How to write a great marketing CV

Writing a CV for marketing jobs is no simple task – even if your role as a marketer requires you to master the art of advertising and promotion. Knowing how to write a CV for marketing jobs is not a given by any means, regardless of your qualifications and experience. Luckily, by applying the general principles of best practice for writing a CV, and adjusting them for an even better match when applying for marketing jobs, you can present yourself in the best possible light to hiring managers.

Whilst a good recruitment consultant can help you with tailoring your application for a specific role, there’s some best practices to consider when building a marketing CV. Let’s discuss them here.

Selling the sizzle

As a marketing professional, you should be an expert at selling a company’s brand, promoting products and enticing customers both new and old. You also need to be able to provide people with the hard facts in an easily digestible format.

Because of this, the general principles of CV writing still apply:

• Use an easy to read and consistent font throughout
• Create a good structure with attention-grabbing subheadings
• Present the important and relevant information first
• Try to eliminate clutter, including any unnecessary images, and use a minimal colour scheme to avoid distractions
• Make sure all your essential information is included (e.g. name, contact details)

Once you know what you are working with, you have defined the general 'environment' of your CV, and can start to really sell yourself within that overall structure.

Best structure for marketing CVs

So, what is the best structure for a marketing CV? It depends on your strongest area, whether that's academic qualifications (for graduate roles), work experience (for more senior positions) or professional accreditations and affiliations (which can help you to really stand out as a desirable individual in the industry).

In general, it's good to choose a structure similar to the following:

• Name/contact details (Make these readable without wasting valuable space on you CV)
• Personal statement (This is often useful for marketing roles where you want to sound ambitious. This should ideally be around 1-2 paragraphs long)
• Career history (It should clearly showcase past successes by separating out from your general responsibilities and key achievements – include statistics wherever possible.)
• Academic qualifications (Make sure to include where these were gained)
• Key skills & achievements (Basically an 'everything else' section)

You can see that although this structure is based around the various types of factual information you can provide, there is also plenty of scope for adding a personal touch - both to sell yourself to the prospective employer, and also to demonstrate your marketing expertise within your CV itself.

What not to say

Try to avoid empty fluff and filler. Just as many job adverts for graduate marketing jobs list a degree at 2:1 or higher, it's easy to fall into the trap of writing a personal statement that begins "I am passionate about marketing..."

Remember, you want to stand out. Make your voice heard. Even within a formal document such as a CV, it's possible to do that. The more open sections, such as your personal statement, key skills and personal achievements, are your blank canvas for this.

Knowing how to write a CV for marketing jobs in particular is unusual in that some marketing roles will have a more creative element to them, especially in the advertising industry. As such, you might want to gamble on a more creative CV in an attempt to move to the top of the pile - it's all down to your judgment about what's appropriate for the role and the company you are applying to work for. 

Get a second opinion

It's always good to get a second opinion on your CV once it's done. We would recommend getting someone who already works in the industry or a professional to look across this as a second pair of eyes. If you don’t feel comfortable reaching out, then you could ask a professional friend for their advice too, just make sure it's someone you can trust to be brutally honest, and not just tell you your CV looks great no matter what.  

If you already work in the industry, consider asking a colleague or even a manager (if it's safe to tell them you are applying for jobs elsewhere!) for a professional opinion on the strength of your CV. Again, you are in a unique position to get an independent assessment not only of your CV in its own right, but also of the strength of the marketing techniques you have used within it.

And remember, not everybody will buy the product - you might (and probably will) get rejected several times before you are successful in a marketing job application. Don't be afraid to ask for feedback, including any constructive criticism of your CV, cover letter, or any other part of your application, so you can improve next time around.

Final tips from our experts 

"In my experience, it’s always best to keep a general CV that can then be tailored and tweaked depending on the job you’re applying for. Your CV should be clearly laid out, concise and showcase the best of what you can do. It’s also important to separate your day-to-day responsibilities from your key achievements, to distinguish between the two as businesses will want to know both of those aspects of your working world. Last but not least, keep the font and layout as simple as possible, unless applying for a creative job."

- Lauren Messias, Business Manager, Michael Page Marketing 

What’s next? 

Search through our library of live marketing jobs across Africa - your next marketing job could just be a click away! If you want more expert advice on what your next career move should be, contact our dedicated team of recruitment consultants today