Karmina Cordero

How to Break into the Tech Industry without Any Experience

Karmina Cordero — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 06:25:46 GMT

The best advice I would give someone looking to transition into tech:

Learn how to pitch your potential and invest in building relationships.

Last week, I celebrated my one-year mark at Unbounce. 💙 Before joining the marketing team, I had no prior experience in B2B marketing or Saas. I learned how to package my skill sets and uncover my unknowns by connecting with others to break into tech.

For those who are looking to start their transition, here are three of my biggest learnings:

✨1. Look for people who've already pivoted their marketing careers to your desired space and observe how they did it.

I recommend going through company pages to find employees with relevant job titles to narrow your search. Many people began their careers in totally different industries, and a few went through a transition similar to mine.

For example, I noticed project management is a transferrable skill that others have used to pivot into their desired space. The next step is to figure out how to highlight your own experiences to be relevant for the position. Make sure to have a list ready to pitch your potential!

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✨2. Follow industry experts that post actionable content to help guide your process.

For me, it was Maya Grossman. I found her exercises transferrable and applicable without feeling overwhelmed. In my interview with Unbounce, I followed her recommendation in going beyond the job description to demonstrate my value for the role. To my surprise, it worked! 🙌🏼

✨3. Start building relationships with others in your desired industry.

As daunting as it may seem to reach out to people (especially as an introvert myself), I found this component making a massive impact to uncover my unknowns! 😅

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Not everyone will reply, but all you need is to build a few valuable connections to learn more about their day-to-day and tailor your own experiences to be relevant to the industry.

As part of my reflection for the year, I'll share my experiences to pay it forward. A big thank you to my team at Unbounce for taking a chance on me! 🥳

That's all for now. Until next time! 👊

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Personal Branding Resources

Karmina Cordero — Tue, 07 Apr 2020 02:07:30 GMT

When you’re looking for personal branding ideas, I recommend getting inspiration from Pinterest. You can save a series of sample resumes by having an account with Pinterest. Start creating a new board and curate a collection of designs and styles that best represents you.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/745205069575396947/

Once you gather a series of designs and layouts, you can start thinking about the shades of colour and types of font that match your style. If you’re not sure about the colours, you can generate and download a colour palette from Coolors.co.

When I started on my branding, I made a colour scheme with multiple HEX codes (ex. #415A77). Based on my selection, I used darker shades as a header background and lighter tones as borders for my resume and cover letter design.

Here is a example of a Coolors.co palette:

If you don’t have any design experience, try using Canva. Many resume templates are readily available and free to download. I suggest changing some formats and colours away from the default template. You can switch up the design by replacing the original colours with your colour palette.

This resume design is one of the default templates on Canva:

I created a sample version of the default resume from the colour palette I made:

I recommend using the same header format for your cover letter. You can be consistent with your branding across all application materials. A sample cover letter format could look like this:

Please note that I googled a sample cover letter to fill up the template.

Keep in mind that there is a limitation in using default templates from Canva. Employers could receive other application submissions with similar formats and typefaces.

When I applied for my internship positions, I created my resume using Adobe InDesign. With InDesign, I installed unique fonts to add another level of creativity to my branding.

Depending on the time you have to invest in personal branding, you can learn how to use InDesign. Due to COVID-19, Adobe is offering temporary free access to Creative Cloud for students until May 31, 2020. Link for more information: https://helpx.adobe.com/ca/enterprise/kb/covid-19-education-labs.html

I strongly advise you to take this opportunity to learn new design skills because it will help you stand out among other applicants. If you have any questions, feel free to connect with me through LinkedIn.

How to Increase your Chances of Landing an Internship at a Marketing Agency

Karmina Cordero — Sun, 05 Apr 2020 08:17:44 GMT

Before I started at working for a media buying agency, I was a graduating Marketing Communications student who applied to multiple internship roles at Media Experts, Vizeum, Cossette, OMD, The&Partnership, DDB, Rethink, and a few local agencies based in Vancouver, BC. I am dedicating my first blog post to Marketing Communications students who are actively seeking an agency work experience at a challenging time.

In a Facebook networking group, I commented on a thread to offer my help on anything related to marketing agencies. Due to an overwhelming amount of requests from students, I am going to answer a commonly asked question about internships.

I am not an agency expert or a hiring manager, but I want to share a few valuable tips on how you can improve your chances of getting your foot in the door at an agency on your own terms.

A year ago, I was in your position. I was desperately looking for an internship at a marketing agency, but I didn't know where to start. After reaching out to several media professionals and friends for advice, I re-evaluated my prospecting strategy.

As a result of their guidance, I got scheduled for seven interviews at several agencies and received a media internship offer from OMD Canada. Ultimately, I landed a full-time role and got the best of both worlds in learning about traditional and digital paid media strategies.

To find your next agency opportunity, here are five tips:

Understand what you want to learn next for your internship. Is it digital marketing or public relations? Ask yourself what skills you are hoping to grow and prioritize them based on what you want to learn most. Once you create a to-learn list, add agency names to where you would be able to learn those skills. This exercise is useful to help you narrow down a list of prospecting agencies for your application process and to assess where your interest lies. With your to-learn list, you will be able to find your purpose and discover new agencies that you didn't know before. For a list of the different types of marketing agencies, take a look at the chart below (you may need to zoom in). Keep in mind that there are other local agencies that are not on this list.

The 2019 Agency Family Tree
Spend time on your branding. You want to leave a good impression on your future employer. Agencies receive many applicants for entry-level positions, so you will need to pay attention to how you present your LinkedIn profile, resume, and cover letter. I recommend sticking to one design that's consistent with all application materials. For more details on personal branding, here are some excellent resources.
Understand why you're applying to an agency instead of client-side marketing roles. Almost every interview I attended asked, "why do you want to work for an agency?" or "why media buying specifically?". Agencies want to make sure you're the right fit for the culture and the environment. Be aware that the agencies’ lifestyles are not for everyone because of high-pressure deadlines and long working hours. You must be confident in knowing why you are pursuing a career at an agency. Be prepared to conquer the "why" questions.
Reach out to agency professionals who are experts in the skills you want to learn. Due to the quarantine, your chances of getting a response on LinkedIn are high. If you have mutual connections to the professional, ask your contact to provide you with a referral. Take this opportunity to schedule 30-minute phone calls or video conferencing to ask questions. I strongly advise you not to ask questions about internship positions but to get to know the professional as a person. Ask them how they got started in their agency career and what aspects of their role they enjoy. You want to build a genuine connection with a professional who is offering their time to help you. When you take the time to learn about someone’s career journey, you will gain insights into the culture and types of responsibilities at their agency. Spend more time actively listening than talking.
Find a mentor. I cannot stress how valuable it is to have a mentor who can offer you career advice and support that’s not limited to job searching. I was fortunate to have several mentors who have been in the media industry for more than ten years. They provided me with insights on expected interview questions and the challenges that I will face in my career, such as burnout, layoffs, and negotiating for a raise. I understand that seeking mentorship may seem scary at first, but I got a few pointers on how to get started in another article that I’ll be writing soon.

If there's one thing I have learned from looking back on my agency prospecting journey, it's about having persistence. Please remember that you are much more than a resume and cover letter. To land a position at a well-known agency is going to be challenging, but I encourage you to stay positive and do not give up. Good luck with your agency hunt!