How to Land Your First Digital Marketing Job without Experience

"Hey, I am interested in applying as a full-time worker, but I don’t have any working experience in digital marketing. Can I still achieve that dream?"

Well, every person who has a job right now starts with no experience at all. They learn the object, gain experience through internships, take courses, get certification, and network. Finally, they get their dream job.

Hubspot shows in its latest marketing report that the demand for various outputs in digital marketing is increasing. In another report, over 1,400 marketers found that 41% reported their budget would increase in 2024, and 47% expect it to stay the same.

With the plan of expanding the strategies more in digital marketing, this can be a good opportunity for you to enter the digital marketing area in an entry-level and internship position.

As of July 2024, there are 1,424 on Glassdoor and more than 500 on Indeed for digital marketing job postings for entry-level positions. For internships, there are 1,091 job openings on Glassdoor and more than 200 on Indeed—Epicareer has tons of job posts too.

So, the answer is yes, you can achieve that dream, of being a digital marketer.

You just have to pack yourself with lots of knowledge about digital marketing by doing several things that will be elaborated on in this article.

There are five ways to get your first job in digital marketing as a beginner. All you have to do is constantly do the tips below.

Build foundational knowledge

It's impossible to enter the digital marketing world without knowing the basics of digital marketing itself.

On the internet, you can find a lot of digital marketing articles for beginner learners and case studies. The minus side of this method is you don’t have any clue about the accuracy of the knowledge itself.

So, go get yourself a formal or informal education in digital marketing. You can enroll in a reputable university in your area and get your degree. Below are the recommendations of Singaporean universities that have digital marketing majors:

• National University of Singapore (NUS)
• Singapore Management University (SMU)
• Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
• Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS)
• James Cook University (JCU) Singapore

If you prefer to join informal education, you can try to register yourself in some bootcamps and courses. You will get a certification of completion after you finish all the sessions. Some bootcamps or courses that you can join are:

Free courses:

• Google
• HubSpot
• Meta Blueprint
• Simplilearn

Paid courses:

• Coursera
• Udemy
• Harvard Business School
• LinkedIn Learning

Last but not least, you can have a 1 on 1 session with someone who is an expert in digital marketing, both for a one-time casual discussion or a private course. Research the experts and message them what kind of digital marketing thing you want to learn.

Start learning how to create content

Already packed yourself with a bunch of knowledge? Do not stop there! The theories that you learn from campus, bootcamps, courses, and articles must be practiced.

If you want to become an SEO Specialist or Content Marketing, build your own website or blog and create your articles based on the SEO practice.

How about Social Media Specialist? Try to make some content on your social media accounts.

Performance Marketer? Sell something on the internet and use ads on social media, Google, or even in the internal tools of e-commerce platforms.

Don’t pressure yourself too much by looking for hard topics for your content or big products that you want to sell. Just start with your current hobby and passion, and dig dive it.

For example, you like to create flower bouquets. These are the recommendations for the topics and products:

• SEO specialist, content marketing, social media: flowers and its meaning, how to create a flower bouquet, daily skit of a florist, how to take care of flowers
• Performance mmarketer: sell flower tools, paper wrap, or even the bouquet itself

Build your own project and a portfolio

One of the considerations of employers to process your application is a portfolio. This will give them a clear expectation and visualization about your digital marketing skills.

So, how to create one? You can start from the step before. Another one, you can help your family or friends who need a hand to strategize or execute their digital marketing strategies.

Volunteering is also beneficial for you to gain experience.

Compile all the works that you have done, then choose some best works that you will show in a portfolio. Make sure it shows your skills and how far you have learned about digital marketing.

Don’t forget to build your personal branding by making sure your resume and portfolio content are aligned, improving your LinkedIn profile, and creating content from your social media account.

Consider internship or entry-level jobs

You already know how digital marketing works and some owned projects. Now it's time for you to consider related jobs to get your foot in the door.

In this step, do not think about how much monetary or other employee benefits you will get. Just apply for the positions, internships or full-time entry-level, and get real experience.

Along the way, employers will appreciate your high-performing work and the monetary value will follow. So, just keep learning even after you get accepted and try to give your best.

Tips for you to excel in the hiring process:

Personalize your resume and portfolio

Having a generalized resume and portfolio is good for saving time and energy. But personalized ones will give more impactful results.

It will effectively highlight your unique skills and experiences, making you stand out to potential employers.

So, after you see the job posting, make sure all job requirements and skills match with your resume and portfolio. If not, revise it and make it personalized.

Get good at interviews

Not gonna lie, there are big chances for us to feel nervous at interviews and it's a normal situation. What you can control is your answers.

Try to look for possible questions on each recruitment process on the internet, like what type of questions in HR and user interviews.

Then, craft your answers. Try to answer the questions by giving examples.

For example, if you are asked about how you manage your time between work and social life, you can answer:

“I try to manage them by strictly separating my work and social life. 9 to 6 for work, 6 above for social. From 9 to 6, I will maximize it to do all assignments of the day and prepare for tomorrow. At 6 PM above, I will use it to rest and have a good time with myself and my loved ones. But it doesn’t make me hands off from my duty. If there’s any urgent work, I will stand by above 6 PM.”

Don’t forget to practice your answers. Ask your friend or anyone in your house to help you practice by pretending in a real interview. After that, ask them about their feedback.

Network online and in-person

Increase your chances of getting an internship or entry-level opportunities by networking. Connect to some digital marketing experts, hiring managers, or key people of your targeted companies on LinkedIn. Talk with them by sending messages about job opportunities, ask about digital marketing, or even just say hi.

If they post something on the platform, engage with giving reactions and comments.

Consider also to join communities, conferences, and networking events. Offline meetings like these will give you a great experience. You can talk to people in person, exchange contacts, and even further, get job opportunities.

Getting your first professional job is not an easy way. There are a lot of efforts that you have to make. Below are the things that you can expect in this journey:

Endless learning

As technology keeps evolving, so does digital marketing. You have to keep yourself up to date with the latest trends to make you relate to the current situation. With that in mind, you will learn again about the trends.

Aside from digital marketing itself, you will also learn how to excel in interviews. Maybe in the first interview, you will make some mistakes. Those mistakes become your learning to be better in the next interview.

Lots of research

Finding the best beginner job is not just only spreading your resume and portfolio from company to company. You have to make sure that the company is a good place for you to learn and grow professionally.

You will do a lot of research about companies that you apply to later. Learn their culture, products, and how their vision and mission match with your career goals.

Endless resume and portfolio customization

As mentioned before, personalization is important to highlight your skills and experience. As you will apply to many companies, you will also do many personalized resumes and portfolios.

Starting building processes

You will face many various hiring processes. From here, you have to develop structured methods and workflows that will help you manage your interview schedules and other ongoing case studies efficiently.

Here are some additional tips for you to get your first digital marketing job even if you don’t have any experience:

Consider your transferable skills

As you learn digital marketing, you know what kind of important skills are needed. Match it with your current skill and make sure all skills that you have right now and later be learned are transferable.

It will be useful later if the employers move you to other digital marketing functions. So, you don’t have to learn again from the start and focus on your new role.

Get certified

Certification is like an official statement from an organization or company that you are skilled in digital marketing or already learned about some topics in digital marketing.

Certifications will help you during the hiring process, where employers trust your passion and skills.

Be consistent

Make sure all the content in the job application documents is consistent with each other. When you do the interview, share your experience consistently with what you share in the resumes and portfolios.

If the employers notice the inconsistent information, they will ask you or even worse, not consider you for the next step of the hiring process.

Keep at it and evaluate your tactics

Be consistent in executing your strategy and don’t forget to evaluate them. Below is a guide for you to evaluate:

• What's working well and can be retained for future practice?
• What could be improved?
• What else needs to be learned to increase the acceptance chance?

A reminder: you can do all things you want to achieve as long as you have the courage and bravery to learn new things and from your mistakes. Good luck.

Further reading:

• How to get a job with no experience: A job seeker’s guide
• How to become a digital marketer with no experience in 2024

Popular digital marketing jobs in Singapore:

Digital Marketing | Email Marketer | Online Community Manager | Web Content Writer | Account Manager | Customer Service Representative