Welcome anons, Jungle ecom destroyer back at it again with more wifi $ goods. In this post, I’m showing you how to get a job at any digital marketing agency.
There are TONS of agencies around the world and they're always looking for new people to join their marketing machines. Follow the steps in this guide and you will be living the agency life in no time.
Before diving in, I want to make it clear that the goal of working at an agency is to learn how to make internet money while on the job. Once you have a good understanding of best practices and what not to do, take those learnings into your personal ventures and 2x your probability of success (at least).
Another benefit of working at an agency is the ability to see a wide range of businesses in action. Your traditional client-facing agency will have a melting pot of clients ranging from mom-and-pop shops to well-known brands.
Being able to see how each business model operates day-to-day and what influences positive and negative trends is extremely valuable. Plus, you have the opportunity to make a direct impact on performance depending on your role on the account.
Whether it’s an agency or your own wifi projects, the actions YOU take will be the main drivers of success or failure. This experience is timeless and will help you create your own wifi $ machine in no time.
Let’s get it!
Here’s the TLDR/topics we’re covering today:
Who This Guide Is For
Finding Your Agency Job
Prepare To Apply (& Succeed)
Set Up Your Resume For Success
Prepare For The Interview
Apply With A Bang
Growing At The Agency
Final Thoughts
Who This Guide Is For
This guide is for anyone looking for a low-risk way to learn wifi money while getting paid to do it. If you’re new to the marketing industry, you’re probably going to land an entry-level position, unless you have previous experience that can be carried into senior roles (ex: client communication, reporting, team lead, etc.).
Find something that will pay you the most (obvi), but gives you enough time to build on the side. You don’t want to become an agency grunt working long hours.
If you’re curious about workload, do some research on sites like Glassdoor to see what employees are saying. Whatever the role, it’s important to never forget the main objective:
Get an agency job that will allow you to work remotely and teach you the skills needed to create a wifi money machine.
Get your reps in, never stop learning, and figure out what is driving positive results in top accounts. Take care of your responsibilities in the most optimal way possible and use the rest of your time for building.
Finding Your Agency Job
The first step in finding your agency job is figuring out what skills you’re trying to learn. A typical agency will provide a mix of the below digital marketing services:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Paid Search (ex: Google Ads)
Paid Social Media (ex: Meta Ads)
Organic Social Media (ex: TikTok, Instagram)
Email
SMS (Text)
Video/Image Creation (Content Creation)
Influencer Marketing
The list goes on…
Next, use a tool like LinkedIn jobs and begin searching for the services you want to learn. If you plan to learn multiple services, look for full-service agencies during your hunt.
Try to avoid small agencies unless it’s a great fit. At smaller agencies, you have a high chance of heavy workloads and increased stress due to a lack of support (not always the case but likely).
Larger agencies tend to have better resources which will make life easier when trying to figure out what to do in the beginning. They also have more manpower which will come in handy when you need account support or have questions.
If you’re looking for agencies that work with brands you like and want to work with, look for case studies/success stories on their site. You can also do some digging during intro interviews to gauge the current book of business.
Prepare To Apply (& Succeed)
After finding a job you want to apply to, dive into the job description and learn the basics of anything foreign to you. If there are platforms/tools that will be heavily used in the role, try to find certifications or courses you can take to get up to speed.
Certifications and courses can be tackled quickly and the proof of completion will look great to a hiring manager. No matter what, the bulk of your learnings will come from experience on the job (especially paid advertising).
Here’s a list of certifications and courses that come with certificates of completion:
Google Fundamentals of digital marketing (free)
Facebook Blueprint (Paid)
Google Ads (Free)
Google Analytics (Free)
Youtube
Waze Fundamentals (lol)
Don’t let this be a roadblock, adding in 1 - 3 certs should be enough for most entry-level positions. Learn something new, receive proof of completion, and slap those on your LinkedIn profile and resume.
Set Up Your Resume For Success
When setting up your resume, it’s important to make something that stands out from the rest. A quick way to do this is to use a template with a design that matches the look and feel you’re trying to achieve.
You can use sites like Canva to find free resume templates that can be easily edited. Swap in your basic info and make any tweaks needed to take your CV to the next level.
[Optional but suggested] Take it a step further by swapping in agency brand elements like colors and fonts. Slap on a company logo and you’re already on track to stand out from other applicants. *Choosing the right resume template can make this quick and easy
Don’t forget to add a personal photo and links to social profiles (if it’s not totally unprofessional) to give interviewers a deeper understanding of who you are as a real-life human. Share professional accomplishments and anything that shows your value (don’t add in BS things like runner-up employee of the month in 2013).
Use personal description areas to captivate the interviewer with your copywriting powers. Tell your story and do whatever you can to show your drive and determination to do whatever it takes to succeed in the role.
Add in any basic tools and skills that can be carried into the new position:
Google Sheets/Excel
Google Docs/Word
Google Slides/Powerpoint
Slack (team communication tools)
Asana (project management tools)
Zoom (video/call tools)
Add in any remaining details and clean up formatting/alignment if needed. Double-check spelling and grammar, one small error looks bad.
Don’t forget to add any achievements around your character and leadership. This can be anything from captain on a varsity team, to running marathons. Don’t go crazy, just pick a few that display your potential if they hire you.
For references, use any that will speak positively to your character and work ethic. The best reference you can have on your CV is a current employee at the agency you’re applying to.
Agencies tend to have internal incentives for employees to refer good workers. If you have a connection working at an agency, put them down as a reference and it’s only a matter of time before you see the job offer.
Preparing For The Interview
Depending on the position you apply for, you will likely have 2 - 4 interviews. The 1st interview will act as a general screening, and interviews 2 - 4 will dig deeper to understand your ability to manage role responsibilities.
They might even give you a test of some kind to make sure you’re not completely BSing the info on your resume. Some will make you take a test first to qualify you for a first interview.
In the past, when I was hiring new media buyers I would give them a baseline test that walked through scenarios you could run into on the job. I would give them a day to figure out solutions (the test was difficult) and the applicants that sent the test back were granted an interview.
When it comes to verbal communication during the interviews, it’s important to understand the lingo and main metrics related to the role. If you’re new and still learning this, try listening to podcasts and audiobooks to pick up on this. The goal is to have a good understanding of the basics so you can speak clearly and with confidence during interviews.
Create a positive appearance with a clean and professional look. If meeting in person make sure you do little things like cut your nails and not have wrinkles in your clothing.
Sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised at the lack of hygiene during interviews (even video calls). Don’t be a slob and create a presence that will make a positive first impression.
Apply With A Bang
Applying with a bang is not hard and can be the difference between you or your competition landing the gig. The objective here is to take advantage of any opportunities that can draw more positive attention to you during the process.
In the past, I had an applicant that did “ok” during the interview phase, but they didn’t stand out on paper. The next day she sent cookies and balloons to the team with a handwritten note thanking us for the time. She was hired later that day.
This can go a long way with agencies since most applicants will never go beyond the bare minimum. Sometimes all it takes to win over the hiring team is to get them to like you more than everyone else.
Here are a few creative ways to apply with a bang:
Design an ad or creative promoting you for the job
Add this to a cover letter or attach to an email when following up
Use tools in the job description to create visuals that can be used in your application
Charts and reports built in excel/sheets
Create a deck presentation breaking down your story, skills, etc.
Templatize this and use it as needed
Add a personalized video talking to the position
If you’re stuck, do a little research on the company and people interviewing you to see what would work best. I love diving into personal social profiles (especially Twitter) to get a better idea of their style, what they like, and how they communicate.
How To Grow At The Agency
Once you get hired and have proven yourself as a good employee for some time, it’s much easier to land other roles inside the agency. If there’s a new service you want to learn, all you have to do is figure out who is on the team and offer help.
Do this for a little and when it’s time for the team to fill a role, they will look to you first. This is exactly what I did when I was at my first agency and it helped me understand what was needed to join the team.
I was originally hired for an entry-level position on the SEO team. After putting in reps and learning search engine optimization for a while, I wanted to learn something new.
Something that looked fun and exciting at the time was paid advertising, specifically Facebook ads. Being able to package up captivating copy and thumb-stopping creative to drive sales was something that got my juices flowing.
I had to figure out how to get on that team so I started eating lunch with the managers and designers on the paid team. Sooner I was helping out with campaign builds and launching ads when the team was strapped.
After a few months of helping out, I was offered a full-time position as a Facebook ads manager and even got a cute pay bump. Six months later I was leading the paid social department and expanding to new paid platforms.
If you’re new, all you need to do is get your foot in the door and the possibilities are endless. Once you rack up experience, you can continue growing at your current agency if it makes sense, or easily jump to another and get a pay bump.
Lastly, this may seem obvious, but it’s important to not discuss your personal wifi $ vision with anyone at the company (unless they’re building with you lol). Doing this can raise red flags and can prevent future promotions.
This is different than being recruited, which can add value to you and influence a promotion. Execs get worried when they hear things like this because they want to be your main source of income so you stay an agency grunt forever.
Final Thoughts
As you probably know by now, getting a job at a digital marketing agency isn’t rocket science. You’re almost guaranteed an entry-level position if you do the basics and go beyond expectations. For senior roles, the only difference is providing proof of your experience specific to the job.
Looking back, I wish my first jobs were at a marketing agency. I wasted time working odd jobs in High School/College when I could’ve been getting paid to learn wifi $.
After securing the job, don’t stay forever. Do good work and whatever it takes to keep the pay bumps coming, but don’t forget to build for yourself so you can quit one day.
In the end, you’re literally learning how to make money. You can either make other people and/or your agency more money, or you can do it for yourself and 10x the reward for your hard work.
That’s it for today! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or reach out on Twitter.
#WAGMI