Since I've opened the floodgates, here's another job opening that sounds really interesting: the position of an Associate Online Producer at Spin:

This is a fantastic opportunity for a candidate who is in the early stages of their career in digital media and is passionate, driven and wants to work their way up through the ranks.

You will work apart of a team on one of Spins largest accounts and with this you will be exposed to different projects such as website and microsite developments, email campaigns, search, online advertising and online video optimisation.

Like the job I mentioned in my previous blog post, this position is a little below the kind of thing that I'm looking for. The ideal candidate for this job is someone "in the early stages of their career in digital media"; someone with at least one year's experience "in a digital agency or digital department within an agency". Either that, or someone who has been "working for an offline agency and [has] a good grasp on digital marketing". I, meanwhile, have seven years of overall work experience -- that too in the technology industry -- but only about two in digital marketing and four in marketing overall (though, even there, marketing was not my primary job responsibility). However, I have an MBA. But, as I mentioned in an earlier blog post, that degree doesn't really count for much in this industry unless you're specifically applying for a management position.

The thing about this job is: if I decide to go all-in into the digital marketing and advertising space -- or, overall, digital media -- this position would probably be a great place for me to start. I say "probably" because I'd have to talk to people in this industry to confirm that. My thinking on this is that, without previous digital marketing experience at the level that Spin is looking for (and probably hires at), I couldn't possible apply for a job at a position higher than this one. So yes, this position is below my overall level of experience and qualification but, when you are changing industries -- in my case, that would be going from IT to marketing -- this is something you have to expect. That is, unless you're an excellent marketer and you can prove it, you can't make a lateral entry into this industry, let alone one at a more senior position. You have to do the hard yards before you climb your way up and, so, you expect to start at a lower position.

The reward for doing it this way: you finally get to work in the industry you've been wanting to work in. Oh and, with your advanced qualification, you do expect to climb up the corporate ladder faster than those who don't have an MBA or that much work experience.

That said, even if I did apply for this position, my MBA and work experience might just count against me since Spin is probably looking for someone younger, overall less qualified, and already in the digital marketing industry who is in the process of climbing the corporate ladder himself. Indeed, I might actually come across as being overqualified for this position (at an overall level, not at the technical level).

If, however, I really wanted to go into digital marketing (which is a fascinating field, by the way, and I am seriously considering going into), then I would write a cover letter that would explain all of this to the recruiter. Actually, before that, I'd set up a meeting with Bart, the recruiter from Digital Transfer who is handling this job opening, and would explain all this to him. If I am convincing and passionate enough -- that is, I make a reasoned, logical, and yet passionate argument for him to seriously consider my application to this position -- I might just find myself in the running.