How to Break Into Content Strategy: A Career Guide

Journalism meets marketing in this media mashup field

McLean Robbins is a luxury travel editor, marketing leader, and adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University with two decades of bylines in Forbes Travel Guide, Robb Report, and Washingtonian. She is the founder of Lily Pond Luxury, a Condé Nast Top Travel Specialist agency, and previously served as VP of Marketing at MBO Partners.

4 min read • Originally published March 15, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By McLean Robbins

McLean Robbins is a luxury travel editor, marketing leader, and adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University with two decades of bylines in Forbes Travel Guide, Robb Report, and Washingtonian. She is the founder of Lily Pond Luxury, a Condé Nast Top Travel Specialist agency, and previously served as VP of Marketing at MBO Partners.

4 min read • Originally published March 15, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

In a world of bloggers, influencers, social media managers and content marketers, job seekers may wonder where all the “normal” jobs have gone. Good news: They’re still there, just under different titles, with slightly more nuanced skill sets.

One of the most popular new career options is working in content strategy, a field that traditionally combines skills of journalism with the savvy of a marketer to help brands and companies understand how to best position their content in a digital realm.

Technically, content strategy has to do with the planning, development and maintenance of content in any form—from written to visual and print to digital.

Content strategists can come from any number of fields. Today, some students may leave college or graduate school with the desire to be content strategists, but the best (in our humble opinion) grow into it from fields of media/journalism, design and user experience.

The skill sets may be diverse, but the traits of a good strategist are similar: Organizations hiring a content strategist are acknowledging the need for an individual or a team to fix a content problem, likely on their digital channels. The person in charge needs to be an excellent communicator, a deft negotiator, and a get-it-done personality who isn’t afraid to roll up his or her sleeves and dive into what is likely a mud-filled pit of snakes, secrets and more.

The best content strategists will have to think like marketers, write and edit like journalists, analyze like data scientists and speak like developers.

So, how to do you get there? Here are three common ways:

The Writer / Editor Turned Strategist:

Writers and editors are perhaps the most likely to look for a career in content strategy, because they’ve basically been doing the role for years already. Magazine editors are already familiar with the basic principles of auditing (finding out what has been done before), content planning (after all, editorial calendars are a print concept) and creative presentation (hello, visual layout).

What to Master: Most commonly, writers and editors need to know how not only to see the facts and report a story, but also to shape that story with a marketing eye towards what helps move the needle from a brand or business perspective. They’ll need to feel comfortable repackaging and re-formatting the same content to fit different mediums, and using digital-first techniques like search engine optimization that aren’t print focused.

Biggest Struggle: Writers must show that their skill is more than just putting fingers to keyboard, and that they’re not just copy creators, but part and parcel to a company or brand’s overall strategy.

The Developer / User Experience Pro:

Content strategy is a digital-first field where data rules decisions. User paths, journeys and experience are integral to a content strategy that works for your organization, so it’s only natural that some tech pros would take up the mantel of strategist for their organization.

What to Master: Developers are often so focused on how something works that they forget the magic of content strategy is in creating sticky, engaging content. SEO is not just technical in nature, but also reliant on storytelling that brings users back again and again.

Biggest Struggle: Data isn’t always sexy or interesting. Make sure to show senior management exactly how data can impact the bottom line, but still leave room for creativity too. Remember that just because something didn’t work once doesn’t mean that it won’t work again if done differently or with better execution.

The Creative Type:

Content that hooks the user increasingly takes forms beyond the written word—from infographics and slideshows to videos and data visualizations, there are many ways to tell a compelling story. That’s part of the reason that savvy creative professionals turn to content strategy—they don’t just want to tell someone else’s story, they want to help shape the narrative as well.

What to Master: Many creative pros are given a list of requirements and told to create a narrative. The best strategists see content as part of a spectrum that aids a user at all phases of the sales funnel, and can help create content to touch each part of the user journey.

Biggest Struggle: Creative types will also need to be able to present the “why” of the equation to senior management—not just how a story looks enticing to the user, but how it will be backed up with data to drive a return on investment, or ROI.

McLean Robbins is a content strategist, copywriter, digital consultant and instructor of Mediabistro’s Blogging, SEO Writing and Content Marketing classes. Find her at mcleanrobbins.com.

Topics:

Climb the Ladder, Skills & Expertise

Job Search

How to Handle Multiple Job Offers Like a Pro

Advice from a pro on handling this awesome-but-tricky situation

By John Lombard

John Lombard is a content strategist and writer with over a decade of experience creating interactive and video content for brands like Apple, IBM, and Samsung. He previously worked at Mediabistro and now serves as a Client Strategist at Ceros.

4 min read • Originally published March 16, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By John Lombard

John Lombard is a content strategist and writer with over a decade of experience creating interactive and video content for brands like Apple, IBM, and Samsung. He previously worked at Mediabistro and now serves as a Client Strategist at Ceros.

4 min read • Originally published March 16, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

You’ve searched through the job boards. You’ve scored the interviews. You nailed the follow-through. And you did it, in spades: not just one job offer, but two at the same time. That just means you’re doubly-awesome, right? While this is a good problem to have, it takes skill to navigate.

So you can be sure you’re making the best decision while also maintaining a good standing with both companies, we talked with Alex Twersky, career expert, co-founder of Resume Deli and Mediabistro’s own resume and cover letter writer, to help shed some light on this topic for you—the luckiest job-seeker ever who we’re not jealous of at all.

Tackling the Ideal Situation

In a perfect world, you’d be given two job offers around the same time. Here, the first thing you should do—after somehow landing two job offers, you magical beast—is contact the companies and ask for two or three days to make a decision.

Throughout this process, Twersky reminds candidates to be “professional, courteous and sincere” and warns job-seekers against attempting to start a bidding war between the two companies.

Making a Decision

Deciding between two job offers can be a tough call—you job-landing wizard—and in order to make a sound decision, Twersky recommends making a list followed by a good old fashioned gut check.

Create a spreadsheet or just a simple mental checklist, which, as Twersky recommends, includes qualitative factors such as your perception of the company culture at Company A versus Company B.

While salary and benefits are always going to be determining factors in your decision, “choosing between one position and another entails imagining how you will feel on a day-to-day basis occupying one role or the other,” says Twersky.

If your situation is the more common scenario—where you’re offered one job but are holding out for another job offer—then you’re going to need to employ a little more strategy. Read on.

Tackling the Less Ideal—but Still Equally Amazing—Situation

So Company A sent you an offer, but you’re still holding out for an offer from Company B, who you’ve already interviewed with—you samurai of the job search. The first thing Twersky recommends doing is asking yourself if you can feasibly take the risk by holding out for Company B.

If you’re in need of paycheck to pay your rent or mortgage on time, then the smarter move might be to take the offer on the table. But, “if time is on your side, and Company A doesn’t entice you enough to leave your present position, then you can certainly take the risk and wait for Company B,” says Twersky.

Lighting a Little Fire

To aid the process, Twersky suggests you send an email to Company B’s recruiter or HR team asking about their timeline for making a decision, stating that you’d prefer not to entertain any other offers until you understand Company B’s disposition.

By doing so, you’re sending the message that you’re wanted by other companies while also reaffirming that Company B is your top choice.

You can also reach out to HR and let them know that, if offered, you would accept the job without hesitation, says Twersky. And of course, with all your correspondences remember that, “HR is not your best friend so you need to frame things you say or write accordingly,” reminds Twersky.

Removing Yourself from Consideration

When you finally make your decision between offers—you master of the job boards—you should contact the other company right away to remove yourself from consideration, kindly professionally and graciously.

And if you fall into the situation where you’re still holding out for an offer from a second company, consider this:

If you’re not completely enthused by your backup job choice, and you’re financially able to let it go, “then practice good job karma and let it go so it can land on another deserving candidate while you apply your energies to snagging the offer you REALLY want,” says Twersky.

Taking a strategic approach to your job search is known to up your interviews, increase your salary offerings and land you in a job you’ll actually love. If you’re ready to take your job search to the next level, check out Mediabistro’s Career Services, whose experts help transform your resume, cover letter and social profiles into a professional package employers can’t resist.

Topics:

Get Hired, Job Search

Productivity

12 Bad Habits Sabotaging Your Job Search (And How to Break Them)

Not getting the job offers you want? You might be doing something wrong

By Brittany Taylor

Brittany Taylor is an enterprise marketing manager and content strategist with over a decade of experience in B2B content marketing, brand building, and ghostwriting, with bylines in SELF, Teen Vogue, and Mediabistro. She currently leads content and branding across multiple brands at HireQuest Inc.

6 min read • Originally published March 17, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Brittany Taylor

Brittany Taylor is an enterprise marketing manager and content strategist with over a decade of experience in B2B content marketing, brand building, and ghostwriting, with bylines in SELF, Teen Vogue, and Mediabistro. She currently leads content and branding across multiple brands at HireQuest Inc.

6 min read • Originally published March 17, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

Are you committing a job search sin? We talked to human resources executives and recruiters and asked them to be brutally honest about the bad habits job searchers can pick up. Here’s what they want you to stop doing before they get you booted from an applicant pool.

1. Opting for Speed Over Details

With some jobs garnering application counts in the hundreds after 24 hours online, we totally understand why you want to be on the top of the pile. But that doesn’t mean you should hit submit before a proofreading round—or three.

“Most jobs require attention to detail—especially in the media industry where a main aspect of the job is effective communication,” says Michele Mavi, director of content development, internal recruiting and training at Atrium Staffing.

“Unfortunately, grammatical errors or typos shine a light on the fact that attention to detail may not be your strong suit. Always print your resume to proof it and have at least two other people proof it for you as well.”

2. Listing Responsibilities Rather than Demonstrating Success

Success starts at the top of your resume, Mavi says. “Our immediate instinct when populating our job description in bullet point format is to provide a litany of ‘responsible for’s.”

The scope of your responsibilities is important, but your achievements are what recruiters want to know about. Pair these with active verbs to stand out. “Rather than ‘managed a team to achieve,’” Mavi says, “perhaps you use ‘motivated a team to achieve.’”

3. Expressing Boredom During an Interview (Even If It’s an Accident)

There are some things you can’t help. Your body language is not one of those things, says career coach Ronald Kaufman. “To indicate that you’re on the same wavelength” as your interviewer, match their posture, gesture, rate of speech and volume, he advises.

“If they use certain buzz words, use them too. If they’re looking for a dynamic, detail oriented, team player, relate back to them, ‘I feel I’m qualified because I am a dynamic, detail oriented, team player.’ Talk their talk.”

4. Rehashing Your Resume in Your Cover Letter

Cover letters are tricky to write; a good one isn’t just a regurgitation of your resume. “It’s meant for you to share information that a hiring manager can’t get from your resume alone,” Mavi says. “The cover letter is your opportunity to demonstrate a personal connection between yourself and the organization in a way that resonates with the reader.”

5. Wasting Resume Space on Weak Points

Kelly Poulson, vice president of talent and operations at Allen & Gerritsen, chides applicants who waste valuable resume real estate on obvious things, like “references available upon request.” Including “lame non-differentiators,” she says, is “a big missed opportunity.”

Don’t waste space on these empty phrases at the expense of big stuff recruiters want to know about, like “your volunteer experience that shows your range in terms of skill-sets that might make you more attractive to an employer.”

6. Sending out Form Resumes and Cover Letters

Customization is key! Our hiring experts continue to see cookie-cutter resumes and bland cover letters. “Using specific language from the job posting will help ensure your resume comes up in search results as a ‘match’ in the applicant tracking system used to manage the responses,” Mavi advises.

To tailor your resume to each job, “create an inventory for each job that you’ve had,” says Kaufman. “Then pull those things from your inventory that are relevant to this particular job, at this particular company, in their particular industry.”

7. Not Taking the Social Advantage

“I don’t want to be a downer and say that resumes go into a black hole,” Poulson says, “but what candidates don’t realize is the sheer volume of applicants that each posting can bring in.”

To jump ahead of other candidates who are sitting back and letting overwhelmed recruiters weed through the pile, Poulson urges you to log onto social media and reach out directly to hiring managers. “Show them that you are willing to go the extra mile to work with their organization,” she says.

8. Ignoring the Networking Big Picture

Networking isn’t about working the room. “Effective networking is focusing on what you can do for others, instead of what they can do for you,” Kaufman tells us. “Networking is about creating mutually supportive relationships.

Constantly look for ways to support others in succeeding, whether it’s a referral or introduction, providing useful information or being a sounding board for their ideas, be a source for success.”

9. Missing out on Non-Traditional Networking Opportunities

And networking isn’t just a thing you do at meetups and conferences. Mavi’s favorite tip for job seekers is to look out for networking opportunities wherever they are, whether it’s in line at a coffee shop, waiting for a table at a restaurant or standing at a bus stop.

“You must be open to people, their stories and what can happen when people are disarmed by a simple ‘Hello’ or ‘Excuse me, I’ve seen so many people reading that exact book today, would you recommend it?’” Mavi shares. “You never know who you’ll meet that way. I ended up with a husband because I asked him about his iPhone seven years ago. Trust me, you have more to lose by not being open!”

10. Zipping Those Lips

Asking questions during job interviews isn’t just important, it’s essential. Poulson can’t believe how big of a problem this still is for job seekers. “Even if you feel like the person you’re meeting with has covered everything you might possibly want to know about the job or organization, get creative,” she urges.

“Ask them about why they chose to work there or why they do what they do. Make it evident that you have an interest beyond yourself and this particular role.”

11. Making It All About You

When you go on and on about you in your cover letter, what the hiring manager hears is, “’Hire me for me because it’s what I want.’ The letter should express why the company will benefit from bringing you on board,” Mavi says.

“Try expressing your interest by saying, ‘I’d love to help company X carry out its mission of offering quality healthcare at affordable prices and believe I can create cost-effective marketing plans that will drive revenue.’ It’s even better if you add, ‘In fact, I have three strategies I’d love to discuss,’” she says, which shows that you’re already thinking about how you can add value to the company.

12. Forgetting the Thank-You

Thank-you notes or emails—both are acceptable!—remain on the list of must-dos. But to be memorable, Poulson wants you to go above and beyond by referencing the conversation you had with your interviewer. She still remembers one candidate she talked to last year.

“I mentioned that I want to see a great white shark in the wild,” she says. “Her thank you note was a design of me and a shark. Brilliant move. I had totally forgotten about the conversation but it meant a lot that she went out of her way to do something special. She went above and beyond in the thank you which means she’ll more than likely do the same on the job. She’s been working with us ever since.

Topics:

Be Inspired, Productivity

Job Search

Refresh Your Job Search and Get Hired This Spring

Snap out of hibernation and get applying with these tips

By John Lombard

John Lombard is a content strategist and writer with over a decade of experience creating interactive and video content for brands like Apple, IBM, and Samsung. He previously worked at Mediabistro and now serves as a Client Strategist at Ceros.

4 min read • Originally published March 21, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By John Lombard

John Lombard is a content strategist and writer with over a decade of experience creating interactive and video content for brands like Apple, IBM, and Samsung. He previously worked at Mediabistro and now serves as a Client Strategist at Ceros.

4 min read • Originally published March 21, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

With spring finally here and the gloom of winter behind us, there’s a sense of new beginnings in the air. And with that comes the possibility of a new job to propel your career forward.

As Alex Twersky, career expert and Mediabistro’s own resume and cover letter writer, puts it, “When the weather starts to warm up, both employers and job seekers shake off the winter blues and the job market starts to come out of hibernation.”

So, to help you break out of the winter slump and into a productive job hunt, here are three steps to get you defrosted and back in the game.

1. Reflect on Your Process

Now’s a great time to look back at which resumes and cover letters hailed a reply from a hiring manager, and which ones disappeared into the great unknown. “Paraphrasing a wise philosopher,” says Twersky, “we should remember the past lest we repeat its mistakes.”

If you’ve been keeping a list of your job search—which, hey, you should do—mark all the jobs you didn’t hear back from. If you still have the resumes and covers for those positions, take a look and see if you can spot why a hiring manager may have passed.

Repeat this process with the companies that you did hear back from to see what you did there to grab their eye.

This is a great way to do a quick self-assessment, and you might actually glean some valuable information for moving forward in your search.

2. Purge and Update the Resumes

Now that you’ve assessed your old resumes and cover letters, it’s time to toss them.

Get rid of the outdated resumes that clutter your desktop, keeping only your most up-to-date ones. And if it’s been awhile since you’ve updated your resume, remember it only needs to cover the past 10 to 15 years, Twersky says.

If you think your resume might be the thing that’s been holding back your job search, well, now’s the time to do something about it. Either take some serious time to really make your resume stand out, or hire a pro to get some expert help.

And if you’re not already using Google Docs to manage your resumes, consider giving it a shot. With all your application materials stored on the Cloud, you’ll still be able to access all your latest resumes and apply for a job even when you’re not at your home computer.

3. Get Interview Ready

If a company called you for an interview tomorrow, would you be ready? Many times, a job-seeker who hasn’t had a lot of bites might get a little too comfortable in their job search, and not actually be prepared for the most important part—the interview.

There is some truth to the cliché “clothes make the person,” Twersky says. “When we look the part, whether it’s a smart wardrobe that fits our perception of the corporate culture where we are interviewing, or a sharp haircut or suitably applied makeup,” he says, “having a positive self-image, which should be aided by your aesthetics though not entirely defined by them, is a proven confidence-booster.”

Of course, it’s also important to remember that, in an interview, “style will rarely trump substance,” says Twersky.

To make sure you’re interview ready, go over this checklist and make sure everything’s good to go, so in case you do get a call today, you’ll be ready to crush the interview tomorrow:

Check that your LinkedIn page and your personal site (if applicable) are updated and ready to be chatted up in an interview.
Make sure your printer is ready to kick out your resume at a moment’s notice. This means checking that your ink cartridge is good to go.
Iron your interview outfit and have it ready. Think of it like your superhero outfit, waiting to be thrown on at the last second.
Any personal primping, like getting a fresh haircut, should happen now.
Consider a mock interview with a friend or professional to mentally prepare your for the tough questions and to help you stand out.

Looking to add a little spring to your job search? Check out Mediabistro’s Career Services and Free Personalized Resume Evaluation.

Topics:

Get Hired, Job Search

Skills & Expertise

What Every Media Professional Needs to Know About SEO

Smart use of keywords, some professional help and constant vigilance are required

By McLean Robbins

McLean Robbins is a luxury travel editor, marketing leader, and adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University with two decades of bylines in Forbes Travel Guide, Robb Report, and Washingtonian. She is the founder of Lily Pond Luxury, a Condé Nast Top Travel Specialist agency, and previously served as VP of Marketing at MBO Partners.

3 min read • Originally published March 21, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By McLean Robbins

McLean Robbins is a luxury travel editor, marketing leader, and adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University with two decades of bylines in Forbes Travel Guide, Robb Report, and Washingtonian. She is the founder of Lily Pond Luxury, a Condé Nast Top Travel Specialist agency, and previously served as VP of Marketing at MBO Partners.

3 min read • Originally published March 21, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

Nearly every media professional today touches digital in some aspect of their job. And that means every media professional needs to have some knowledge of Search Engine Optimization, or SEO.

Depending on your job duties, you may not need a hands-on understanding of technical SEO—the way your website is set up to allow search engines to crawl and easily index your website.

But you certainly need to understand how to optimize your on-page content so search engines will find it and display it prominently, and how it can help you both in your job and to improve the performance of your organization, client and your own personal brand.

Keywords Are Old School

If you have some previous SEO experience, you probably know it has—or once had—something to do with keywords. That’s still (sort of) true. Optimization, or preparing a digital asset for its “optimal” placement online, is about creating quality content that resonates not just around a specific keyword, but multiple terms within a given theme.

What does this mean for you? Actual application of this is nuanced, but if you see on-page copy with clunky “search terms” pushed unnaturally throughout, you’ll want to make an immediate fix—usually by re-writing the copy to make it more user friendly.

Look at the Technical, or Hire Someone to Do So

Media professionals aren’t expected to be tech experts—but they should know, as with anything else, when to bring in the pros.

There are many technical factors that can cause SEO efforts to go awry, and a few simple fixes—including slow site speed (try Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool) and issues within Google Search Console (the no-charge web service for webmasters that will send notifications when errors occur).

But trust your gut. If you think there’s a serious issue, bring it to a tech pro, stat. Not every web pro can handle SEO either—nearly every agency purports to offer “SEO” as a service, but you’ll want to do some detailed evaluations to find out if it’s actually a core competency.

There’s No Such Thing As “Set It and Forget It” in SEO

Ongoing content creation and optimization, social amplification and link building are daily efforts. You can’t just hire an agency or individual to “do the SEO” for your website and consider yourself done.

If your budget doesn’t permit a full time SEO professional, dedicate someone on your team (or yourself, if you’re self-employed) to continue updating your brand’s content, driving to obtain press from well-qualified third parties and continuing to ensure that your site looks and functions with best digital practices.

SEO is a field where it’s better to do some small things well if you don’t have the time and budget to do all, instead of doing nothing at all.

SEO Skills Are No Longer a “Nice to Have”

Whether you’re a freelancer or a digital media pro, SEO is no longer something best left to others. You’ll need at least a foundational expertise to succeed in any media job today. Consider taking specific SEO classes or just beefing up your experience by visiting top blogs—try adding Google’s Official Blog, Search Engine Land and Moz to your weekly reading.

Instructor McLean Robbins is a content strategist, copywriter and digital consultant. Find her at mcleanrobbins.com.

Want to learn more? Try McLean’s SEO Writing, a two-session on-demand course that covers the basics.

Topics:

Climb the Ladder, Skills & Expertise

Interviews

Nail These 4 Common Interview Questions to Land the Job

Tackle these interview favorites without sounding corny, cagey or canned

By Joel Schwartzberg

Joel Schwartzberg is a workplace communications coach, speechwriter, and bestselling author whose books include "Get to the Point!" and "The Language of Leadership," with articles published in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Newsweek. He brings over two decades of senior communications and editorial leadership experience at organizations including the ASPCA, PBS, and Time Inc.

6 min read • Originally published March 21, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Joel Schwartzberg

Joel Schwartzberg is a workplace communications coach, speechwriter, and bestselling author whose books include "Get to the Point!" and "The Language of Leadership," with articles published in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Newsweek. He brings over two decades of senior communications and editorial leadership experience at organizations including the ASPCA, PBS, and Time Inc.

6 min read • Originally published March 21, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

When you’re interviewing for a job, there’s often a thin line between saying too much and too little, which can be the difference between making a strong impression and making a wrong impression. The good news is that many interviewers rely on the same questions, which can be used to your advantage… if you know how to answer them.

Below, job experts offer tips for tackling four of the most common interview questions without coming off corny, cagey or canned.

1. “What’s the Biggest Challenge You Faced and How Did You Overcome It?”

With this question, hiring managers are “looking to see if you can persevere in the face of adversity,” says Suki Shah, CEO at GetHired.com. Shah’s advice is to “describe a specific instance in your career when you were forced to change your original plan of action but were still able to achieve success.”

Stick to projects, not people, says Roshini Rajkumar, a communication coach and author of Communicate That!. “Steer clear of responding with personnel issues or personality conflicts with previous bosses or co-workers,” she advises. (In other words, keep the story of that tyrant boss and uncooperative tech team to yourself.)

One potential mistake is spending too much time on the challenge instead of the solution. Keep your description of the obstacle tight and focused, but elaborate on how you overcame it.

And there may be more to that solution than you think. Ronald Katz, author and president of Penguin HR Consulting, says it’s also important to explain “how the success benefited the department or organization.” Shah suggests you explain “what you learned from the experience, and how this helped you to predict other challenges in your career.”

2. “What’s Your Biggest Weakness?”

You know this one is coming, but may not know exactly why. Career coach Dorothy Tannahill Moran says the interviewer’s goal is not so much to discover a true weakness as it is to understand “if you have self-awareness and can take positive action to solve your own issues.”

So, do you go with the old standby of “perfectionism”? Melanie Benwell, managing director of Canadian recruitment firm PathWorks Personnel, says no. “Don’t try to use a cliché like your weakness is that you’re a workaholic. No one will believe that answer.”

Some believe this approach really just circumvents the question: “I’m a hard worker, but sometimes I work too hard.” But communication expert Lisa Marshall, author of The Public Speaker’s Guide To Ace Your Interview, says you can’t have it both ways. “Do not express a weakness that is also a strength—that will just communicate your inability to identify areas of growth.”

So what do you say? Katz says honesty is still the best policy. “Honestly tell the interviewer what it is that you don’t do best. No one can do everything perfectly.”

“Tell them how you compensate for this, how you minimize the impact of this weakness, and how you have successfully overcome this gap in your skill set,” he continues. For example, someone fessing up to being disorganized should explain how he compensates with to-do lists and calendars.

One caution: Don’t let your improvements depart too far from reality. “Any good interviewer will check your references,” says Benwell. “If your answers don’t match what they hear, you’re almost certain to lose the chance for the job.”

Marshall recommends staying away from personal weaknesses altogether. “Instead, choose a technical or background experience weakness, since this is viewed as repairable,” she says. She points out that these new skills and experiences are often reasons people seek new jobs in the first place.

3. “Tell Me About Yourself”

Your interviewer doesn’t care that you collect vintage tissue boxes, but he or she also doesn’t want a recitation of your resume either. Instead, Shah advises preparing a 60-second “elevator pitch” that highlights “some of the more interesting experiences that you’ve had that make you a great fit for the open position but that may not be as easy to glean from a quick perusal of your resume alone.”

Leadership and workplace coach Darcy Eikenberg, author of Bring Your Superpowers to Work says, “This isn’t an invitation for a life history; it’s a shortcut to share your career snapshot. Have two or three lines about your relevant work history ready to share.” Eikenberg’s example:

“After graduating from Northwestern with my journalism degree, I grew my experience writing for an advertising trade magazine and then becoming an editor there. For the last five years, I’ve been freelancing for several publications around the country, including yours, and when I saw that you were looking to add permanent staff, I was very interested in exploring the opportunity further.”

Diana Booher, CEO and founder of Booher Consultants and author of Communicate with Confidence, suggests candidates offer to answer the question both personally and professionally. “Give a brief summary statement or two about your personal life (hobbies, character traits, family) then provide a couple of statements about your professional life in this order: What was your goal when you started your career, what was your plan to get there and where are you on the journey now?”

Workplace communications expert and author of Surviving Dreaded Conversations, Donna Flagg advises thinking about the question like you would a product you’re trying to sell. “Talk about what makes you unique, productive and valuable,” she explains. “Share what you like about work and also what really gets you jazzed.”

Veteran recruiter and author Abby Kohut agrees that the interviewer wants a professional history, not a personal life story. “Think of this question as ‘Tell me the highlights of your work history.'” Her suggested recipe: “A 30-second background synopsis, which includes an accomplishment at the end.”

4. “Why Are You the One For This Job?”

Employers and hiring managers are looking for specific answers here, not “because I’m a rock star!” So give them what they want. “The key,” says Katz, “is to avoid generic answers such as ‘I’m a hard worker.'”

Realize also that you’re the right one for this specific position, not just any job. So, make sure to connect your answer to the organization and its mission. “Talk about not only what you bring, but what you could add as well,” says Flagg.

Preparation is key for all of these questions, but this one in particular. Nancy Range Anderson, president of Blackbird Learning Associates and author of Job Search for Moms, advises drawing two columns on a piece of paper.

“In the first column, write down the job wording and job responsibilities of the open position. In the second column, write out your accomplishments as they relate to these words and phrases,” she says. “This will help you better understand your strengths, weaknesses, challenges, job fit and be better prepared to respond to these types of questions.”

You’ll get more interview questions than these four, of course, and no single answer will inspire your hiring manager to suddenly stand up and say, “You’re hired!”. But with these insights and tips, you can possibly stay one good answer ahead of your competition, and one step closer to not only getting the job you want, but the one that wants you.

Find your next job on Mediabistro’s job board, where top companies are hiring top talent right now.

Topics:

Get Hired, Interview Tips

Skills & Expertise

25 Content Marketing Terms That Make You Sound Like a Pro

Before you can walk the walk, you’ve gotta be able to talk the talk

By McLean Robbins

McLean Robbins is a luxury travel editor, marketing leader, and adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University with two decades of bylines in Forbes Travel Guide, Robb Report, and Washingtonian. She is the founder of Lily Pond Luxury, a Condé Nast Top Travel Specialist agency, and previously served as VP of Marketing at MBO Partners.

6 min read • Originally published March 21, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By McLean Robbins

McLean Robbins is a luxury travel editor, marketing leader, and adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University with two decades of bylines in Forbes Travel Guide, Robb Report, and Washingtonian. She is the founder of Lily Pond Luxury, a Condé Nast Top Travel Specialist agency, and previously served as VP of Marketing at MBO Partners.

6 min read • Originally published March 21, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

Alright, so you already know about content marketing, and how it’s key to how companies and brands are telling their story, and finding new customers. You may even be looking for content marketing jobs. But do you know the all the terminology in the content marketer’s vocabulary?

These 25 content marketing terms aren’t just buzzy phrases. Read on for terms that directly correlate to content marketing success—and that belong in any modern marketing or media professional’s lexicon.

1. A/B Testing

A metrics-based evaluation, usually used to compare multiple versions of a web page or piece of content. A number of variables may be tested, including the headline, content format, layout or even the emojis in the subject line.

2. Above the Fold

Content that can be seen without scrolling down the page. This term originates from print, and describes content that was physically “above the fold” of a newspaper. Today, it refers to the top parts of a site that are most likely to catch a user’s eye.

3. Affiliate Marketing

A revenue model in which site A’s owners place ads on their site directing users to site B. Site A makes money when users click on the links and/or purchase the products. This is a common method of income generation for digital influencers (see below).

4. Aggregated (or Curated) Content

Selected content that has been sourced from other channels and put into a single site or news stream. Aggregated content is best achieved through manual curation, and authors must clearly disclose the original source of the content.

5. Black Hat

The opposite of “white hat,” this refers to individuals or firms that uses spammy or unethical techniques to try to “game” the system. Using techniques that aren’t best practice can lead to diminished search returns, penalties from search engines or even blacklisting.

6. Brand Evangelist

Individuals who have a strong positive feeling about a brand. Often brand evangelists become coveted partners of a brand and, depending on reach, may aid as influencers (there’s that word again; see it defined below) to distribute content or marketing messages in exchange for money or services.

7. Branded Content

Much like advertorials, this is content written by a brand in the style of editorial magazine or journalistic content. The content may or may not contain an overt sales push.

8. COPE

An acronym for “Create Once, Publish Everywhere,” the cornerstone of content marketing. This can also sometimes be called “atomization.” For example, one might take an e-book and break it down into a white paper, several blog posts, an infographic and a video, publishing each to different users along the content funnel and on different channels.

9. Click Bait

Catchy, often viral content that is used to capture clicks, but often has little to no journalistic value. Frequently, users who click in are disappointed by “this one surprising trick” or what you’ll “never believe” happened.

10. Content Strategy

The process of planning for and managing content creation and distribution. Content strategy is the core of content marketing.

11. Contextual Advertising

A technique used in which advertising on a given page is “in context with” other content on that page. Contextual ads feature improved click-through rates and better overall sales numbers.

12. Data Mining

Analyzing a database for purposes of extracting data about a user or users that can inform behavior. Once you understand your user base, you can use this data to create better marketing campaigns, to target specific users and behaviors and more.

13. Dynamic Content

Content that is unique to the user or group of users visiting a website. Users who visit a site regularly may see content tailored to their local area, shopping history or declared interests.

14. Earned Media

Publicity gained without paid advertising. This can be content from great posts on social media, content from journalists or editors and more. This is a core goal of content marketing—to attract qualified users via content rather than paid media.

15. Heat Map

A useful tool that can show how users interact with a page, either by showing where their eyes or their mouse travels around a website. By understanding how users engage with your website—do they like your homepage, are they ignoring your navigation—you can create better-targeted content and placement to help optimize experiences.

16. Influencer

A high-profile individual or brands in a certain space. Often, influencers have blogs or brands that align with your goals and can be used to leverage sales, commentary or visibility, thus helping to boost sales, visibility and brand recognition. Coverage by Influencers is often trusted more than regular advertisements, and can lead to higher-than-normal rates of return.

17. Lead Scoring

A marketing principle, often used in marketing automation, to assess and rank new leads and determine the likelihood that they will buy a product or service. The higher and more qualified the lead, the more likely they are to buy a product or service. Often, lead scoring combines actions completed online, such as reading a certain number of articles and blog posts on a website.

18. Marketing Automation

Tools and software that automate many marketing tasks for execution and measurement. Today’s content creators can now use these tools to directly measure the effectiveness of their content marketing campaigns, rather than simply going on “gut feel” or soft metrics like impressions.

19. Need Profiling

A gathering of customer requirements, often used by marketers who want to understand what a client hopes to gain from a project or campaign. By better understanding your customer base, you can create content that speaks more directly to your audience. You’ll not only lower costs in both labor and time, but also improve the user’s experience with the brand.

20. Newsjacking

Creating content that relates your brand and current events to drive traffic to your website or blog. Timely, relevant content not only addresses your audience’s needs, but also creates a reason for people to visit your brand now, not at some to-be-determined time in the future. Search engines also value fresh, relevant content, and may rank sites with new content more favorably.

21. Omnichannel

A rising marketing technique that puts the user in the center of many ongoing and separate yet related marketing efforts. For example, a store-goer may receive a text message alert when they are near a store, prompting a coupon or discount, receive a social media ad that they may still be interested in product X, and also receive added marketing via email and other channels.

22. Remarketing / Retargeting

An advertising strategy that allows targeted advertisements to “follow” a user and display on other online outlets after a user has visited your website. This added visibility can encourage a user to make a purchase or complete an action, thanks to ads helping your company remain top of mind.

23. Schema

A shared data markup language that makes content more accessible to search engines. When Schema is used properly, content can appear directly on top of normal search results, such as showing directions, a definition, movie times or a recipe, thus presenting users exactly the content they are looking for, when they need it most. (For more information, see Schema.org.)

24. Taxonomy

The grouping and classification of content into a hierarchy. Organizing content online is a key benefit for both search engines and users who want the best, most relevant information presented easily and effectively in a simple, single location.

25. User-Generated Content

Content contributed from individuals not paid or affiliated with a brand. Content created by users is often thought of as less biased than that created by brands, and can also help brands understand the real truth about how people use their products and services. Because UGC is not paid, it is also an economical way to build brand buzz.

McLean Robbins is a content strategist, copywriter, digital consultant and instructor of Mediabistro’s Blogging, SEO Writing and Skills in 60: Content Marketing online courses. Find her at mcleanrobbins.com.

Topics:

Climb the Ladder, Skills & Expertise

Job Search

Should You Apply to a Company That’s Getting Bad Press?

A company’s bad press can be good news for your prospects

By Katie Hottinger

@katiehottinger

Katie Hottinger is a content strategist and UX designer with over 15 years of editorial experience across brands including JPMorgan Chase, Google, Condé Nast Traveler, and Mediabistro. She specializes in digital content strategy and multi-platform editorial execution.

4 min read • Originally published March 22, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Katie Hottinger

@katiehottinger

Katie Hottinger is a content strategist and UX designer with over 15 years of editorial experience across brands including JPMorgan Chase, Google, Condé Nast Traveler, and Mediabistro. She specializes in digital content strategy and multi-platform editorial execution.

4 min read • Originally published March 22, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

When you’re in a job search, or even when you’re just keeping on top of industry news, you’re bound to stumble on them: Companies that are experiencing bad publicity.

Bad publicity can have obvious, well, bad effects on a company. Customers and investors can lose confidence in the company and its brand, and prospective employees can see it in a negative light, too.

A study at Cornell University School of Industrial Labor Relations found that job seekers exposed to bad news about a prospective employer were much less attracted to it than those who only heard neutral information. Additionally, job seekers who heard negative information about a company were less likely to apply for jobs there.

A Bad-News, Good-News Situation

What this means for you, an opportunity-seeking job searcher, is if you do apply to a company going through a bit of a rough patch, you could be competing with a smaller-than-usual group of fellow applicants.

The upshot: Looking for a new job at a company that’s having a spot of bad press can be a smart job strategy. You can use the shortage of applicants to your advantage, do your research into what the bad news means for the company, and develop talking points about how you can help the company going forward.

Do Your Research

Of course, doing your research on an employer is an essential part of preparing for an interview. But when a company is undergoing distress because of some bad news, you’ve got to be more diligent than usual.

Become friends with Google News, and use it to search recent coverage on the company. Make sure you have a firm grasp on what news has been reported, who the players are and what is involved. Pay close attention to what the company itself says about what’s going on.

Look for the Silver Lining

There’s an old saying that in Chinese, the word “crisis” also means “opportunity.”

That’s now been refuted, but there is something to the notion that how a company handles bad news is ultimately more important that the bad news itself.

Do your research to learn what the company is doing not just to put this situation behind it, but to learn from it. After all, you are applying to work at the company that will emerge after this setback, not the one that created it.

Below are a few employers on our job board that, while having had a recent brush with bad news, are still amazing companies, and are hiring now.

1. JWT

The Bad News: An employee files a discrimination suit against the advertising agency’s then-CEO Gustavo Martinez, claiming he made jokes about raping female colleagues and mocking minorities.

The Good News: Martinez resigns, and parent company WPP Group’s chief client team officer Tamara Ingram, already one of the highest-level women in advertising, assumes the role of CEO. Some observers think more whistleblowers may be inspired to come forward as a result of the suite.

The Openings

Account Director
Media Partnerships Manager
Senior Art Director
Senior Planner
Social Community Manager

2. Bonnier Corporation

The Bad News: The Swedish publishing conglomerate, publisher of Saveur and Working Mother, among others, falls victim to e-mail spoofing when hackers breached the outgoing CEO’s email and sent instructions to accounts payable to make two fraudulent wire transfers in the amount of $1.5 million each.

The Good News: The company was able to stop and reverse the second transfer. Internal investigations found there was no evidence of embezzlement by an insider, or theft of employees’ personal information.

The Openings

Senior Events Programmer
Sales and Marketing Coordinator

3. Meredith Corporation

The Bad News: Meredith Corporation, the publishing company behind such publications as Parents and Martha Stewart Living, closes More magazine after 19 years of publication, saying it has decided to cease publication in order to “invest and align its resources against more profitable activities.”

The Good News: Investors gain confidence in the public company.

The Openings

Account Executive
Centralcast Operator
Copy Editor
Digital Business Analyst
Research Manager – Brand Strategy

4. Wenner Media

The Bad News: Rolling Stone magazine, the crown jewel of Wenner Media, publishes “A Rape on Campus,” a story about the gang rape of a University of Virginia student at a fraternity. The story turns out to be fabricated.

The Good News (Sort Of): Rolling Stone ask the Columbia School of Journalism to investigate what went wrong in the writing and editing of the story, and retracts the story; the responsible editor resigns. But the saga continues as the fraternity sues the magazine for $25 million.

The Opening

Audience Development Coordinator

Topics:

Get Hired, Hot Jobs

Networking

8 Powerful LinkedIn Strategies You’re Probably Not Using

A few good habits to make it far more valuable

By David Berkowitz

4 min read • Originally published March 23, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By David Berkowitz

4 min read • Originally published March 23, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

For professional utility, spending a few minutes a day on LinkedIn can bolster networking relationships, attract talent to your organization and support both your employer’s brand and your own.

Here are eight ways I’ve found to get value out of LinkedIn without eating up too much of your time:

1. Keep Your Profile Current

Once or twice a year, review your LinkedIn profile to check that it’s up to date, especially with your basic contact information and links to other websites or your Twitter handle. That’s also a good time to add more details about what you’ve done lately at your current or most recent job.

2. Add Projects to Your Profile

Perhaps there’s a campaign you worked on, whose credits already appear publicly in an outlet such as Adweek, or maybe you’ve collaborated on a research report or a corporate social responsibility program.

Add these to the underutilized Projects field on your profile and tag others who contributed. Given that this is public and part of your own profile, make sure it’s work that you were directly involved with and not just something your company did.

3. Mention Colleagues and Peers

LinkedIn is a great place to be altruistic. You can tag people you know or work with to congratulate them on a new job, applaud some good news from their company or share an article where they are mentioned.

Unlike Facebook, where people often don’t post anything unless they think many friends will like it, on LinkedIn, you can publicly acknowledge a friend in a professional setting that will mean something to them, even if it doesn’t get much engagement. LinkedIn is often best for one-to-one marketing.

4. Publish Thought Leadership

If you want to publish longer-form stories, LinkedIn is a useful way to workshop ideas. LinkedIn signals when connections publish posts via notifications, so active users of LinkedIn who have hundreds of (real) connections will find an audience.

While such articles are unlikely to generate massive readership, readers seem more likely to comment there than they do in other outlets, and it’s a way to stay top of mind with connections.

5. Dabble in Groups

Few people have time to participate in many groups. It’s tough to solve the Goldilocks program; groups tend to be so active that they’re overwhelming or so inactive that they’re useless.

If you haven’t joined a group on LinkedIn or haven’t participated in one this year, browse some friends’ profiles to see what groups they’re in and join one that looks promising. You can always remove yourself from the group, or simply stay in the group and unsubscribe from updates so that you can revisit it another time.

6. Scan Updates

LinkedIn’s home screen is an odd beast. On its website, most of the updates are recent posts your contacts liked. On the mobile app, it’s mostly stories your connections share, or updates about them. That makes the mobile app a far more useful way to stay in touch with and support your contacts.

7. Download the App

If you stick with one LinkedIn activity, a useful habit is checking to see which contacts have changed jobs. The LinkedIn app makes it easy to see on the fly who has a new gig, a work anniversary or a birthday.

With a tap, you can “like” a career update or congratulate someone, with the option of making the message a little more personal. For those who prefer using the LinkedIn website, go to “Ways to Keep in Touch” on the homepage.

8. Connect With People You Actually Know

LinkedIn is so much more useful when the people you see coming up in your feed are people you’ve had a relationship with in some way. Once adding a connection, pop their email addresses into your contact database of choice and add a note about how you know them. Those little notes can come in handy years or even decades later.

LinkedIn is an ideal place to practice selfish altruism; what benefits your network often benefits yourself. Spending a few minutes daily or even weekly there can strengthen ties with who you know and lead to meaningful conversations with those you don’t. Even all those kids on Snapchat may come to appreciate that as they further their careers.

David Berkowitz (@dberkowitz) is CMO of agency MRY. You can, of course, find him on LinkedIn.

This story first appeared in Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Topics:

Climb the Ladder, Networking

Job Search

The Weekend Job Search: How to Make Real Progress in Two Days

Assignment #1: Out With the Old

By John Lombard

John Lombard is a content strategist and writer with over a decade of experience creating interactive and video content for brands like Apple, IBM, and Samsung. He previously worked at Mediabistro and now serves as a Client Strategist at Ceros.

3 min read • Originally published March 24, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By John Lombard

John Lombard is a content strategist and writer with over a decade of experience creating interactive and video content for brands like Apple, IBM, and Samsung. He previously worked at Mediabistro and now serves as a Client Strategist at Ceros.

3 min read • Originally published March 24, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

A job search can be overwhelming. Between resumes and cover letters to write, social channels and networking opportunities to manage, interviews to schedule and prep for—the whole endeavor can seem so time consuming, you’d be forgiven if you put it all off and stayed at your current, less-than-ideal gig longer than you should.

That’s why we’re kicking off The Weekend Job Search, our brand new series that breaks the whole process into simple steps. With our 13 totally doable to-do items, you’ll fast-track your job search and transform yourself into an in-demand candidate, all during your Saturday-and-Sunday downtime.

Why the weekend? With no distractions from the work week (or week of job-searching), you’re free to invest in yourself and your career. So over the next couple of days, grab a cup of coffee—or whatever it is you drink on weekend mornings—and let’s get started.

The #WeekendJobSearch Assignment #1

Spring Clean Your Documents

That’s right, it’s time for an out with the old, in with the new.

It’s probably safe to assume your computer desktop is a mosaic of cover letters, resumes and work samples. Or maybe your desktop is clean but you’ve got unorganized job-search materials in your hard-drive or Google Drive.

Whatever the case, now’s the time to purge so you can have a fresh start (and so you don’t accidentally send the wrong cover letter or resume!). Let’s get started:

1. Trash Those Old Resumes and Cover Letters. Take some time to carefully go through all those resumes and cover letters from previous job applications, deleting the ones you know you just don’t need anymore.

2. File Away Your Successes. If you have a cover letter that you believe helped to land you an interview, put that one aside in a folder named “Winning Covers.” Do the same with resumes if you want.

The idea here is simple: Take a look at what was successful in the past to hone in on what will help you move forward.

3. Clear the Rest of the Digital Clutter. Maybe you’re a notorious bookmarker and save a bunch of jobs you’ve been meaning to apply to. Go through those right now: If you already applied or realized it’s not the job for you, remove the bookmark.

Repeat this process for any other area where you’re holding onto job hunting-related items you don’t really need. Set yourself up for a fresh start, with no clutter to overwhelm the job search.

4. Trash Real-Life Clutter, Too. Maybe you’ve got that pile of resumes you took to your last job interview taking up space on your desk. These won’t be the same resume you take to your next interview (since you want to tailor your resume to the prospective job), so get rid of these.

And that’s week 1!

Simple, right? Now you can get back to your Saturday or Sunday knowing you actually did something productive towards your job search. And who knows? Maybe this clean slate will motivate you to put in a couple applications today.

This week was all about starting easy, clearing away the clutter and setting a foundation for success. Next week, we’ll be talking about developing a job-search plan to keep your search targeted and tracked.

See you then, enjoy the weekend and keep an eye out for next week’s The Weekend Job Search!

Topics:

Get Hired, Job Search

The Writer / Editor Turned Strategist:

The Developer / User Experience Pro:

The Creative Type:

Tackling the Ideal Situation

Making a Decision

Tackling the Less Ideal—but Still Equally Amazing—Situation

Lighting a Little Fire

Removing Yourself from Consideration

1. Opting for Speed Over Details

2. Listing Responsibilities Rather than Demonstrating Success

3. Expressing Boredom During an Interview (Even If It’s an Accident)

4. Rehashing Your Resume in Your Cover Letter

5. Wasting Resume Space on Weak Points

6. Sending out Form Resumes and Cover Letters

7. Not Taking the Social Advantage

8. Ignoring the Networking Big Picture

9. Missing out on Non-Traditional Networking Opportunities

10. Zipping Those Lips

11. Making It All About You

12. Forgetting the Thank-You

1. Reflect on Your Process

2. Purge and Update the Resumes

3. Get Interview Ready

Keywords Are Old School

Look at the Technical, or Hire Someone to Do So

There’s No Such Thing As “Set It and Forget It” in SEO

SEO Skills Are No Longer a “Nice to Have”

1. “What’s the Biggest Challenge You Faced and How Did You Overcome It?”

2. “What’s Your Biggest Weakness?”

3. “Tell Me About Yourself”

4. “Why Are You the One For This Job?”

1. A/B Testing

2. Above the Fold

3. Affiliate Marketing

4. Aggregated (or Curated) Content

5. Black Hat

6. Brand Evangelist

7. Branded Content

8. COPE

9. Click Bait

10. Content Strategy

11. Contextual Advertising

12. Data Mining

13. Dynamic Content

14. Earned Media

15. Heat Map

16. Influencer

17. Lead Scoring

18. Marketing Automation

19. Need Profiling

20. Newsjacking

21. Omnichannel

22. Remarketing / Retargeting

23. Schema

24. Taxonomy

25. User-Generated Content

A Bad-News, Good-News Situation

Do Your Research

Look for the Silver Lining

1. JWT

2. Bonnier Corporation

3. Meredith Corporation

Family Circle

Martha Stewart Living

Meredith Hispanic Media

Parents

4. Wenner Media

1. Keep Your Profile Current

2. Add Projects to Your Profile

3. Mention Colleagues and Peers

4. Publish Thought Leadership

5. Dabble in Groups

6. Scan Updates

7. Download the App

8. Connect With People You Actually Know

The #WeekendJobSearch Assignment #1

Spring Clean Your Documents

Kitzi Tanner