteering your around-the-house fix-it skills for a neighbor or altruistically giving your time for a cause you believe in, the volunteering ethos has been passed down for generations.

When it comes to finding a job, however, volunteering isn’t as embraced.

When it comes to finding a job, however, volunteering isn’t as embraced.  In our western society the lone ranger is idolized.  One against the world, who perseveres against all adversaries, who achieves the familiar rags to riches story, dominates our thinking.

Volunteering comes down to helping others.  We’re trained to help others and expect nothing in return.  To a motivated job seeker this simply isn’t on the priority list.  But it turns out that helping others can be one of the best ways a job seeker can help himself. Continue reading →

New Canadian Marketing, Creative, Design Jobs – Jan 14th – 18th, 2013

Freelance Editorial Designer with Mediaplanet Publishing
Vancouver, BC

Communications & Marketing Lead with Canadian Country Music Association
Toronto, ON

Public Relations Specialist with An international luxury fashion designer
Toronto, ON

Marketing Manager with Robert Half Canada Inc.
Toronto, ON

Advertising Sales Professional with Kenilworth Publishing Inc & Media Inc
Toronto, ON

Director of Marketing with Simba Technologies
Vancouver, BC

Content Management Specialist (Jr. to Intermediate) with Echoworx
Toronto, ON

Internet Marketing Manager with Climax Media Inc.
Toronto, ON

 

My Big Fat 1st Week At The Office

I’ve had a few jobs in my time.  And even though I’m a seasoned professional with 14 plus years experience, I still get nervous about starting a new job.

That first week at a new job can either go really well, or make you totally rethink your new position entirely. Sometimes even your entire career path.

The key to having a great first week is mostly in the hands of the agency. It requires preparation and understanding on the part of the HR team and the hiring managers.

Over the years, I noticed a trend with a lot of the advertising agencies. Once you’re hired, it seems as though everyone is too busy to show you the ropes. And more often than not, orientation of any sort goes out the window. Don’t get me wrong, hitting the ground running isn’t a problem for me, but sometimes, everyone could use a little padding when they land.

The key to having a great first week is mostly in the hands of the agency. It requires preparation and understanding on the part of the HR team and the hiring managers.

Rhoderick Lising, a graphic designer at Station X, Vancouver recently told me that on his first day at the agency, his boss took him – along with a few new colleagues – out for lunch. After that, it was three days of orientation and meetings with key staff. They had even printed personalized business cards printed and ready to go on his first day.

In my experience, a boss taking time out of his or her busy day to have lunch with a new employee is unheard of. But it sounds as though Rhoderick’s new agency put time and effort into preparing a proper orientation for their employees, and everyone was on board with the program. Continue reading →

Top Tech Ads of 2012

In December of last year (yes, that’s 2012), Adweek published a post called “10 Most Watched Tech Ads of 2012”.

In the post they embedded 10 ads that received the most views, which Visible Measures who tracked all this defines as “combination of paid, owned and earned media performance.”

Advertising is first about capturing attention and interest. It needs to resonate and stir up emotions – such as laughter, happiness, sorrow or anger.

These are ‘winning’ ads. So are they amazing? Do they deserve to be watched over 70 million times (as the Samsung ad in the #1 spot was)? Or do they just plain suck?

What are your thoughts?

Advertising is first about capturing attention and interest. It needs to resonate and stir up emotions – such as laughter, happiness, sorrow or anger. Great advertising however, does much more than this. It causes people to take action.

Whether that’s to make a donation, kick a bad habit, or trade your hard earned dollars for the latest gizmo.

So take a look at these ads (we’ve included the top five below) and let us know what you think?

Which is your favourite? And is the order of the top five the way you’d have it, or would you change the order around?

#1 – Galaxy SIII

#2 – Intel and Toshiba Continue reading →

Should You Go With Freelance Work or a Full-Time Job?

Is it better to be a full-time office employee or a freelancer? Ask third-generation ad guy Rob Showell and he’ll say he loves both.

“I have come to love this business and the people and the ideas in it,” says Showell, who is now the Program Coordinator of Langara College’s Advertising Copywriting Certificate Program in Vancouver.

In addition to flexibility, Showell says another advantage to freelancing was being free of the office politics.

The new Copywriting program is the latest addition to Langara’s creative industry training grounds, which already boasts an impressive Communication Arts program that Rethink ad agency has been providing scholarships for during the last four years.

Ad agencies with offices in the west coast used to advise would-be copywriters to go to Toronto for training because Humber College was previously the only school in Canada offering an Advertising Copywriting program. Now with agency leaders like Chris Staples (Rethink), Alvin Wasserman (Wasserman + Partners Advertising), and Alan Russell (formerly with DDB, Palmer Jarvis, Grey Canada and BBDO) on the advisory council of Langara’s Copywriting program, up-and-coming copywriting creatives in Canada can choose where to train.

Prior to becoming the coordinator of Langara’s Advertising Copywriting Certificate Program, Showell worked for local and national ad agencies, partnered in a boutique creative shop and freelanced as a copywriter for hire for over 30 years. He has a Bessie, a New York Art Directors Award and a Lotus Best of Show Award among his credits.

“There’s no way I would have had the longevity of a career that I have if I hadn’t spent those first 12 years in agencies, moving every few years, working on better stuff all the time, with bigger budgets,” says Showell, highlighting the importance of strategy when navigating a creative career. Continue reading →