Applying for a role in the digital space can be tricky. Employers often want a mix of experience and youth, which is a fine line to tread when considering that the two are inversely correlated. With every LinkedIn looking like variations on a theme, it can often be difficult conveying your unique selling points when trying to land your dream role in digital. Here are three ways using a boutique recruitment firm can be advantageous in this process.

Being boutique can make you unique

Utilising a boutique firm can help make you stand out. Paper applications consisting of a C.V. and cover letter generally cannot accurately convey a person’s personality or how they could potentially fit into an organisation.

Boutique firms have the distinct advantage of showcasing the relevant and unique information about the candidate to the prospective employer, as well as being able to convey traits of an employer to the candidate. This allows them to be able to take similar candidates and differentiate them based on specific traits. Most of the time, when applying for a role online, these candidate traits remain hidden until the interview, where only the prospects that seem to match on paper make it through.

A good example of this playing out is in candidates with degrees that are outside of the desired field. There are countless examples of candidates with degrees in arts and sciences, excelling in roles in the digital space, due to their unique take on their role through a unique set of experiences. The most commonly cited example of this is billionaire investor Peter Thiel, who despite having a philosophy major, still managed to carve out a niche in the venture capital world.

Unlocking of new opportunities

You may be surprised to learn that most roles that are offered in the digital space are not listed online. With the rise of contract roles in digital, online listings for these roles are generally put in the hands of trusted recruitment firms, who are then tasked with building up a portfolio of candidates to present to the client.

Opportunities such as these can often be far more lucrative than full-time employment, and can lead to even further opportunities through the employer. If the work is in a consultant role, the contracts can often be very long lasting or lead to full-time employment.

Finding new companies to work for

One of the other big advantages we see for candidates is they often find themselves pleasantly surprised applying for companies that they had not previously considered working for. Most of the time candidates will often apply for companies that they are familiar with e.g. if you use a Mac, chances are you wouldn’t mind working for Apple. However, we often find that candidates that utilise a recruitment firm are pleasantly surprised by the type of companies that recruitment firms have access to.

Online applications will always have their place. If you know the company you want to apply for, and the role you want to apply for, they might be the best solution. For everything else, a boutique recruitment firm may be the answer.

Holly Ash - Talent Lead, Sales and Marketing

=======================================================

Holly Ash works for a leading Digital recruitment firm S2M with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore .

If you are a Digital Marketer interested in a confidential chat, then get in touch on holly.ash (at) s2m.com.au