Hello hello 👋🏽,

Welcome to the 14th edition of Marketers Help Marketers newsletter.

Today's edition covers questions I've been hearing from content marketers for the past few months:

"How do I spot red flags in job descriptions?"

"Which industries should I focus on as a content marketer?"

"How do I move from freelance writing work to more strategic projects?"

"What do hiring managers actually want when they're hiring content marketers?"

"I want to transition from freelance to in-house capacity – how should I go about it?"

These conversations inspired me to dig deeper with Disha Parekh during our last podcast recording.

As someone who has reviewed hundreds of resumes and conducted countless interviews, she has insights that most content marketers rarely hear.

She has also spent years working with and managing freelance relationships, as well as building content teams from scratch.

If you're a content marketer looking for a new job or a freelancer looking to transition in-house or take up more strategic work, this edition is for you.

I'm splitting this newsletter into two parts:

• Job search advice for full-time roles

• Freelancer-specific guidance

Depending on your area of interest, head to the relevant section to read up.

We'll begin with advice for content marketers on job hunting for a new role, first.

Click to head to relevant section

• For in-house content marketers - job search, resume and interview advice

• For freelancers: advice to take up more strategic work and make in-house move

Most content marketers approach job hunting the wrong way.

They scroll through job boards and apply to anything with "content" in the title. They craft their resume to match every job description and hope for the best.

But here's the problem: that’s not a strategic approach to your career.

Here's some advice on making smarter career moves:

Choose the right industries first

Target internet-first companies

"Looking at internet-first industries becomes important because you know the content you create is going to be read within distribution channels you understand."

These companies typically:

• Built their business around digital content from day one

• Have sophisticated content measurement systems

• Invest more heavily in content marketing as core strategy

• Offer clearer growth paths for content professionals

Traditional companies that moved online often treat content as an afterthought, while internet-first companies see it as foundational to their business.

Avoid the buzzword trap

"It's very important not to go after buzzwords because buzzwords are short-lived."

Instead of chasing whatever's trending:

• Choose industries where you can genuinely add value

• Research long-term market trends, not just current hype

Red flags in job descriptions

The experience range trap

"If the experience range is 5 to 15 years, don't apply."

There's a hierarchy to content roles, and each level requires specific experience, for e.g:

• Content Writer: 1-3 years

• Senior Content Writer: 3-5 years

• Content Manager: 5-7 years

• Content Lead/Head: 7+ years

"Content lead cannot be three or four years of experience. If it is a lead role, it just cannot be," Disha explained. "These roles exist because they come with the experience required for the role."

The "do everything" job description

"If the JD looks off and asks you to do everything under the sun, trust your gut."

But Disha suggests a strategic approach: don't automatically avoid these roles. Instead, ask questions.

Some key questions to ask:

• What are the top 5 priorities for this role?

• What do my first 30, 60, 90 days look like?

• Which responsibilities are daily vs. occasional?

This helps you separate poorly written job descriptions from genuinely unrealistic expectations.

Resume and interview best practices

Avoid stuffing your resume with keywords

"Creating your resume to match the JD might not always be the best approach... when I see a lot of keywords that you've added, I know you have not done these things."

Instead of trying to match every requirement:

• Highlight your strongest, most relevant experiences

• Be honest about what you have and haven't done

• Show enthusiasm for learning specific skills

• Ask thoughtful questions about role expectations

Come with questions, not just answers

"It's you dedicating 40 to 50 hours of your week to work in a place... you want to come with conversations around the organization, helping you shape your career."

Ask questions like:

• What are the top five priorities for this role in the first 90 days?

• How does content success get measured here?

• What's the biggest content challenge the team is facing?

• How does this role connect to business goals?

• What growth opportunities exist for someone in this position?

Understand the real role requirements

"If it's a startup, most likely it's a JD that involves all the buzzwords versus specialized organizations focused on content creation as a serious channel."

Don't just accept job descriptions at face value. Dig deeper:

• Which responsibilities are daily vs. occasional?

• What does success look like in month 1, 3, and 6?

• How much creative freedom vs. direction will you have?

• What resources and support are available?

Come prepared with your 1-2 year plan

One question Disha actively asks candidates: "What do your next one to two years look like?"

Her take:

This isn't about having everything figured out, but showing you're intentional about your career growth.

Bottom line: 

Choose your industries strategically, trust your gut about red flags, and interview like the strategic partner you want to become. This approach will help you land roles where you can actually grow, not just survive.

[Bonus] Tackling side hustles convo with your manager

Most content marketers have side projects. But how do you handle this conversation with your current manager?

Here's Disha's advice for content marketers wanting to pursue side projects:

Don't wait for your manager to find out, bring it up yourself.

Frame it as skill development: Position your side hustle as filling gaps your current role doesn't address:

Be specific about when you work on side projects and how you ensure your day job performance doesn't suffer.

Make it a win-win, explain how your side projects enhances rather than competes with your full-time role.

Most freelancers get stuck in what Disha calls the "creation trap."

They write blog posts, create social media content, deliver exactly what's asked. They get paid and repeat.

But here's the problem: they're not building strategic value.

"If I, as a freelancer, am creating content for a brand and delivering that, but I'm not really thinking about how that's performing, how that's adding to the brand, then I'm not justifying the effort I'm putting in," Disha explained.

Here's why this cycle continues:

Freelancers are not given insight into how their resources are performing.

This isn't always malicious. Often, clients simply don't think to share performance data.

But here's the catch: If you don't know how your work performs, you can't improve it. And if you can't prove results, you can't charge premium rates.

This keeps freelancers trapped in execution mode when they could be operating as content strategists.

The difference between strategic and execution-focused freelancers:

We know which type gets repeat work, referrals, and higher rates.

Four steps to become more strategic

You don't need to overhaul your entire freelance business overnight.

Here's Disha's framework for taking on more strategic projects:

1. Start asking the right questions

Instead of just asking "What do you want me to write about?" try:

• What business goal is this content meant to achieve?

• How will you measure success for this piece?

• Where will this content be distributed?

• What's worked well for you in the past?

These questions position you as a strategic partner, not just a vendor.

2. Request access to performance data

This is where most freelancers tend to fall short.

"It's important to ask the brands that you're working with to highlight someone else's work, to highlight the freelancers work just as much as they would do internally," Disha noted.

So follow up 2-3 weeks later:

• How did that blog post perform?

• Can you share the analytics with me?

• What worked well that we should replicate?

3. Think beyond creation

"Being creative is one part of your job, but being data-driven becomes an even more important part of your role," Disha emphasized.

When you submit content, include suggestions for:

• Headlines that might perform better

• Distribution channels to consider

• Follow-up content ideas based on performance

• Ways to repurpose the content across formats

4. Focus on fewer, better clients

Here's a controversial take from Disha: working with multiple agencies is not a good idea.

Because agencies prioritize output over quality.

"Their end goal is output, their end goal is not quality. Without you understanding the product or asking questions, there's no way you can write top-quality articles."

Instead of juggling 8-10 small writing projects, focus on 3-4 clients where you can:

• Learn their business deeply

• Build long-term relationships

• Provide increasingly strategic value

• Command higher rates

Making the transition from freelance to in-house talent

The good news is that freelance experience can be a major asset.

The challenge is positioning that experience in a way that resonates with hiring managers.

Here's Disha's three-step framework for making the move:

Specialize, don’t generalize

"Contrary to what content creators believe - that we should work across different industries when freelancing to acquire more experience - when you're applying for a full-time role, experience from an area of expertise is going to help you get that first step in the door a lot easier than being a generalist writer."

Don't apply for fintech roles if your portfolio is all e-commerce content.

"If you have written for financial projects, don't apply for D2C. It's not fair because you're trying to learn while the organization is hiring for people with experience. You're trying to learn a new industry altogether."

Instead:

• Pick 2-3 industries where you have strong samples

• Apply only to organizations where you've "outdone yourself in terms of area of interest"

• Understand those industries' unique challenges

• Speak their language in interviews

Move from creation to analysis

"Being creative is one part of your job, but being data-driven becomes an even more important part of your role."

In-house marketers think beyond creation:

• How does content drive leads?

• Which pieces generate the most engagement?

• How does content support sales conversations?

• What topics resonate with different audience segments?

"When you say that you're good at something, you want to focus from creation to analysis," Disha explained.

Start building your performance foundation now

Freelancers are not given insight into how their resources are performing... but for the effort you have put in, it's important to ask.

This puts freelancers at a disadvantage when interviewing for strategic roles.

Start building this foundation:

• Request access to analytics for your content

• Ask clients: "How did that piece perform? How is it adding to the brand?"

• Track metrics yourself when possible

• Build case studies that show business impact, not just output

"If I'm working with a freelancer and their resources are helping me rank on the first page of Google, I would want to highlight that because that's only going to help better the output."

The more you can speak to data and results, the stronger your case for transition becomes.

Whether you're job hunting or freelancing, the key insight from Disha is:

Stop thinking like a content creator, start thinking like a business partner.

Ask about performance, understand objectives, suggest improvements, and build relationships.

This shift in mindset separates great content marketers from good ones.

Listen to the full episode with Disha wherever you get your podcasts.

I know this edition covered a lot of ground, but I'm sure you have specific situations or challenges I didn't address.

Reply to this email or drop me a line on LinkedIn with your content marketing questions.

I'm always collecting insights from marketing leaders and would love to help connect the dots.

Your marketer friend,
Mita ✌🏽