Job Search Etiquette 101

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

3 min read • Originally published May 3, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

3 min read • Originally published May 3, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Everything’s an interview.” It may sound oversimplified, but it’s true. Every interaction you have during the interview process can affect whether or not you progress to the next stage. Things that may not seem like a big deal at the time, like how you format your resume or how well you communicate during scheduling, can actually say a lot about you.

Your interview doesn’t start once you sit down in front of a hiring manager – it starts as soon as you submit your application. Let’s break down the basics to make sure you set yourself up for success.

Tighten Up Your Resume

Your resume is the first thing a potential employer will use to assess your capabilities. While the content of your resume may be most relevant, how your resume looks matters too. If the formatting is inconsistent with rogue spacing and misaligned bullet points, the hiring manager may think you don’t pay attention to details. If it’s excessively long, they may think you struggle to write concisely. If a candidate applies to detail-oriented role with a messy resume (ex. Chief of Staff, Operations, Executive Assistant), that alone can turn a candidate down.

Hiring managers spend very little time with each resume, so it should be crisp, clean, and easy to read. (To clean up your resume content and formatting, click here to read our top resume tips and download our preferred resume template).

Communicate Politely and Promptly

Some of you may think this is a given… but not every candidate responds to interview requests. We know life gets busy, but responding to interview requests not only shows that you’re organized, but also signals you’re respectful of the hiring team’s time.

All communication with employers should check these marks:

Prompt reply – You have 24-72 hours MAX to respond. If you know you’re going out of town or will be offline, turn on your out of office and list your cell phone number.
Respectful and polite – Hiring someone is hard for the employer too, so signal to them that you appreciate their time and that you’re excited to be interviewing with them.
Update them on your search – If your job search changes and you want to withdraw, send emails to any employer you had spoken to. (Please don’t ghost them!)

If you’re using a job matching platform or recruiter, who is advocating on your behalf to help land you interviews, these points are especially important. If a candidate applies to roles that require them to be a great communicator, ignoring emails or responding exceptionally slowly signals they can be unreliable and unorganized.

Even if you’ve since decided you’re no longer interested in interviewing, reply to them nonetheless. It’s the respectful thing to do, and the world is small. You don’t want to risk burning a bridge you haven’t even built yet.

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Meet Deadlines

Similar to communicating effectively, it’s important to try and meet deadlines a potential employer sets for you. If they ask you to submit a take-home assessment, budget your time and finish it as soon as you can. Completing a project will show you’re excited about the role and you’re on top of your work. If you need to ask for an extension because of extenuating circumstances, do so as soon as you can and provide a new suggested deadline. (The rules from #2 still apply here.)

Know Your Audience

If you’re invited for an in-house interview, do some research on their company culture so you can present accordingly. If you want to double check, feel free to ask your interviewer or recruiter about their company dress code. Certain companies are really casual in the office these days (Team Scouted is routinely in jeans and t-shirts), but plenty of them (like Financial Services and Consulting Firms) are looking for polished candidates.

Knowing your audience is good for first impressions, but it also may be an important part of the job. If you’re interviewing for a client-facing role, showing up late, disheveled, and underdressed are hard no-gos. Even if you rock your interview questions, how you present yourself is sometimes half the battle

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Candidates, Climb the Ladder

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How to Get a Job in Digital Marketing

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

6 min read • Originally published May 3, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

6 min read • Originally published May 3, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

Say you consider yourself pretty tech savvy. You might even spend your fair share of time on social media. If you’ve seen job listings like “Digital Marketing Specialist/Manager/Analyst” or the like, you might be thinking, “Huh, I wonder how hard it is to get a job in digital marketing.”

Well, if you’re considering a role in digital marketing, you’re in luck. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that digital marketer positions will actually grow by 10% between 2016-2026.

If you want to learn more about what it means to be a digital marketer, what characteristics make a good one, and how to improve your digital marketing skills, read below and decide for yourself if digital marketing should be your career of choice.

First, what is digital marketing?

The term “digital marketing” isn’t just a buzzword used by tech enthusiasts. Digital marketing is important to businesses and presents a lucrative opportunity for career-seekers.

Digital marketing is similar to traditional marketing in that products or services are advertised with the goal of either brand recognition or sales.

For example, any ad you see on the internet, your phone, or other devices falls within the realm of digital marketing. Our world is saturated with digital marketing ad campaigns. They can take many different forms but chances are, if you regularly use a phone or computer, you see hundreds of ads every day.

So what’s the difference between a role in digital marketing and traditional marketing, and what are the benefits?

The ability to track progress

With traditional marketing, tracking the effectiveness of your ads is actually really difficult. Say, if you run an ad on TV or take out an ad in the paper, it’s extremely difficult to know just how many people saw it, who actually purchased a product because of your ad, how to target them later with a similar product, and if your ad through one publication was more effective than your ad in a different publication.

However, in digital marketing, brands are able to use pixels, tracking links, and analytics to see the exact number of people that visit their website, their demographics and location, the most frequently visited pages, and other metrics. They can then use this information to build better-targeted ads by understanding who makes purchases and why.

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Not all digital marketing is the same: choose your specialty

Even if two people have the title, “Digital Marketer,” their roles may actually look very different. This means that many people with different skill sets can be successful digital marketers.

Some of the specialties a digital marketer may have are:

CPC and PPC ads
Copywriting
Email Marketing
Mobile Marketing
Web development
Web design
Analytics
Video production
Search Engine Optimization
Social Media management

What are digital marketers like?

Great digital marketers will feel a sense of competitiveness by nature. The desire to learn, improve, and beat out the competition will go far in a career in digital marketing.

They’re also great analytical thinkers. If you’re the type of person who can look at a lot of numbers and see the story they tell, then you may be great at telling what ads are working and which ones should be discarded.

Digital marketers will also have a creative side, or, if they don’t, they’ll know how to outsource to someone who does. Many ads these days are both visual and use creative copywriting to draw the reader’s attention. Depending on the size of the company you work for, you may be responsible for the creative side yourself, or you may be expected to work in collaboration with creatives to come up with ads that are eye-catching and effective.

Now, how do you actually land a job in digital marketing?

Self-educate

While in other industries, you may have trouble finding accurate and helpful information to educate yourself online, digital marketing isn’t one of them. There are vast amounts of resources online that you can use to build your skill base before you venture into a career in digital marketing. Websites like Udemy, Google’s Online Marketing Challenge, and even YouTube are great resources for learning and improving your digital marketing skills.

Before going after a career in digital marking, do your best to know what you already do and don’t know. Once you figure that out, improve your weakest skills, update your knowledge of new trends, and stay current with industry best practices.

Start with an internship or freelance work

These days, it’s hard to get a job without any experience whatsoever in your related field. Luckily for aspiring digital marketers, experience isn’t all that hard to come by. Before you take the first step towards your marketing career, try taking a half step and start by freelancing or interning at smaller companies.

One thing that’s great about digital marketing is that the impact you have on a company is quantifiable. Say you create an ad that increased your company’s web traffic by 25% and you saw a 5% increase in sales in your first quarter? That’s something to make note of and include in a cover letter the next time you’re looking for a digital marketing role.

Create a blog and use your social media

One of the best ways to grow as a budding digital marketer is by growing your own brand. Create a blog and use what you know to grow and develop it and look for ways to get your content in front of others.

Leverage your social media accounts and grow your followership from here. Carve out a niche for yourself. Doing these things will enable you to learn on the job and will help you when applying for future positions.

The goal of creating a blog and leveraging your social media comes down to this: building your personal brand. Your personal brand is the reputation you build for yourself as a job candidate and this reputation will often precede your interview. Do your best to publicly display your experience and expertise so that it’s obvious to potential employers if and when they decide to look you up on social media.

Get a Mentor

Mentors have gone through what you are going through and have a wealth of knowledge to share. The right mentor will save you years of mistakes. Ask specific questions and learn from their past mistakes. Be ready to apply as you are learning.

Your mentor can be your favorite successful blogger or anyone you look up to in the marketing field. It must be someone who is actualizing the caliber of success you aspire to achieve.

Network

No one is an island, and this is very true in digital marketing. Do your best to reach out to like-minded people, attend conferences and events, and talk about your love for digital marketing and your career goals. You never know when an opportunity might just be lurking around the corner.

Digital Marketing is a great career that can be very rewarding. The demand for digital marketers exceeds the supply and the skill gap is projected to get even wider.

To do well in this career, remain a lifelong student, as the industry is ever-changing. The world is full of resources to help you become successful.

Ps. Here are a few open digital marketing roles on Scouted:

Digital Marketing Associate (SEO) (Relocation Friendly)

Digital Marketing Strategist

Digital Marketing – Intern to Perm – 2019 Grads

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Candidates, Climb the Ladder

Climb the Ladder

How to Leverage Emotional Intelligence in Your Career

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

5 min read • Originally published May 9, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

5 min read • Originally published May 9, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

When it comes to success in the workplace, it’s not just what you know that matters. Emotional intelligence, also known as emotional quotient (EQ), can be just as critical to collaborating with different people, fostering a pleasant company culture, and managing work-related stress.

Emotional intelligence is composed of a few different elements. The first is the ability to be aware of your own emotions and express them in a healthy, productive way. The second main component is understanding the emotions of others and approaching interpersonal relationships from a place of empathy.

But why is emotional intelligence so important for your career? And what are some tips for how to use your emotional intelligence? Scouted lays it all out for you.

Why is emotional intelligence important at work?

The average American work week takes up at least 40 hours. That’s a lot of time to spend around the same group of people. Learning to be in tune with your coworkers’ emotions as well as your own can strengthen these workplace relationships and help you manage conflict in a healthy manner. Emotional intelligence can also lay the foundation for other professional skills, such as flexibility, persuasiveness, and thoughtfulness. It can also diffuse some of the tensions that often arise due to office politics. These are some of the reasons why emotional intelligence is widely considered one of the most important leadership skills.

What are some emotional intelligence skills?

Emotional intelligence is a broad category that encompasses many different skill sets. According to Daniel Goleman, the leading American psychologist in this field, there are five key emotional intelligence skills to learn:

1. Self-awareness – the ability to identify and understand your own emotions
2. Self-regulation – the ability to manage and express your emotions in an appropriate manner
3. Motivation – the ability to develop an inner passion for doing things well, without an external reward like money or recognition as the primary reason
4. Empathy – the ability to understand and respond appropriately to how others are feeling
5. Social skills – putting all of the above skills into practice through interactions with others

Although it’s up for debate whether emotional intelligence skills can be learned or if they are intrinsic traits, different trainings and workshops have popped up in recent years to help workers develop their EQ. Google is one such company that hosts conferences and training sessions dedicated to emotional intelligence.

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What are some emotional intelligence examples?

Ready to put what you’ve learned into practice? Here are a few emotional intelligence examples that can be applied to different workplace situations, along with suggestions for how to leverage your emotional intelligence.

Also read: AI Recruitment Tools: Helping or Replacing Humans?

Emotional intelligence in your resume

While you probably don’t need to list “emotional intelligence” in the Skills section of your resume, there are more subtle ways to weave EQ throughout your job history. In descriptions of previous jobs you’ve held, highlight qualities related to managing your emotions or those of others.

For example, you might emphasize customer service, consumer research, or employee satisfaction to show experience interacting with others. For managing your own emotions and stress, you might focus instead on language related to deadline-driven environments or high-volume work. You will have an even greater opportunity to showcase your emotional intelligence skills in an interview.

Emotional intelligence in your interview

It is common for a hiring manager to ask questions related to how you have handled conflict in the workplace or collaborated with coworkers. These questions are the perfect opportunity to highlight your emotional intelligence. Using the STAR method, you can tell a story about how you used emotional intelligence to develop strong relationships with coworkers and handle difficult situations. You may also wish to expand upon the qualities and experiences mentioned in your resume.

Emotional intelligence in the workplace

Emotional intelligence skills can help you get the job, but more importantly, it can help you be more productive and happier in your role. Whether you are an entry-level professional or the CEO, emotional intelligence spans the entire team. Here are a few suggestions for how to use your emotional intelligence at work:

Listening in meetings: Making sure everyone feels heard is essential to developing positive rapport within a team.
Managing stress: Sometimes workplace tensions can run high and it becomes a challenge to manage your own stress. Recognize the signs of stress in yourself and others, take a deep breath, and learn techniques for figuring out how to manage it in a healthy way. These might include meditation, taking a walk, or journaling.
Expressing negative emotions using I-Statements: This I-Statements method, which takes the form of, “I feel ________ when ___________” places the emphasis on a situation and how it affects you, rather than taking an adversarial approach or placing blame on an individual. I-Statements also open the door for you to suggest a solution to a problem. For example, if you’ve been working 60+ hours a week to finish a project, you might tell your manager, “I feel overwhelmed with the upcoming deadline for this project. I believe that I would work much more effectively if I could shift some lower-priority tasks to after the project is over.”
Actively listening to others: Others might come to you with negative emotions of their own. Maybe they just want to vent, or they are directing their negativity toward a specific person or situation. Using a phrase like, “It must not be easy to _________” can reinforce that you were listening to their challenges and acknowledging them. This can also be the first step to coming up with a solution together.
Understanding body language – Not all communication is spoken. Body language like posture, hand gestures, and more can also be an indication of how someone is feeling. This is especially true if a coworker says one thing (“Sure, we can have the meeting on Friday night”) but their body language (like crossed arms) suggests otherwise. Observe an individual’s full behavior and tailor your response appropriately.

Emotional intelligence is likely to be most important in roles that involve a lot of human interaction. Jobs that require teamwork or customer service like sales representatives, PR, marketing, or any leadership role would benefit highly from EQ. Hiring managers might not prioritize EQ as much in roles that are more technical and require less human interaction, such as computer programmers or accountants.

Want to learn more about how to leverage your interpersonal relationships in the workplace? Sign up for the Scouted newsletter for more career and professional development tips.

If you care to dive in and learn more about your own emotional intelligence, here’s a resource that will teach you to master the 6 most important pillars of emotional intelligence and learn to explain and implement them: The Emotional Intelligence Masterclass.

Janine Perri is a freelance writer and marketing professional based in New York. She has experience writing about topics in business, marketing, technology, education, travel, and language services. She has also taught English in South Korea as the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship.

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Candidates, Climb the Ladder

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5 LinkedIn Updates to Make Before You Apply for the Job

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

6 min read • Originally published May 16, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

6 min read • Originally published May 16, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

Be honest… when was the last time you updated your LinkedIn profile? No judgment if it’s been a while, I get it – it doesn’t exactly make the list of fun or seemingly urgent activities.

But here’s the thing: Even if you’re not looking for a job (and especially if you are!), your LinkedIn profile has the potential to open you up to so many opportunities. And if neglected, you may never know what you’ve missed out on.

Not convinced yet? Think about it this way. In today’s world, our online presence oftentimes precedes us. Whether you’re about to meet a new hire, have an initial interview, or go on a first date, what’s the first thing you do? Look them up online, of course! Many employers will spend at least a little time checking to see if candidates have an online presence before they’re interviewed, just to get a feel for who they’ll be meeting soon.

And the same goes for you – in all parts of life, including the professional world. Having an updated profile that highlights your strengths and tells a compelling story is key for the right people to find and get to know you – and consider you for opportunities before they’ve even met you in person!

Remember how your parents always told you a firm handshake was important? Well consider this your virtual handshake – let’s make a good first impression!

With that said, here are the five most important updates to make right now, before applying to any jobs.

1 Adjust Your Settings to Maximize Views

Before you do anything else, under Privacy, go to the “How Others See Your LinkedIn Activity” section. Choose “No” under “Share job changes, education changes, and work anniversaries from profile.” The reason you’re doing this is that it is likely that you’re going to be making a lot of changes, tweaks and refinements as you perfect your profile. There’s no need to alert your connections (and coworkers) of every change.
Next, I recommend making your profile easy to find by adjusting your privacy settings so your public profile is viewable, even to those who are not connections. This includes allowing your last name to be seen, and making your email address public. (We want to make you easy to find and easy to contact!)
For that same reason, in the Communications section, allow all connection and message requests.
Under Job Seeking Preferences, click “Yes” to let recruiters know you’re open to opportunities. This is not publicly displayed anywhere so there is low risk of anyone at your company seeing you have it on. Plus it pushes you to the top of the search because it signals to recruiters that you’re engaged and willing to explore new roles, thus worth their time and effort.

2 Create a Compelling Headline

Your headline, that space right next to your name that likely now displays your company and title, is a prime piece of LinkedIn real estate. That’s because people see this without even clicking on your profile.

Anyone who comes across your name, whether in a search, post or comment, will see your picture, name and headline – all without any extra effort to click your profile. Leveraging this space gives them a reason to want to learn more.

Here are 3 attention-grabbing headline formulas to try:

Descriptive Title – This could be different than your official title if it’s generic, or varies widely by companies. For example, when I was in consulting, my official title was “Senior Associate.” But that didn’t mean anything to anyone outside of the consulting world, so a better headline would have been “Financial Consultant,” because no matter your background, you could get a feel for my role.
Your Top Skills or Areas of Focus – This is an especially good one for those changing careers. Use this area to showcase your transferrable skills and desired industry. For example, a consultant looking to leverage his background in a retail environment might put “Retail | Strategy | Marketing” in his headline.
Your “Why” Statement – This is great for entrepreneurs and corporates that have really defined what makes them unique and the impact they make. Your why statement is simply what you do and/or the results you achieve + who you do it for. Currently I use this formula and my headline says “I help unfulfilled high achievers find work they love.” A client of mine changed her headline to read “I help small businesses attract more customers through social media management.”

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3 Connect the Dots in Your Summary

It is your responsibility to demonstrate why you are the perfect fit for whatever job you’re going after. You get to connect the dots for them, to show them the golden thread that links your experience and has taken you to this point in your career.

Said another way – it’s your job to make it easy for people to say “yes” to having you on your team. And while experience can help with that (more on that in #5), this is your chance to share anything else that is relevant – to essentially tie a bow on your experience, education, skills and passion.

Use this space to share in 3-7 sentences:

What you do and the results you achieve (e.g. social media management to attract and retain quality clients)
Who you do it for (industries, company types/sizes, clients, etc.)
Why you’re so passionate about it (this is a chance to let people get to know you, and turn you from just another profile into someone they want to meet)
Your beliefs, views and unique workstyle (e.g. are you a roll-up-your-sleeves kind of girl, or your experience across five industries and three countries gives you a unique perspective that others don’t have)

4 Add Relevant, Searchable Skills

When recruiters and hiring managers are looking for job matches, they search based on skills and matches to the job descriptions. Ensure you’re showing up in the results by taking inventory of your most desired jobs and, assuming you’ve got some experience there, make sure that you’ve got those specific skills listed on your profile.

Watch out for apparent duplicates – for example, “social media” and “social media management” might seem the same to you, but if a job description has just one, you might not rank you as high as you should, simply based on that “missing” skill.

Bonus points for getting endorsements on the most relevant skills. You can ask people you’ve worked with in the past to endorse you, or simply start by endorsing them, and know that they’ll likely return the favor.

5 Let Your Experience Tell Your Story

It goes without saying that you need to have a complete work experience and education history before applying to any jobs, but you can do better than that.

Keeping in mind the job you’re aiming for, highlight and expound upon your relevant strengths, responsibilities, projects and skills.

Consider deleting anything that is not relevant. Remember, it’s your responsibility to make yourself an easy “yes” for a recruiter, and simplifying your profile to de-emphasize anything that would be distracting or confusing will help with that.

LinkedIn doesn’t allow a lot of fancy formatting, but you can use bullets and spacing to make your profile easy to ready. Add numbers when you can – think increases in revenue, conversions, team members managed, and so on.

Kristen Zavo is a career coach and the author of Job Joy: Your Guide to Success, Meaning, and Happiness in Your Career. After spending nearly two decades in traditional corporate roles, she now helps high achievers find work they love. She believes it’s never too late to find work that excites and inspires you – and that life’s too short for anything less! Grab your copy of Job Joy plus a free bonus gift at jobjoybook.com!

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Candidates, Climb the Ladder

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Tips for Asking for and Getting Time Off Work

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

4 min read • Originally published June 7, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

4 min read • Originally published June 7, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

At the end of May, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that it would officially recognize “burnout” as a medical diagnosis. WHO defines burnout as “chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed,” which can manifest as “feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and reduced professional efficacy.”

Taking time off from work is one of the best ways to prevent burnout or recharge after a particularly strenuous stretch of time. Research indicates that taking a vacation yields numerous benefits such as reduced stress, a lower risk of heart disease, and increased productivity.

But before you can envision yourself sipping margaritas on a beach (or just staying in to binge watch Game of Thrones all over again), you will need to have your time off approved by your employer first. Asking for time off from work can be scary, especially as a new hire, but there are ways to make the process as easy as possible. Here are a few basic do’s and don’ts to remember when asking for time off.

Do understand your company’s vacation policy.

Some companies separate vacation time from sick days, while other companies lump them together as “paid time off” (PTO). Some organizations may not allow employees to use PTO during their training or introductory period (which could last six months or more), and vacation days are usually “accrued” over time (such as one per pay period). Most companies give each employee a certain number of days off, but others offer unlimited vacation benefits.

Before requesting time off, familiarize yourself with your company’s vacation policy. If you’re ever unsure, request a copy from HR. Keep in mind that your company will likely have separate policies for longer periods of absence, such as disability, maternity/paternity leave, or leaves of absence for health-related conditions.

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Don’t wait until the last minute to request time off.

Courtesy matters. Don’t tell your supervisor on Friday afternoon that you will be out of the office the following week for a last-minute trip to Disney World. Many companies will request a certain amount of advance notice. In general, the earlier the better, especially during peak times like the winter holidays.

Do submit a formal request, in writing, for time off after speaking with your supervisor.

It’s always a good idea to mention intended vacation time in person, such as in a one-on-one meeting with your supervisor. But you should also send an email to your supervisor so there’s a paper trail of your request. Follow up by submitting any required paperwork through HR, and put your vacation days on your department’s calendar after receiving approval.

Don’t fake illness just to get a few days off.

Honesty is always the way to go, especially when you know which days you want to take off. You may also need those sick days later, so stick with vacation days and floating holidays when you submit your time off request.

Do schedule your time off at an opportune time for the company, when possible.

Some requests for time off require a specific date, like attending a wedding or a funeral. Others, such as a week-long vacation in the Bahamas, have a bit more wiggle room. After you’ve been at a job for a while, you will have an idea of the cadence of the work. When are the busy periods? When does work slow down? Are you in a role in which vacation time is not permitted in the last two weeks before the fiscal year ends? When in doubt, speak with your supervisor or HR and plan any vacations during a slower period. An added benefit to this is that you will not have missed as much in your absence or be as stressed upon your return.

Don’t leave all your work behind for your coworkers to pick up.

Be diligent in completing your work before you leave. If a few ongoing tasks need to be covered by a coworker, inform that coworker in advance and provide written instructions. In turn, be a good sport when your coworkers ask the same favor of you during their time off.

Do inform the hiring manager of previously scheduled vacation days before accepting a new job.

Suppose you are interviewing for a new job, but your sister’s wedding is taking place a month after your intended start date. When you get to the final interview or have received an offer, let the hiring manager know about the days you will need to be out of the office. This will give the new company enough time to plan for your brief absence, before you even start.

Don’t let your vacation days expire — they’re there for a reason.

Americans rarely use all of their vacation days. In 2018, Glassdoor found that Americans typically sacrifice about half of their earned vacation time, even though time off is essential for maintaining positive health and avoiding burnout. Remember that using your vacation days is nothing to feel guilt or shame about. With proper planning and honest conversation with your employer, you can use your time off in ways that are beneficial for you and for them, as well.

Looking for more career advice? Subscribe to the Scouted newsletter.

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Candidates, Climb the Ladder

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How to Create an Office Plan for Your Next Vacation

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

5 min read • Originally published June 13, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

5 min read • Originally published June 13, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

There’s a reason that Americans are infamous workaholics: a whopping 52% of Americans didn’t use all of their time off in 2017. In fact, forfeited vacation days added up to the equivalent in $62.2 billion in lost benefits!

Taking time off isn’t just good for your mental and physical health, though. It’s actually good for your career.

Many people assume that chaining themselves to their desk means more productivity. Yet time and again, research shows that humans are more productive when they take time off. When you work past your capacity and forgo a much-needed vacation, you lose your ability to perform at your best.

The problem that many people run into, though, is how stressful leaving the office can be. They find their vacation frequently interrupted by emergency work calls, or drown in the amount of work that piled up while they were gone.

You deserve a relaxing, stress-free vacation. The best way to do that is by coming up with an effective Out-Of-Office (OOO) plan. With a bit of forethought and preparation, you can seamlessly take time off with minimal stress and overwhelm.

Get the time off you need with our guide to creating an OOO plan.

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Step #1: Give Everyone a Head’s Up

The best way to ensure that your time away goes as smoothly as possible is by giving advanced notice. Avoid the temptation to drag your feet: this will only make taking time off harder. Everyone will appreciate the heads up.

Block out your time off on the group calendar as soon as you get approval from management. This way, it also serves as a reminder for everyone on your team instead of coming out of nowhere.

Step #2: Delegate Your Responsibilities

The last thing you need to come back to after your time off is a backlog of work and potentially upset clients, vendors, or coworkers. Delegate your tasks among your coworkers so that everything works as seamlessly as possible in your absence.

Make a running list of all that you do each day. It can be easy to forget the jobs you do on autopilot, so give yourself a couple of days to make a note of everything that needs to get done as you’re doing it. Once you have a list, you can make sure that the appropriate tasks are delegated out to your coworkers.

Take time in the week before to talk with your coworkers about the responsibilities they will be taking for you. Make sure that they understand what they need to do and be available to answer any questions that they might have.

Make covering for you as easy as possible. Set up reminders for them depending on what needs to be done. Write a post-it, for example, if you need a coworker to do a daily task. You can also make a notification on their Google calendar when they need to do a particular job.

Also read: How Delegation Will Make You a Better Employee

Step #3: Create a Manual

No one can do your job quite like you. The last thing you want during your time away, though, is being constantly bombarded with questions. Create a short, one-page manual on a Google Doc that gives everyone in the office a quick run-down of your tasks and any valuable information.

Write out your duties, passwords, company accounts and any valuable information they might need to reference quickly. This way, anyone in your office can find what they need without bothering you. You can also put your coverage plan on the document so that everyone knows who to contact and delegate to while you’re gone.

Step #4: Clean Up Your Workspace

One of the worst feelings is coming back to chaos after time away. It raises your stress levels before you’ve even had a chance to check your email inbox!

In your rush to get out as quickly as possible, take a few minutes to tidy up your space. Organize your desk, wipe down your screen and keyboard, and file important papers away. Although it may not seem like a big deal when you’re trying to rush out of there, it can make a big difference in how you feel arriving back at work.

Also, check to make sure that you’re not leaving any food behind, either in the break-room fridge or your desk. Your coworkers won’t appreciate the unpleasant odor from forgotten food, and they definitely won’t be happy cleaning up after you.

Also read: Tips for Asking for (and Getting) Time Off From Work

Step #5: Set-up an Away Message

According to research in the Harvard Business Review, an away message is the perfect chance for social connection. Although you won’t want to sound unprofessional (I’m getting drunk at the beach is too much), do let people know why you’re going. Are you celebrating an anniversary or having a baby? Let people know! It will help people feel positively towards you, which will make them more likely to do business with you and deepen your business relationships.

Also, don’t be afraid to customize your away message. Most email systems (such as Google) allow you to draft two different emails: one for internal and one for outside your organization. This will enable you to be more personal with your coworkers and more professional with everyone outside the office.

Your message should include:

A leave and return date
Reason for absence
Alternative contact and resources
If you plan on checking your email

Your autoresponder could look something like this:

Hello-

Thank you for your email! I will be out of the office on vacation with my family from 6/10-6/19 and will not have access to my email during that time.

If you have any urgent matters that need to be handled before then, please feel free to contact [coworker name] at [email address] for immediate attention.

I look forward to connecting with you when I get back!

Best,

[Your Name]

An Out of Office for a Better Career

Some time away from the office isn’t an option. Whether you have a work trip, family emergency, or you need time away to recharge your batteries, there will come a time when your office will have to run without you. Make it as stress-free for everyone involved with a good OOO plan.

You AND your coworkers will be grateful!

Topics:

Candidates, Climb the Ladder

Climb the Ladder

Should You Get an Internship?

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

4 min read • Originally published June 20, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

4 min read • Originally published June 20, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

The world of work has changed immensely and not just in the past 50 years, but in the past decade. With the advent of technology, expectations of knowledge are vastly different than they used to be. And while a college degree is still important, it’s no longer something that makes you stand out. Even having a master’s degree is becoming commonplace.

What employers really want to see is that you have some real-world experience, and this can be where an internship can come into play. While you want to be careful about what internship you take, they can have a lot of benefits that will help you down the line. Here we are going to highlight some of the reasons to get an internship and how to make sure it’s worth your time.

Gain Real World Experience

While school is an excellent place to learn and gain experiences, it is completely different from working in an office environment. Employers like to see that you have some experience in an office, and know how to handle yourself professionally. Having even a few months of experience at an internship with a good recommendation can go a long way to boosting their confidence in hiring you. It also gives you a chance to get used to how office environments function in a more low-pressure situation so that when you start on your first day you’re not completely overwhelmed.

It’s also a very sad reality these days that you need some related experience to get even entry-level jobs (which is what we’re working to change here at Scouted). While your parents might have had more on-the-job training, there are so many well-qualified candidates out there, you often need to show you have some experience to even get a foot in the door. Internships have become almost as expected as a college degree.

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Make Connections

One of the best ways to get good jobs is still through your network and connections, and an internship is a great way to get your foot in the door to the world of work.

A lot of big, well-known companies bring on large classes of interns that actually pay or offer college credit and these can have two huge benefits:

You get a big name company on your resume that people will be impressed by and
They often look to hire entry-level people from this pool of interns once they graduate.

While turning an internship into a job is never a guarantee, aiming your sights for more well-known companies will help you in the long run (and they are also more likely to have the funds to pay at least a little). If you perform well at the internship, then you can get in with people who will want to help further your career, and can write you good recommendations which is major for making the next step.

Find out What You Like

It’s hard to know what you want to be when you grow up, we get it. Even if you think you know 100% of what you want to do, it’s never a bad idea to actually try it out and make sure it’s a good fit.

Internships are a fantastic, low-pressure way to test out different roles and industries to see what you like and what you don’t. It is highly likely that you will go through a few different careers in your working life, current statistics show that most people go through 5-7 careers changes so why not test things out a bit first and start to narrow it down before you’ve even graduated?

Build Confidence

Internships are also a great way to build your confidence and will give you something besides your senior thesis to talk about at your interviews. Entering a professional work environment can be an intimidating experience, once you have some knowledge of how offices work and how to communicate in a professional way, it can start to feel much more manageable. It will also help you to feel more confident sending out your resume since you will have more relevant experience to what you hopefully want to do with your future. While industries have their own little idiosyncrasies, most offices have a lot in common.

There are many reasons to get an internship, but you do want to be smart about the internship you choose. Internships can help to set the groundwork for your career, and while many people do jump around, you want to make your internship work for you. Finding one that is related to what you hope to do after school can help you build connections and gain crucial experience that will give you a definite advantage over other recent grads. If you can find one at a well-known company that also pays, it is going to be competitive so leveraging alumni connections can be a useful strategy to get your foot in the door.

Internships are the perfect way to get the experience and connections you will most likely need to get your first real job after college. Also keep in mind that some internships are available to recent grads as well as current students! So if you’re already graduated, it’s not too late. Check out the internships and roles for recent grads on Scouted!

Topics:

Candidates, Climb the Ladder

Climb the Ladder

We’ve Rebranded: A Note From Our CEO

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

2 min read • Originally published June 25, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

2 min read • Originally published June 25, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

A note from the CEO:

We often get asked, out of all the businesses we *could* have created, why did we create a platform that helps people get jobs?

The short answer?

Because a person’s first, second, or even third job has the ability to change the entire trajectory of his or her career.

We saw way too much talent get overlooked for opportunities because they didn’t attend the *right* school or didn’t have the *right* former title and we realized how much both candidates and companies were missing out.

Maybe you want to transition careers and need to parlay how your skills transfer from one industry to the next. Maybe you’re on the hunt for your first job, eager to kickstart your career.

Regardless, here at Scouted, we’ve always believed that you are more than your resume. This has been our driving force from day one and it still is today. That’s why we created a platform that shows off your talents, personalities, and potential!

While we’re at it, we decided we could be doing a better job of this for Scouted, too. So, we treated ourselves to a big upgrade – we got a new look, new website, and new experience. Not only will this update better showcase our unique personality, it’ll help us better showcase yours. But, we’re more than just a pretty face… you can expect an improved user experience and even more amazing opportunities to come your way.

We’re delighted to share our new site with you and, as always, we’re committed to supporting you along your career journey in whatever way we can.

Check out the new Scouted!

Keep it real,

Jax
Co-founder & CEO
#hirepeoplenotresumes

Topics:

Candidates, Climb the Ladder

Climb the Ladder

How to Conduct an Informational Interview

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

4 min read • Originally published July 1, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

4 min read • Originally published July 1, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

Whether you’re working or still in college, it can be difficult to explore a variety of career paths. Not everyone has the time or opportunity to shadow an employee or intern for a summer at their dream company. Informational interviews allow you to learn more about a potential career and what others have experienced in the field.

Throughout the informational interview, usually lasting about 30 minutes to an hour, job seekers or college students can ask questions about someone’s career or experience at a company they are interested in, and seek their advice on how to best navigate the recruiting process. Informational interviews provide an opportunity to build your network, and may potentially lead to an internship or a full time job offer in the future.

This past year, I conducted around 10 informational interviews with alums of my college to learn more about their careers in Marketing. I really enjoyed hearing their individual stories and experiences, and greatly appreciated all of the thoughtful advice I received. The most difficult, but also most important, part of an informational interview can be the preparation. Showing up prepared demonstrates your organization and commitment to use your interviewee’s time wisely. Below are the steps I’ve followed over and over to continually be prepared for any informational interview.

Step 1: Identify friends, family, or alums of your university who currently work or have experience in these industries

Take a look on LinkedIn and search for connections you have within the industry you are interested in exploring. Search for companies that you’d love to have a job at one day, and connect with one of their employees. Additionally, speak with your career services office and see what alumni work in this industry. They usually can provide you with an email address, which can help increase the likelihood of someone responding to your message.

If you’re still in college, ask professors in your major to see if any of their past students now work in the industry you’re interested in. Make a list of four or five contacts that you want to request an informational interview with.

Step 2: Reach out via email or Linkedin

Write a brief message to your contact sharing a little about yourself, your career interests, and why you are interested in connecting with them. This information will help them know if they are able to give you advice based on their past career experience.

Some things to include:

A snippet about your major, college, work experience, and career interests
Why you are interested in speaking with them & how you are connected with them
A request for a short, informational interview

Your message could look something like this:

Hi [Interviewee’s Name],

I’m a [title] for [company] (or I am a [Class Year] at _______ College/University studying [Area of Study]), and am interested in pursuing a career in (insert industry). Through (insert how you found their information/how you know of them), I found that you work with [Company Name]. I would love to have a brief conversation with you to learn about your experience with [Company Name] and your career plans after you graduated from _______ College/University. Would you be willing to schedule an informational phone call with me?

Thank you very much for considering my request and I look forward to hearing back from you.

Best Regards,

[Your Name]

Also read: 5 LinkedIn Updates To Make Before You Apply for the Job

Step 3: Formulate a list of questions

Hopefully they’ve accepted your request and you’ve set up a time to chat. Before hopping on the phone, formulate a list of questions that you want to ask during the interview. Having questions prepared demonstrate to your interviewee that you are taking the conversation seriously and took the time to create thoughtful questions.

It may be helpful to email your questions to the interviewee beforehand so they can think about their responses. Below are some suggestions, but make sure to cater them to your particular interests and potential career.

What does your work look like on a day to day basis?
What opportunities are there for growth?
What are your main responsibilities?
How did you navigate your career path post-grad?
How did you decide to pursue a career in _____?
What skills are important to develop for this career while in college?

Step 4: Create a 30-second elevator pitch

Even though you initiated the informational interview, the person you are connecting with will most likely want to learn about your studies, past experiences, interests, and skills. Prepare a short summary of relevant details to share with your contact in the interview. For example, you may share your past internship experience, or talk about a recent organization you joined on campus.

Step 5: Stay in touch post-interview

After you’ve finished your interview, make sure to thank whoever you interviewed for their time and keep them updated on how their advice has assisted you throughout your internship or job search. Lastly, connect with them on Linkedin if you’re not already.

Also read: How to Write a Thank You or Follow Up Email After an Interview

Conducting an informational interview is a great way to explore potential careers, practice your networking skills, and expand your professional connections. Reaching out for an informational interview can be daunting, but knowing you’re prepared will ensure that the conversation goes smoothly. Keep us updated on how your next informational interview goes!

Topics:

Candidates, Climb the Ladder

Climb the Ladder

Questions to Always Ask in a Job Interview (and Avoid)

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

4 min read • Originally published July 11, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

4 min read • Originally published July 11, 2019 / Updated March 19, 2026

Here at Scouted, we want you to have your best interview possible. We often spend time with our candidates coaching them on interview best practices, giving them insider info on our partner companies if we can, and helping them navigate negotiations if needed. We love helping you put your best foot forward, which is why we have to say this:

Interviews are a two-way street and we’ve seen too many candidates act like they’re in an interrogation.

Believe us, nothing is worse than when a candidate gets turned down because they simply “didn’t seem that interested in the position.” Because oftentimes, that’s just not the case! We know that if you take the time to apply, participate in a phone screen, travel to an in-person interview, then it’s more than likely you want the job.

In this blog post, we want to help you show employers that you mean business. We want to show you the right questions to ask during your interview that will make you stand out as interested, invested, and knowledgeable in the role you’re interviewing for.

Questions to ask during your job interview:

What would a normal day look like in this role?
What would a successful employee look like in this role?
How would you describe your company’s values?
What are key performance indicators (KPIs) that I should care about?
What are your expectations for this role during the first 30 – 60 days?
Why did the last person who held this role move on?
How would you describe your company culture?
Who do you consider your top competitors, and why?
What are the biggest challenges facing the company/department right now?
What do you like best about working for this company?
What is the typical career path for someone in this role?
What are the next steps in the interview process?
What is the company’s management style?
Who does this position report to? If I am offered the position, can I meet him or her before making my final acceptance decision?
Why is this position available?
How many people work in this office/department?
How much travel is expected?
What are the prospects for growth and advancement? Or, How does your company handle personal development?
What is the typical career path for this role?
Do you have any reservations about my qualifications?
What is the best part of working for this company?
If I am extended a job offer, how soon would you like me to start?
Would you like a list of references?
Are there any other questions I can answer for you?

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Avoid these types of questions during your first interview:

Questions about vacation time, compensation, benefits, and perks.

These questions are important to know, but you don’t want it to seem like they’re the only reason you’re applying for the job. That being the case, you may want to wait to ask these questions until a second interview or even after an offer is made.

Questions that you could have found the answer to in an online search

It’s always important to make sure you’re prepared for your interview and a large part of that is simply researching the company. Look up their history, read their FAQ page, their “Work With Us” page, their YouTube and social media channels. Lastly, be sure to brush up on recent news about the company. If they’re a startup who recently raised a large round of funding (probably the reason for expanding their team) be sure to congratulate them.

Overly specific questions that may raise red flags

Say you had a bad experience at your last company. It happens. You might be wary to make sure it doesn’t happen again (understandable), but it could be a red flag if you ask too many questions about a specific topic.

For example, if you had a poor experience with a past manager and you ask several questions about who your new manager is, their personality, management style, accountability, etc., it could be seen as a red flag that you have issues with authority. Whether or not that’s the case, ask what you need to know, but do try to play it cool. Instead, try asking if you can meet the person you’ll be reporting to or save some of your more specific questions for later in the interview process when you’ve been able to build a stronger relationship with the hiring managers.

Of course, you don’t need to ask every single question above, but hopefully by the end of your conversation with the hiring managers, you’ll know the answers to most of them. Again, an interview is a two-way dialogue where you learn how you best fit within the company, why they need to hire someone like you, and what your life will look like when working there.

What are questions you like to ask during a job interview? Leave your favorites below and maybe we’ll add them to the list!

Topics:

Candidates, Climb the Ladder

Tighten Up Your Resume

Communicate Politely and Promptly

Meet Deadlines

Know Your Audience

First, what is digital marketing?

So what’s the difference between a role in digital marketing and traditional marketing, and what are the benefits?

The ability to track progress

Not all digital marketing is the same: choose your specialty

What are digital marketers like?

Now, how do you actually land a job in digital marketing?

Self-educate

Start with an internship or freelance work

Create a blog and use your social media

Get a Mentor

Network

Ps. Here are a few open digital marketing roles on Scouted:

Why is emotional intelligence important at work?

What are some emotional intelligence skills?

What are some emotional intelligence examples?

Emotional intelligence in your resume

Emotional intelligence in your interview

Emotional intelligence in the workplace

1 Adjust Your Settings to Maximize Views

2 Create a Compelling Headline

3 Connect the Dots in Your Summary

4 Add Relevant, Searchable Skills

5 Let Your Experience Tell Your Story

Do understand your company’s vacation policy.

Don’t wait until the last minute to request time off.

Do submit a formal request, in writing, for time off after speaking with your supervisor.

Don’t fake illness just to get a few days off.

Do schedule your time off at an opportune time for the company, when possible.

Don’t leave all your work behind for your coworkers to pick up.

Do inform the hiring manager of previously scheduled vacation days before accepting a new job.

Don’t let your vacation days expire — they’re there for a reason.

Step #1: Give Everyone a Head’s Up

Step #2: Delegate Your Responsibilities

Step #3: Create a Manual

Step #4: Clean Up Your Workspace

Step #5: Set-up an Away Message

An Out of Office for a Better Career

Gain Real World Experience

Make Connections

Find out What You Like

Build Confidence

A note from the CEO:

Step 1: Identify friends, family, or alums of your university who currently work or have experience in these industries

Step 2: Reach out via email or Linkedin

Also read: 5 LinkedIn Updates To Make Before You Apply for the Job

Step 3: Formulate a list of questions

Step 4: Create a 30-second elevator pitch

Step 5: Stay in touch post-interview

Also read: How to Write a Thank You or Follow Up Email After an Interview

Questions to ask during your job interview:

Avoid these types of questions during your first interview:

Questions about vacation time, compensation, benefits, and perks.

Questions that you could have found the answer to in an online search

Overly specific questions that may raise red flags

Anujin Naranbayar