"Straight up: The job market sucks right now. Folks who have been in PR, content marketing and comms their entire careers aren’t able to find jobs.
"I know CEOs who are getting 500+ resumes for every copywriter or content manager job they post.
"I was laid off from my Plan B a year ago December in an RIF and am just now landing promising interviews — and one of those would put me back in media which is somewhere I never wanted to go.
"I’ve been picky. You def don’t want an entry level position as your current position on your resume.
"That said, I’ve also built a little client book and taken every opportunity to expand my portfolio. I don’t say no to any opportunity that comes my way and have tapped into the relationships I built as a journalist (and private person) to land contract, consulting and freelance gigs. I launched two newsletters. I took Coursera content-marketing courses.
"My advice to you/things to consider:
"1. Build a sexy portfolio displaying a variety of work.
"It should have multimedia, news reporting (short and long form), SEO writing (B2B and B2C), website writing, scripts, advertising writing, etc.
"It should not have a cheapo wix or Squarespace domain name. Buy a domain.
2. Sign up at creative-focused hiring firms like Creative Circle and Aquent. Don’t expect to actually land a job through them but just looking at the job descriptions and getting their emails will give you a good idea of what your competition looks like and how you should evolve your portfolio and resume.
"3. Apply through Indeed! And ZipRecruiter. And LinkedIn. In my experience, you’re more likely to hear back through those platforms because there’s a profile and more holistic presence attached to the application. You’re just an invisible applicant when you apply through a company’s website. Employers use those platforms for a reason.
"4. Tap into your network and network, network, network. Every social engagement I go to — even meeting friends of friends out bar hopping — generally turns up a lead or two.
"5. Embrace AI. I use ChatGPT as an advisor for writing cover letters and anticipating interview questions. I’ve played around on the developer side. I also use it in my writing. It’s not only a great assistant, but you need to know it for any content job you apply to.
"6. Be ready to take a retail gig. If you don’t want an entry level job and don’t want to burn a bridge in the business community when you jump ship for the RIGHT job when it comes your way, be willing to make lattes or be a cashier.
"And finally, I say this with kindness: If you’re applying to jobs that demand AP Style expertise, make sure your cover letter and resume actually are in AP Style (or Chicago or whatever). Don’t use two little hyphens — use the em dash, for example. Brush up on the latest style guidance.
"It’s truly brutal out there. Competition is fierce af and you’re competing against people with tons of experience and no experience but think they can write. Recruiters have to sift through that. Make it easy on them."
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