If you’re a budding Content Creator then getting your first job in the industry is going to be an exciting moment, but it can also be daunting if you don’t know where to start.
It is important that you’ve done your research on the role so that you know the skills that employers are looking for, and how best to showcase these skills in your CV and portfolio. To make your life easier, we’ve put together some tips on how to stand out when applying for Content Creator roles.
START BUILDING YOUR CONTENT MARKETING PORTFOLIO
When you’re just starting out, your portfolio is all you’ve got. It’s your tool to show potential employers why they should hire you instead of someone else. Ideally, it should contain pieces of work that you have completed and detail how long each piece took to finish.
If you have no existing work that shows off what kind of creator you are, then you should consider making some content to show off your style and personality. You could start by building a blog on WordPress or create a YouTube channel that reflects the kind of work you’d like to do professionally!
ENROLL ON FREE CONTENT MARKETING COURSES
Now you’re set on your career path, it’s time to enrol on free content marketing courses. There are a lot of these available online, and they’re easy to find: simply enter “free content marketing course” into your search engine of choice and see what comes up.
For a specialised Content Marketing course, check out this HubSpot Academy free course: Introduction to Content Marketing – we highly recommend this 11-part course for developing your industry knowledge and skills.
To get your head around the basics, we recommend Google Digital Garage’s more generalised Digital Marketing course: Fundamentals of Digital Marketing. This course covers 26 modules and upon completion, we guarantee you will have a greater understanding of the field.
Google Analytics 4 is one of the marketing industry’s most powerful and widely used analytics platforms. Google provide a range of different courses on Google Analytics Academy to ensure you can get your head around their analytic systems and processes.
Online courses are great because they allow you to learn at your own pace—and it doesn’t matter if you’re working full-time or studying for exams either. If the flexibility online courses offer isn’t enough of a selling point, many of these courses offer certificates upon completion which are guaranteed to boost your CV and will look great when interviewing with potential employers!
GET CREATIVE WITH YOUR CV
When applying for jobs, your CV must stand out! As Content Marketing is a creative career path, it makes sense to demonstrate your creativity clearly on your CV.
Your CV is the first point of contact you have with your potential employer, so you need to make a lasting impression. As well as stating your relevant qualifications, skills, and hobbies, to make sure you don’t get overlooked, you could:
- Add images of your art or graphics
- Diverge from the standard CV layout
- Insert a QR code directing to your YouTube Channel
- Use a colourful font
- Use a different font
PROOFREAD EVERYTHING!
…twice!
Proofreading is a skill, and it’s one that you need to develop if you want stellar content. You can proofread your own writing by reading back what you have written out loud and if there are any mistakes in your writing, they will be obvious when spoken!
If you’re in a library, busy coffee shop, or you just don’t fancy hearing your own voice – modern versions of Microsoft Word (such as Office 2019, Office 2021, and Microsoft 365) offer a ‘Read Aloud’ feature. Just pop your headphones in and give it a listen!
If you are struggling with specific words or there are phrases that seem to trip up your sentences when they’re spoken, we recommend using a free grammar tool like Grammarly which enables you to compose mistake-free writing.
FIND A CONTENT CREATOR APPRENTICESHIP
You might be wondering what an Apprenticeship is…
An Apprenticeship is work-based learning, where you get paid to gain knowledge and learn skills that you need to become successful in your chosen industry. Our brand-new Apprenticeship programme, Level 3 Content Creator, will give you the opportunity to start your creative career and help you produce high-quality digital content while giving you hands-on industry experience.
This programme will equip you with video software knowledge and experience in creating graphics using Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe Premiere Pro. Once you have grasped how to use these expert systems, you will create high-quality, professional graphics and informative video and audio content.
The course covers specific social media sites, such as TikTok and Instagram, and how to utilise your online presence on each platform. You will learn how to create engaging short-form videos while keeping up to date with industry developments, to ensure you can produce relevant and trending content.
You will also gain skills in producing high-quality newsletter campaigns using Mailchimp to interact with internal and external stakeholders. You will learn how to confidently plan, create, and deliver email campaigns that are guaranteed to drive results!
Interested? Take a look at our Content Creator vacancies.
FINAL THOUGHTS
All in all, it’s important to remember that when you’re starting out you don’t have to be the perfect candidate, and no one expects you to know the ins and outs of everything! The best thing you can do is keep trying and keep learning; if you are knocked back, think of it as an opportunity for you to grow and be even more prepared for the next Content Creator role you apply for.
Finding your first job through an Apprenticeship will help to transform your creative flair into desirable marketing skills. If you’re considering applying for an Apprenticeship, take a look at our Content Creator Apprenticeship programme here.