How I Got a Job in Marketing (Tips From Industry Experts)
Reading Time: ~5 Mins | Written By: Sydney Vardja
Jelly Academy’s Founder Darian Kovacs recently hosted a webinar diving into the marketing careers of four incredible guest speakers. Joined by Jyll Saskin Gales, Braden Hoeppner, Brian O'Connor, and James Gregson, Darian asked his guests the burning questions we’re all wondering.
Without further ado, let’s get into the exciting lives of these inspirational figures, and maybe learn some juicy tips and tricks while we’re at it!
Q) Where do you work now? And how the heck did you get there?
Jyll Saskin Gales
Jyll is a marketing consultant, coach, and teacher. She founded Jyll.ca — a business built on her ability to teach others about paid media. The opportunity arose after she started utilizing TikTok to share educational marketing videos.
Upon graduating from her psychology and child development program, Jyll got a job at a magazine, but the publication folded quickly. “I moved back home from New York and back into my parent’s house, with my tail in between my legs and no job,” she said. Jyll went on to do her MBA at Harvard Business School, and later landed a job as an International Growth Consultant at Google.
She accredits a referral. “It’s kind of a hidden secret at these big tech companies,” she said. “If you get referred in, even if they don’t know you at all, it just guarantees a recruiter actually views your application.”
Brian O’Connor
Brian is an SEO Analyst at Aritzia. Brian graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business.
Interested in languages, Brian did an exchange program in France in his third year of school. Upon arriving home, he couldn’t find a marketing job. So, he joined Apple’s call centre, and later transitioned into an e-commerce role. Brian later worked for BestBuy in a variety of backend roles, before joining the SEO team. “In large organizations it’s pretty cool because you tend to get these opportunities that pop up,” he said. “So if you’re interested in something, whether it’s SEO or paid media, those are the times when you should be jumping in to watch what they’re doing, or help out in any way.”
James Gregson
James is the Creative Director of LEGO where he works across brand and product advertising. He received his degree in computer animation with a minor in painting.
“I was the worst academic ever,” he said. “It’s not that I didn’t try hard — I tried very hard — I just wasn’t book smart.” But James grew up as a digital native. He was in college when Facebook landed, and had several PR roles where he watched seniors fumble over the digital world. James went on to work in the agency side for almost a decade.
He suggests future marketers start in this space and stick to it because of the variety of experience. “It’s exhausting, it’s a lot of hard work,” he said. But it helped him land a brand role and become an expert in one category. He started his own consulting firm, and through that, “very luckily” got connected to LEGO.
Braden Hoeppner
Braden is the VP of Marketing and Digital at FYidoctors. He previously worked at Herschel, Saxx, and Kit & Ace. Braden received his bachelor degree in general studies, coining himself an official “generalist.”
He stumbled into marketing at the inception of web analytics. “The idea that you could put something into the market, test it, measure it, prove it, just fascinated me,” he said. But Braden used to think he wasn’t a marketer. He would attend industry events, thinking they weren’t meant for him. “I’m not the most ‘get out there, socialize, and network’ type of person,” he said. He now accredits his successful career to a previous boss who helped him recognize that working in data is marketing — shoutout Paula from Telus!
Q) Best way to leverage a post-secondary program?
Braden: “Go study everything. The more you know the better. You never know when some insight from archaeology is going to come in and apply.”
Jyll: “Network. When you’re a student, people are much more open to meeting with you, grabbing coffee, or hopping on Zoom than when you’re graduated, and just a random person reaching out.”
James: “Knowing what you don’t want to do is equally as important as what you do want to do. And double down on networking: your biggest superpower, especially as a student.”
Brian: “Figure out what you don’t want to do and by doing that you’ll figure out what you do. It might take years but be patient when trying to understand what draws you.”
Q) What do you look for on a resume, LinkedIn profile, and in interviews?
Braden: ”A level of clarity, not throwing buzzwords and accomplishments. Be tailored. Don’t take one resume and chuck it in 100 different places.”
James: “The interview is the most important thing. But before then, the number one thing I go through is LinkedIn. Do they have a point of view they share? You don’t need to have a job to have a point of view.”
Q) How do you get your foot in the door?
Brian: “Be open to doing whatever you want to do. Don’t be afraid to sidestep to get your foot in the door. I got that job at Apple only because I spoke French and lived in Ireland.”
Braden: “If you have no work experience, go volunteer. Use the cover letter and take it as a chance to stand out — comment on a previous campaign, use it as a design example.”
Q) How important is a post-secondary marketing program?
James: “Unpopular opinion: I think education is overvalued — maybe in marketing especially. I’m not saying I would like a lawyer or doctor without a degree. I was a big component of LEGO dropping the degree requirement from job postings.”
Jyll: “I don’t think the subject matter that you study is important, but just the act of going through an educational environment. You learn discipline, you learn how to study, how to prioritize time. If you didn’t study marketing or if you don’t have an MBA, that’s okay. My now best friend went to a community college, I went to Harvard Business School, and we both got essentially the same job at Google.”
These creatives come from different backgrounds, and have worked in diverse roles across a myriad of notable companies. But one commonality brings these folks together: their willingness to help the next generation of future marketers break into the industry.
Listen to the full interview on Marketing News Canada.
