How You Can Help Yourself Improve Success Rates With Your Current Job Search & Applications
By Matthew Ward, Founder and Director13 April 2021
A few honest observations from years of watching people search for their first marketing role, and what actually seems to move the needle.
Building a genuine presence, managing your expectations, and sending fewer but stronger applications tend to matter more to a job search than volume alone.
Build your presence before you need it
If you're not actively networking, commenting and connecting with people whose careers you admire, you're leaving opportunities on the table. LinkedIn keeps growing in relevance, and personal branding matters more than most people give it credit for. A big audience with no real engagement behind it isn't worth much. Consistent, genuine content and interaction is what actually opens doors, and it takes time to build, so the people who start now are the ones who benefit later.
Manage your expectations, don't abandon them
Keep exploring and gathering experience even when things move slowly. There's a genuinely useful idea here that shows up across a lot of philosophy and psychology: much of our frustration comes not from what happens, but from the gap between what we expected and what actually occurred. Lower the weight you put on any single outcome, and the setbacks along the way feel far less personal. That's not pessimism, it's just a way of protecting your motivation through a process that rarely moves in a straight line.
Focus on what you can actually control
You control your own development, and that's worth focusing energy on rather than outcomes you can't influence. Nobody reaches a senior marketing position through theory alone, courses and reading matter, but they only go so far without actually doing the work, using the tools, running the campaigns, practising the craft directly. You can't learn to drive from a book. Marketing works the same way.
Quality over volume
Sending out as many applications as possible can feel productive, and it does work for some people, but it's often a sign of losing focus under pressure rather than a genuine strategy. Putting real effort into fewer, better-targeted applications tends to pay off more. A short, genuine introductory note to the hiring manager is something most applicants skip entirely, and it stands out simply by being there.
Show evidence, not just potential
Many businesses can't afford to take a chance on someone unproven, they need capability they can see. That said, most job descriptions read more like wish lists than strict requirements. If you can tick a reasonable number of boxes and demonstrate that you're genuinely a fast learner and a problem solver, a good business will see that as worth investing in.
If you'd like to talk through where you're at in your search, get in touch, we're always happy to help. Once you land an interview, the secret to preparing for a job interview covers what to do next.
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