Here’s Why HR Is Not Your Friend

When you’re already in a job, your friendly HR team is a great ally. But HR is not your friend when you’re looking for a copywriting job and, in fact, it might be your biggest barrier to landing an interview—never mind landing the job.

Here’s what to do when you find a copywriting job you really want.

Don’t Submit Your Resume for Copywriting Jobs

The number one tip I have for you is to not to submit your resume—that is, not the way they tell you to.

Most companies have you submit your resume and cover letter through their website. From there, it goes to the internal recruiter, a member of the HR team who is tasked with filling open roles in a company.

Generally, a hiring manager has given that internal recruiter a list of ideal characteristics to look for in a candidate: number of years’ experience, types of experience, etc. And, because that recruiter is an expert in recruiting, not in whatever type of role they need to fill, they rely heavily on that list of ideal characteristics.

The internal recruiter generally doesn’t come from a creative background and is basing their applicant criteria on what the hiring manager (like a creative director) has asked for. As such, they often aren’t able to recognize the potential within applicants who may be a good fit, but whose resumes don’t contain the few keywords that the creative director mentioned. If they don’t see those few keywords in your resume, they’re likely to never get in touch.

So, what happens if you don’t fit the “ideal characteristics” mold? Your resume gets tossed, and you get one of those form emails that say, “Thanks for applying…your experience doesn’t fit what we’re looking for.”

How to Apply for Copywriting Jobs

The issue with a resume is it doesn’t show the full picture, especially for creative jobs.

You and I both know creative jobs are a bit more fluid. Just because you have technology copywriting experience instead of health care copywriting experience doesn’t mean you wouldn’t be great at that job. I get that. You get that. And you know who else gets it?

The hiring manager.

Whoever is hiring for that role—likely a creative director, copy director, or even marketing director—has a much better understanding of copywriting and copywriting experience than the human resources recruiter. When human resources might toss your resume, that hiring manager might be interested in talking.

So, eliminate the middle man: Send your resume directly to the hiring manager.

Now, of course, make sure that your resume and your copywriting portfolio are up to snuff.

If they’re looking for 10 years of experience and you’ve only got a year and half, or if they’re looking for experience writing websites and you’ve only ever done print, no application advice is going to fix that. Flesh out your portfolio with spec ads if you need to, but be sure you can show them at least most of what they’re looking for.

But just because you don’t have exactly what the job description is looking for doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not right for the job. For example, if they’re looking for three years’ ad agency experience and you haven’t work in an ad agency, but you’ve worked at an in-house agency that had multiple brands, tight deadlines and lots of branding work, you could still be a good fit.

And you might be able to convey that to a creative director—but not the internal recruiter on the HR team.

How to Find the Hiring Manager

Now, you probably won’t know who the hiring manager is exactly, but a little research can get you pretty close. They’re not CIA agents; their contact information should be easy to find with a few Google searches or a phone call or two. 

Search LinkedIn to find the creative director at the company or, barring that, the marketing director.

Do thorough research, but don’t let it stop you if you’re not 100% sure you have the right person—if you get the wrong person, it’s exceedingly likely they’ll forward your email to the right one.

As for finding the email address, if you can find the email address for anyone in that company, it’s likely that it has the same structure. Firstinitiallastname@company.com or firstname.lastname@company.com for example. And if you can’t find any? Call reception and ask for it. (Try around noon or 12:30, when the regular receptionist is likely at lunch.)

Then, put together a killer cover letter (addressing the places your resume doesn’t match the job description), polish your resume, and send it off to the contact.

Now, again, you want to make sure that you really are a good fit. The last thing you want to do is tick off a creative director by wasting their time with an application that is blatantly unqualified for a role. But if you are a good fit, you can save both yourself and the creative director time and energy by making yourself known. Treat your cover letter like a pitch email, showing the ideas you already have for the business; the focus should be about the company and the value you can immediately bring to it.

Avoiding human resources could just be the difference between missing out on an interview and getting one.

A Note on External Recruitment Agencies

If you are working through an external recruitment agency, and they’ve already submitted you for a role at the company, you do not want to also send your resume to the creative director at the company. The company has no incentive to work with the external recruitment agency if they can simply hire you direct.

It’s an unprofessional and will certainly make it so the external recruitment agency never works with you in the future. So, do the professional thing and give the recruiter a heads up about the companies you’ve already applied to.

Watch More

On Episode 52 of the Build Your Copywriting Business podcast, Nicki and Kate dig in to steps every copywriter needs to take before applying to a job. This includes advice on the LinkedIn “Easy Apply” button (hint: NEVER use the “easy apply” button!). Watch now and save so you can revisit before you apply for any work in the future!

Please don’t get me wrong: I’ve worked with a lot of internal recruiters, and some of them have been good at what they do. One of my favorite hires resulted from an internal recruiter insisting I speak with someone even though I was already intending to offer the role to someone else. As in any job, some internal recruiters can be sensational.

But when it’s your potential new job on the line, the direction of your career at stake, you don’t want to take the chance that you’re going to deal with a less-than-excellent internal recruiter. It’s your livelihood, after all. Take control of it!

Your Turn!

Your turn! How do you make sure that you get interviews when you apply for jobs? Let us know in the comments below!

Last Updated on July 4, 2023