Agency Jobs – New Year Job Hunting

Simon Rigby recruits for digital agency jobs in Manchester focussing on roles such PPC Manager, SEO Executive, Acquisition Manager or Display Executive. His Manchester Advertising Agency clients have been working with The Candidate recruitment agency for over 3 years now and they have placed both junior and senior level candidates. Whether you are looking for a new agency job, or moving from a client side job, The Candidate may have the role for you. We are here to give you CV advice, career options and insight into the Manchester Digital Marketing and Manchester Digital Media scenes. If you want to be part of the Northern Powerhouse, look no further for a career in marketing and media than The Candidate, we specialise in online marketing roles.

New Year Agency Job Bonanza

This New Year we will once again see a huge boom in the amount of agency jobs that we recruit for, and whether you are currently working in-house, or at another media agency, we'll almost certainly have the marketing job for you. I know what you might be thinking -which marketing roles are right for me? Or none of the job descriptions tell me what advertising agency they are for! Fear not, once you contacted me or one of my amazing recruitment colleagues, we'll happily talk you through exactly what media and marketing roles we have on, where they in Manchester and across the Northwest, and whether we feel that you'd have the right media and marketing experience.

Advertising Agency Structure

I started my career in a media sales house, so in a marketing job, and so obviously had a firm understanding on how the structures in media agencies work, especially in comparison to in-house eCommerce roles. In brief, how these structures differ is that, within an agency, there is a set structure, similar to a sales house, and therefore a set progression plan. This might be: Assistant > Executive > Senior Exec > Manager > Account Director. Therefore, when you get into a good media agency, you know that you will progress to the next level every year or eighteen months or so on merit, rather than having to wait for colleagues to get promoted or leave like you might do in-house!

Reasons to move..

Some of the reasons that candidates come to me are because they're not getting the career progression within their media or marketing role. For example, agencies tend to win and lose clients, this affects teams and structures, meaning a lot of change and sometimes employees are overlooked. Or maybe you've been pigeonholed into one role, as put in a silo and you want experience in another position (this happens a lot in PPC.) Excitingly though, there are new roles appearing within digital marketing that call on the skillset of other disciplines. For example, Activation Manager calls upon the skills of SEO, Outreach, Blogging and Relationship management. These are all skills for PR trained employees and with a shortage in Activation Managers, this could be a great opportunity to work in a new role and rid you of any uncertainty in the New Year!

Client side to agency side?

If you currently work on the client side, be aware that the agency side is a completely different culture. They are often very social creatures, so be prepared to get involved in team nights out, lunches with clients and corporate events. Agencies are often much more flexible in terms of working hours, and are quite often much less corporate!

Working with recruiters..

You may have worked with recruiters before, and perhaps not got your ideal role. Maybe they were sending you irrelevant jobs, roles at the wrong level, or maybe they just ignored you altogether. At The Candidate, we don't work like that. I know first-hand, having been working with three different agencies before sticking with The Candidate when I realised that they actually cared about me, rather than just seeing me as a fee! You see, here at The Candidate, all we care about is, you guessed it, THE CANDIDATE!

Job Hunting Tips!

So, after reading this, if you are now thinking that having a look for a new role is for you, here are a few quick tips on what to do next:

1. Have a look at the jobs on our website, and if any tickle your fancy, apply and upload your CV. If there isn't a role for you there currently, upload your CV regardless. Once we have you on our system, we'll give you a call to discuss your experience and roles and alert you to any suitable roles as soon as they come on
2. Have a serious think about what your salary requirements are. Don't price yourself out of an interview. If you are on £22k, asking for £30k just isn't going to happen. I personally would look for more of a sensible rise, of course, unless you are really senior and deserve it!
3. If you're currently working in PPC, realistically you aren't going to get a new role in a completely different sector, like affiliates or display. Be realistic and apply for what suits your skillset!

I'd be very happy to discuss your thoughts. Believe it or not, its not always best to move and we've actually advised candidates to stay where they are! Have a think about what you want from this year career wise and drop me a line or any of the team and we'll see what we can do for you!