The job market, especially in marketing, sales and public relations, is full of talented people hiding behind LinkedIn profiles and job postings on job boards, waiting to be discovered. But the reality is that discovery rarely happens that way. Today’s employers, especially at high-performing and growth-oriented companies, aren’t scrolling through job boards looking for the perfect candidate. They are looking for people who take initiative, show curiosity and demonstrate action. That’s what separates the hunters from the herd.
Most job seekers still rely on passive tactics… submitting dozens of resumes through automated systems, waiting for callbacks, and endlessly refreshing their inboxes. What they rarely do is what successful marketers, entrepreneurs, and leaders do every day: research their goals, build relationships, and make them impossible to ignore.
If you’re unemployed or looking for your next opportunity, now is not the time to hide behind a screen. It’s time to hunt.
The fear of the hunt
Many job seekers are paralyzed by fear: fear of rejection, fear of being seen as pushy, fear of contacting the wrong person. This fear is understandable, but it is also the biggest obstacle between them and a meaningful career. Hunting takes courage. It means identifying the specific companies you want to work for, not just the companies that happen to have openings. It means finding the hiring manager (not HR, not a recruiter) and learning everything about their team, products, goals, and pain points.
For example, if you are in marketing, research their campaigns. What are they doing well? What is missing? Can you improve their content strategy, ad performance, or conversion rates? Those insights become your ammunition. When you reach out to something specific, thoughtful, and informed, you’re not begging for a job; you provide value. I often share the story of my first graphic designer, who walked in off the street and presented me with the work he was doing, along with a redesigned logo for my company.
A week later I hired him.
Transparency and visibility are important
I recently worked with a startup team on a fundraising strategy, and transparency came to the fore. Every founder had to be visible…photos, biographies, social profiles and public engagement. Investors don’t finance ideas; they finance people. The same goes for hiring staff. Employers want to see you. They want to see your writing, your opinions, your personality and how you show up in the world.
If you are invisible online, you have no proof. Publish articles. Respond intelligently on LinkedIn. Volunteer to speak at a local event. Offer to teach a lesson. These actions demonstrate initiative, confidence and competence. That is the modern CV.
How Great Companies Really Hire
The company I work for doesn’t advertise on job boards or camp at career fairs. We recruit people through relationships, recommendations and research. When someone from our network refers a candidate, we immediately search for them online. We want to see how they present themselves, what they’ve written, what projects they’ve worked on, and how they contribute to their community.
It’s not about the perfect suit or the shiny CV. We care about evidence of commitment, curiosity and follow-through; qualities that cannot be imitated on an application form.
Marketing professionals: leading with presence
If you’re in marketing, you should know better than anyone how to promote yourself. Yet too many marketers treat their careers like static brands. Skip the suit and tie. Come to industry events, not as a job seeker, but as a colleague. Write and share insights about what is changing in your field. Offer to help a nonprofit or small business showcase your skills for free. These experiences provide evidence, and with evidence you can get hired.
Waiting for the right opportunity is a losing strategy. Creating your own opportunities is the way in-demand professionals operate.
The companies worth working for
A few years ago I networked with a colleague who had launched a new business. After speaking with him, they let me know that they could use my advice in optimizing their new SaaS platform. I visited their offices and spoke with them for a few hours, freely sharing my advice. A few weeks later I was contracted for a full audit. Fast forward, and I am now a full-time executive with them. No resumes, no interviews, no hiring managers… just hunting.
If I were unemployed today, I wouldn’t be going after the companies that are still stuck in a decade-old hiring model—the companies that post jobs on the same boards and scan the same databases as everyone else. Those are not innovative places. The companies that transform industries are looking for people who think differently and act boldly.
They are looking for people who don’t wait to be found; they find a way in.
Personally, I would scream and scream for a plane ticket to an industry conference. There are a few reasons…conferences aren’t cheap, so the first key is that these are funded businesses. Second, a conference is much more than an email or phone call; it’s an opportunity to spend time identifying key players within the organization. You don’t just connect to one… you can connect to the entire team. Finally, there are often after-hours events where you can initiate one-on-one conversations to help leaders get to know you better.
This is your moment
The economy rewards those who act first, who reach out directly, who put their name behind their work. Whether you are a marketer, developer, designer or strategist, the rules are the same: visibility trumps passivity. Initiative wins over compliance.
This is your time to stop applying and start hunting. Build your own map of target companies, identify who’s in charge, learn their challenges and show them how to solve them. The future belongs to those who go after it.
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