This is a true story as told to JustJobs Academy which houses career interviews and job search advice for professionals in any industry. Visit to read about how to advance your career and how to take ownership for yourself on the job.
I was the production manager for a Kansas City based business journal. I have over ten years of advertising and media relations experience.
My primary responsibility was to generate revenue through advertising sales and to create high quality ads through various mediums. My specialty was advertorials – paid interview/review/informational style articles written about a specific client as a featured special interest piece. In my opinion, the biggest misconception about print advertising is that it isn't worth the cost. Print advertising allows clients to target a specific market without wasting resources in an area not likely to be receptive to the product or service being offered.
I would give my job satisfaction a solid 10. There is nothing quite like the feeling you get when a client calls to thank you for helping increase their business. What’s even more satisfying is when that client recommends you to a new client and your own business grows as a result. The one thing I would like to see change is the economy. With so many out of work and small businesses failing all around us, people have less and less money to spend on goods and services. The job itself had so many rewards. So many times I would get a call or card from one of my clients thanking me for the work I did, telling me their business had increased significantly since their ad came out.
This job has been incredibly fulfilling for me. I have had the opportunity to work with many wonderful members of my community, pool our resources and come up with new ways to promote local businesses. I can’t tell you how rewarding it is to see a client’s business have customers lined up outside the door because of an ad I created. I have always had a passion for creative writing and just sort of stumbled onto this position by accident. Whether it was my true calling or fate, I can’t say, but I do know it has been one of the most enriching and rewarding experiences of my life.
As people lost their jobs and houses, businesses began loosing business. It wasn't long before those businesses started closing their doors. As more and more of our advertisers were going out of business, we were left scrambling to make operating costs, and in the end, had to close our doors as well. That is perhaps the most unique aspect of working as an advertising executive. You are only as strong as your economy.
One day I picked up a news journal and scanned the pages. There was only one regular writer on staff, so I sent in my resume. A day later, I was being interviewed and the following week moving into my new office. My new editor had this idea that if he combined my creative writing skills with his ability to sell advertising space, we could come up with a more effective ad campaign for our clients. It was a roaring success. If I had it to do over again, I probably would have taken a few marketing classes in college so that I had a better understanding of markets and the role economy plays on spending.
When my business is good, it’s really good, but it goes the other way, too. I think the best way to gauge a local economy is by flipping through a newspaper. If there are lots of ads, things are going well. A vast majority of our advertisers were small, local businesses and because our journal relied primarily on revenue generated from ad space, when those businesses went under, so did we. I think the biggest lesson I learned was the importance of supporting local businesses first.
Something strange I learned from on the job was that we’d recently hired a new sales executive who inadvertently sold ad space for the family section to a clinic that offered abortion services. I had also sold an advertorial to an adoption agency for that same section. I titled the article “Choose Life.” Going through the proofs, we all missed the error. A few days later, our phones were ringing off the hook and we even had several people come into the office telling us how appalled they were that we would run an abortion ad under a “Right to Life” article. Needless to say, it was a lesson to us all. People really DO look at the ads.
The most challenging aspect of selling advertising space is convincing clients they should buy ad space. More often than not, I had to give out free space just to prove it could be effective. Problem clients had me tugging on my hair a few times. Clients have a tendency to want to nitpick about every little detail. They leave little room for true creativity and limit your ability to convey the message you know from experience, works the best.
Stress levels depend entirely on deadlines. There were a few times we had to work through the night to get ads ready on time. This is, however, by no means a complaint, because that simply meant we were making more money, but it can get stressful.
My base salary was $46,000 a year with bonuses ranging from $10,000-$20,000 a year depending on ad sales. For the area that I live, my base salary provided for a comfortable living and I typically took one week of vacation every six months which was more than enough for me.
JustJobs.com is ajob search engine that finds job listings from company career pages, other job boards, newspapers and associations. With one search, they help you find the job with your name on it.Advertising job image from Shutterstock
The leaves are changing, the kids are back in school, and that familiar chill is in the air. You think it's the perfect time to look for a job, and it is! But are your job search fears preventing you from making that leap?
It's not uncommon to feel lost when embarking on your job search journey. After all, school teaches us everything except how to get a job. What should you put on your resume? What questions should you ask in an interview? How can you stand out in the hiring process when there's so much competition?
Are you feeling spooked yet?
Believe it or not, there's no need to be afraid of the job search process! You can land your dream job with the right tools and strategy. You can find a job that won't give you nightmares. Here are three spooky secrets every job seeker should know as they look for a job this fall.
1. An Effective Job Search Starts With An Interview Bucket List
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Despite your fears, you've decided to take the plunge and look for a new job. You might be asking yourself, "Where do I start?" The answer is simple: start by creating an interview bucket list.
An interview bucket list is a list of 10-20 companies you'd love to work for. Are you passionate about a company's products or services? Do you feel connected to its mission? Can you relate to its values and beliefs as an organization? If you answer "yes" to any of these questions, that company probably belongs on your interview bucket list.
Once you create an interview bucket list, you'll be able to conduct a targeted job search, one with direction and a foundation upon which everything else will be built. An interview bucket list helps you focus your job search and networking strategies on the right opportunities, making it easier to get your foot in the door at one of your dream companies.
2. Your Job Application Needs To Disrupt Hiring Managers
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In order to stand out in the hiring process, you need to disrupt recruiters and hiring managers. You accomplish this by doing two things: optimizing your resume and writing a disruptive cover letter.
A well-optimized resume includes keywords from the job description. This ensures your resume gets past the ATS and into the hands of the hiring manager. Once it's in front of the hiring manager, it needs to grab and keep their attention. Quantifying your work experience—adding numbers to your bullet points—will make you stand out from other applicants. Hiring managers will want to know more about you and your accomplishments, and that's how you land a phone interview.
Before that, though, a hiring manager will read your cover letter. To disrupt them, you need to write a disruptive cover letter (obviously!). A disruptive cover letter gives you the opportunity to tell a story about why you feel connected to the company you're applying for. It's that storytelling aspect that will stand out to hiring managers and compel them to pick up the phone and give you a call.
3. Employers Hire You Based On 3 Things
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You can't get hired unless you know what employers are assessing you on in the interview process. While your skills and expertise matter, companies actually hire for three things: personality, aptitude, and experience (in that order).
Most job seekers don't realize how important it is to demonstrate their personality, aptitude, and experience in an interview. You could have the right experience for a job, but if the hiring manager doesn't think your personality is a good fit for the company culture, you probably won't get a job offer.
Make sure you demonstrate your soft skills and learn how to answer behavioral interview questions to prove you're the best candidate for the job you're applying for, not just the most qualified.
Want To Learn More Job Search Secrets?
As you look for a job this fall, it might be helpful to know some more spooky secrets so you can get over your job search fears and finally take control of your career.
We know the job search process can be scary. However, it's important to get clear on what you want to do next and focus on conducting a strategic job search, or what we refer to at Work It DAILY as job shopping. This is the only way to effectively market yourself to employers. If they can't see exactly where and how you add value, then that's going to decrease your chances of landing the job.
The competition is fierce, and there are a lot of factors that are out of your control. But the one factor you can control is your job search strategy, the tools and tactics you use to land a job.
If you want to learn the secrets to conducting a strategic job search, sign up for our Job Search Bootcamp, a two-hour, on-demand video workshop that comes with a free workbook.
In this video workshop, you'll learn:
How to use backchanneling to get directly to hiring managers.
The secret to using a connection story to stand out against the competition.
How social media can be your secret weapon to get job interviews.
The resume format that is getting job seekers more job interviews.
This is a true story as told to JustJobs Academy which houses career interviews and job search advice for professionals in any industry. Visit to read about how to advance your career and how to take ownership for yourself on the job.
I was the production manager for a Kansas City based business journal. I have over ten years of advertising and media relations experience.
My primary responsibility was to generate revenue through advertising sales and to create high quality ads through various mediums. My specialty was advertorials – paid interview/review/informational style articles written about a specific client as a featured special interest piece. In my opinion, the biggest misconception about print advertising is that it isn't worth the cost. Print advertising allows clients to target a specific market without wasting resources in an area not likely to be receptive to the product or service being offered.
I would give my job satisfaction a solid 10. There is nothing quite like the feeling you get when a client calls to thank you for helping increase their business. What’s even more satisfying is when that client recommends you to a new client and your own business grows as a result. The one thing I would like to see change is the economy. With so many out of work and small businesses failing all around us, people have less and less money to spend on goods and services. The job itself had so many rewards. So many times I would get a call or card from one of my clients thanking me for the work I did, telling me their business had increased significantly since their ad came out.
This job has been incredibly fulfilling for me. I have had the opportunity to work with many wonderful members of my community, pool our resources and come up with new ways to promote local businesses. I can’t tell you how rewarding it is to see a client’s business have customers lined up outside the door because of an ad I created. I have always had a passion for creative writing and just sort of stumbled onto this position by accident. Whether it was my true calling or fate, I can’t say, but I do know it has been one of the most enriching and rewarding experiences of my life.
As people lost their jobs and houses, businesses began loosing business. It wasn't long before those businesses started closing their doors. As more and more of our advertisers were going out of business, we were left scrambling to make operating costs, and in the end, had to close our doors as well. That is perhaps the most unique aspect of working as an advertising executive. You are only as strong as your economy.
One day I picked up a news journal and scanned the pages. There was only one regular writer on staff, so I sent in my resume. A day later, I was being interviewed and the following week moving into my new office. My new editor had this idea that if he combined my creative writing skills with his ability to sell advertising space, we could come up with a more effective ad campaign for our clients. It was a roaring success. If I had it to do over again, I probably would have taken a few marketing classes in college so that I had a better understanding of markets and the role economy plays on spending.
When my business is good, it’s really good, but it goes the other way, too. I think the best way to gauge a local economy is by flipping through a newspaper. If there are lots of ads, things are going well. A vast majority of our advertisers were small, local businesses and because our journal relied primarily on revenue generated from ad space, when those businesses went under, so did we. I think the biggest lesson I learned was the importance of supporting local businesses first.
Something strange I learned from on the job was that we’d recently hired a new sales executive who inadvertently sold ad space for the family section to a clinic that offered abortion services. I had also sold an advertorial to an adoption agency for that same section. I titled the article “Choose Life.” Going through the proofs, we all missed the error. A few days later, our phones were ringing off the hook and we even had several people come into the office telling us how appalled they were that we would run an abortion ad under a “Right to Life” article. Needless to say, it was a lesson to us all. People really DO look at the ads.
The most challenging aspect of selling advertising space is convincing clients they should buy ad space. More often than not, I had to give out free space just to prove it could be effective. Problem clients had me tugging on my hair a few times. Clients have a tendency to want to nitpick about every little detail. They leave little room for true creativity and limit your ability to convey the message you know from experience, works the best.
Stress levels depend entirely on deadlines. There were a few times we had to work through the night to get ads ready on time. This is, however, by no means a complaint, because that simply meant we were making more money, but it can get stressful.
My base salary was $46,000 a year with bonuses ranging from $10,000-$20,000 a year depending on ad sales. For the area that I live, my base salary provided for a comfortable living and I typically took one week of vacation every six months which was more than enough for me.
JustJobs.com is ajob search engine that finds job listings from company career pages, other job boards, newspapers and associations. With one search, they help you find the job with your name on it.Advertising job image from Shutterstock
