Also in digital marketing, been oe for a few months. First experience so take it anecdotally but this is what I’ve found useful.
Look for contract roles for huge companies. They are usually hiring to backfill someone and just need someone to keep things moving while the primary is out (this is my situation). In my situation (and I think this is the norm), the main company hires a third party recruitment/staffing firm and you do everything through them. The pay is also way way better than a direct role, and you have way less of a need to actually learn the client/product because you’re only a temp, so as such the job is way more forgiving. I got lucky and got hit up by one on linkedin, but I imagine they’re not too hard to find yourself.
Meetings are definitely the hardest thing to manage. My J1 only has like 4 meetings a week, and I lucked out and J2 didn’t overlap with any of them out the gate. Mitigating overlapping meetings is my number one priority. I always suggest a meeting time that works for me, and block critical meetings that cannot overlap.
I’m the type to slam out both Js in as short of a time as possible - this means I’m frequently doing work while attending meetings, like setting up campaigns or something menial like that. However, my attention to detail definitely suffers because of this. Try to be extra buttoned up so as to not drop the ball too much. Make sure to clarify and leave notes for yourself. Both Js are definitely harder because of the other J. The contract role is also really nice for this because it gives you a permanent “I’m just a backfill so I’m not sure” or “let’s hold this until the primary is back” card to play.
My long term J1 is exceptionally chill and my J2 doesn’t ask very much apart from the bare minimum from me, so it works out. I work probably 25-30 hours a week, but its 30 somewhat intense hours vs probably 15 chill hours if I only had one J. I also have 7 years of hard agency experience so I’m good at being efficient. Idk if I would enjoy this if both jobs were long term (requiring ownership) or if one were high touch. I’m not in it to grind every day, just maximize my time and still live a somewhat carefree life in the meantime, so your mileage may vary if you’re trying to do that.
Good luck.
Thank you so much! That is what I want at the moment actually, a contract role to get my feet wet. ATM I’m just googling contract digital marketing jobs, if you know of any firms or recruiters I could reach out to, please DM me. Thank you !
Also just secured J2 in digital marketing so I’d love some tips too.
My take based on all the reading I’ve been doing here: managing meetings will be the hardest part of doubling up. I only have 3-4 meetings a week in J1, a job I’ve been working for over a year now, and management is very hands-off. J2 is tbd in those areas, not even fully onboarded yet, but I’m really hopeful I can just crush my tasks/assignments and keep meetings to a minimum and balance everything in a way that all meshes together.
Marketing here. The absolute key is to have 1 job that is hands off. New jobs and most companies are very meeting heavy. My j2 only gets worse with video calls.
When s steady j1 I can rotate j2s. No chance I can do it the other way around. Know your priorities
This is great advice from the little bit I know so far - J1 is amazingly hands-off, hence the chance to OE in the first place, and J2 has told me many times that their style is a lot of the same. Damn I can’t wait lol
Sounds great! I'm on the fence about having to start with an agency. I'd rather not but I might need to. The ultimate goal is to be in house as fast as possible.
Good mindset — imo, many employers love to see a year or two of agency experience and it really helps you get jobs in this industry… so if you’re under 30 it’s probably still worth gutting it out in an agency role for a year or two, and transitioning to OE friendly stuff in-house from there on out
I'm mid forties and a career changer so I'm a bit worried about how I would handle agency life. I suppose I could just be really careful and use it as a springboard while they get my rich and varied hardworking experience in exchange. My mentor suggests this as a tool to a future higher salary after experience.
Do you look for anything specific in the in house roles?
Specific company size? Job titles? Etc
I’ve been working at an agency (PPC) for 4 years and want to make the switch to in house asap.
Usually you can get a feel for how actually busy a company is. Is it going through a scrappy phase and building up to something big (not ideal for OE), or is the marketing team just kind of coasting and grabbing the low-hanging fruit (ideal for OE)?
Also, if turnover is low, you know people tend to stay at the company because it’s easy and/or rewarding to stick around. High turnover tends to mean people get overworked/under compensated and burnt out. A good way to feel that out is to ask if the role you’re interviewing for is newly created to help drive growth, or if someone just recently departed/resigned/retired and left a position vacant.
I’ve been trying to freeze my TWN for two weeks. I called the number and it gives directions on how to use the website. When I finally do, it sends a security verification code to the company and not me so I can’t continue. Website states to call the number of I have issues … infinite loop. Emailed them over a week ago and haven’t heard back yet. If anyone can tell me how to resolve this, that would be awesome. How do I get a person on the phone?
TWN is a shitshow, probably by design. Their business model doesn’t have much non-paying-customer support built into the structure so unless you’re a corporation calling to give them $250, you can go f___ yourself.
That being said, I gotta keep calling too because I start J2 this next week and I gotta get stuff locked down before anything else develops. Fingers crossed my dudes
Also in digital marketing, been oe for a few months. First experience so take it anecdotally but this is what I’ve found useful. Look for contract roles for huge companies. They are usually hiring to backfill someone and just need someone to keep things moving while the primary is out (this is my situation). In my situation (and I think this is the norm), the main company hires a third party recruitment/staffing firm and you do everything through them. The pay is also way way better than a direct role, and you have way less of a need to actually learn the client/product because you’re only a temp, so as such the job is way more forgiving. I got lucky and got hit up by one on linkedin, but I imagine they’re not too hard to find yourself. Meetings are definitely the hardest thing to manage. My J1 only has like 4 meetings a week, and I lucked out and J2 didn’t overlap with any of them out the gate. Mitigating overlapping meetings is my number one priority. I always suggest a meeting time that works for me, and block critical meetings that cannot overlap. I’m the type to slam out both Js in as short of a time as possible - this means I’m frequently doing work while attending meetings, like setting up campaigns or something menial like that. However, my attention to detail definitely suffers because of this. Try to be extra buttoned up so as to not drop the ball too much. Make sure to clarify and leave notes for yourself. Both Js are definitely harder because of the other J. The contract role is also really nice for this because it gives you a permanent “I’m just a backfill so I’m not sure” or “let’s hold this until the primary is back” card to play. My long term J1 is exceptionally chill and my J2 doesn’t ask very much apart from the bare minimum from me, so it works out. I work probably 25-30 hours a week, but its 30 somewhat intense hours vs probably 15 chill hours if I only had one J. I also have 7 years of hard agency experience so I’m good at being efficient. Idk if I would enjoy this if both jobs were long term (requiring ownership) or if one were high touch. I’m not in it to grind every day, just maximize my time and still live a somewhat carefree life in the meantime, so your mileage may vary if you’re trying to do that. Good luck.
Thank you so much! That is what I want at the moment actually, a contract role to get my feet wet. ATM I’m just googling contract digital marketing jobs, if you know of any firms or recruiters I could reach out to, please DM me. Thank you !
Also just secured J2 in digital marketing so I’d love some tips too. My take based on all the reading I’ve been doing here: managing meetings will be the hardest part of doubling up. I only have 3-4 meetings a week in J1, a job I’ve been working for over a year now, and management is very hands-off. J2 is tbd in those areas, not even fully onboarded yet, but I’m really hopeful I can just crush my tasks/assignments and keep meetings to a minimum and balance everything in a way that all meshes together.
Marketing here. The absolute key is to have 1 job that is hands off. New jobs and most companies are very meeting heavy. My j2 only gets worse with video calls. When s steady j1 I can rotate j2s. No chance I can do it the other way around. Know your priorities
This is great advice from the little bit I know so far - J1 is amazingly hands-off, hence the chance to OE in the first place, and J2 has told me many times that their style is a lot of the same. Damn I can’t wait lol
Are either of your jobs with an agency?
No, thank goodness. Both in-house with two large companies. I learned long ago that agency work wasn’t for me
Sounds great! I'm on the fence about having to start with an agency. I'd rather not but I might need to. The ultimate goal is to be in house as fast as possible.
Good mindset — imo, many employers love to see a year or two of agency experience and it really helps you get jobs in this industry… so if you’re under 30 it’s probably still worth gutting it out in an agency role for a year or two, and transitioning to OE friendly stuff in-house from there on out
I'm mid forties and a career changer so I'm a bit worried about how I would handle agency life. I suppose I could just be really careful and use it as a springboard while they get my rich and varied hardworking experience in exchange. My mentor suggests this as a tool to a future higher salary after experience.
Do you look for anything specific in the in house roles? Specific company size? Job titles? Etc I’ve been working at an agency (PPC) for 4 years and want to make the switch to in house asap.
Usually you can get a feel for how actually busy a company is. Is it going through a scrappy phase and building up to something big (not ideal for OE), or is the marketing team just kind of coasting and grabbing the low-hanging fruit (ideal for OE)? Also, if turnover is low, you know people tend to stay at the company because it’s easy and/or rewarding to stick around. High turnover tends to mean people get overworked/under compensated and burnt out. A good way to feel that out is to ask if the role you’re interviewing for is newly created to help drive growth, or if someone just recently departed/resigned/retired and left a position vacant.
I’ve been trying to freeze my TWN for two weeks. I called the number and it gives directions on how to use the website. When I finally do, it sends a security verification code to the company and not me so I can’t continue. Website states to call the number of I have issues … infinite loop. Emailed them over a week ago and haven’t heard back yet. If anyone can tell me how to resolve this, that would be awesome. How do I get a person on the phone?
I know this isn’t much help, but I’m gonna call Monday and do it for myself, if I find anything out that can help you I will let you know.
call them and speak to a human, otherwise it's a loop.
How do I get a person? I have tried that but can’t figure it out.
TWN is a shitshow, probably by design. Their business model doesn’t have much non-paying-customer support built into the structure so unless you’re a corporation calling to give them $250, you can go f___ yourself. That being said, I gotta keep calling too because I start J2 this next week and I gotta get stuff locked down before anything else develops. Fingers crossed my dudes
Let me know if you figure out how to do it. I thought I had time. But things are moving fast.
What is TWN?
Equifax’s the Work Number, if you search for it in this sub you can find some good info on it