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Stiff competition for creative jobs, survey finds

August 28, 2014

Advertising and marketing executives receive 23 resumes, on average, for every open creative position, according to a new survey from The Creative Group, a marketing/creative staffing division of Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE: RHI). And they meet with an average of six applicants before filling a role.

Three people typically interview a candidate for a staff-level position and four people typically interview a candidate for a management-level creative position, according to the survey. An overwhelming 86 percent of the executives surveyed found one-on-one, in-person interviews most effective or revealing, followed by group or panel interviews with 8 percent.

The survey also asked participants to choose which one of the following is the most common résumé mistake made by creative professionals. Responses include:

  • Information that’s not targeted or job specific: 39 percent
  • Inaccurate information: 18 percent
  • Typos or grammatical errors: 11 percent
  • Insufficient information: 10 percent
  • Too much information: 9 percent
  • Ineffective résumé layout or design: 5 percent
  • Don’t know/can’t choose one: 7 percent

The survey is based on 400 telephone interviews — approximately 200 with marketing executives randomly selected from companies with 100 or more employees and 200 with advertising executives randomly selected from agencies with 20 or more employees.