At the same time, many highly capable marketers are navigating redundancy, reassessing their direction, or simply trying to understand how to move forward with confidence in a complex environment.
Our marketing recruitment team were hearing the same challenges again and again from candidates. What is really happening in the market? How are employers making decisions? And how can marketers position themselves thoughtfully to stay front of mind? Ultimately, this is what drove Michelle Young and Lucy Garrido to host a webinar dedicated to these unanswered questions.
The session brought together industry leaders to share market insights, employer perspectives, and lived experience. The conversations were practical, honest, and grounded in what people are seeing day to day.
The opening session, hosted by Conce Ferraro (Progressional) with Peter Hutchison (Honda Australia) and Stephanie Malkin focused on the emotional and practical realities of career transition.
A consistent theme was the importance of reframing experience, particularly following redundancy. Rather than seeing it as a setback, panellists spoke about taking time to reflect on what they had learned, what they wanted next, and how to articulate their value clearly and confidently.
Pete shared how stepping into community meet-ups and professional networks helped him rebuild momentum and perspective during his transition. As he explained:
“Getting back into community and feeling that sense of connection again was really important for me.”
Steph spoke candidly about confidence dips and the value of focusing on transferable outcomes rather than job titles alone. She shared,
“I completely understand that it’s important to humanise and connect and engage in a way that distinguishes yourself from others.”
The sentiment of the session was that career transitions are rarely linear, and confidence is often rebuilt through connection, reflection, and taking small, intentional steps forward.
Session two shifted the conversation to the employer perspective, with insights from Vanessa Hofman (Australia Post), Edan Haddock (Movember) and Daniel Hassaballa (Kmart Australia Limited Group), The discussion explored how large organisations are navigating hiring in a market characterised by high application volumes, tighter shortlists, and a stronger focus on clarity and alignment.
A key theme raised by employers was the importance of candidates clearly articulating impact, not just responsibilities, particularly in high-volume environments where recruiters are making decisions quickly and with limited context.
Vanessa spoke to the need for fairness and structure in recruitment processes, particularly as organisations work to balance scale with inclusion. She noted:
“You need to ensure that you’re driving impact and showing things like what is your strategic vision as a leader, what is your leadership style, and how you’ve ensured stakeholder engagement.”
Edan reinforced how clarity and intent help candidates stand out, particularly when employers are reviewing large volumes of applications:
“Give me the outcomes and attach that to your role. Spend more time on the outcomes than the responsibilities or the day to day tasks, it makes it easier for us to decipher.”
Due to a technical issue on the day, Daniel was unable to fully participate live in the session. To ensure his insights weren’t lost, Lucy caught up with Daniel following the webinar to address several of the audience questions that went unanswered. The full conversation is available to watch via our YouTube below.
In the follow-up discussion, Daniel shared candid advice on how employers interpret salary expectations and why transparency matters during early-stage recruitment conversations:
“Being honest about that is a good thing because it tells us where you’ve been, what you’re looking for. Underselling and overselling yourself will only happen when you second guess yourself and try to think what range this role is being pitched at.”
Together, the perspectives shared in this session reinforced that while tools and technology continue to evolve, hiring decisions are still grounded in human judgment, clarity of communication, and a candidate’s ability to articulate value with confidence and realism.
In the final session, Blair Chapman, Senior Economist at SEEK grounded the conversation in data, helping attendees make sense of the broader forces shaping the marketing and digital job market. His insights provided important context for many of the experiences shared earlier in the webinar, separating headline noise from what the data is actually showing.
Blair explained that while the labour market has become more competitive following the post-COVID hiring surge, the story is not one of long-term decline. Instead, it reflects a period of recalibration after several years of unusually strong growth, particularly across marketing and advertising roles.
“Over the last five years, we have seen more jobs in marketing and advertising added to the Australian economy than we did in the previous twenty on average,” Blair noted, reinforcing that the profession remains a structurally growing part of the workforce.
He acknowledged that hiring has become more selective, with job ads falling faster in marketing than in some other sectors and application volumes increasing. However, Blair emphasised that this tightening reflects a market normalising rather than closing.
Importantly, Blair shared an optimistic outlook for the year ahead. As consumer confidence begins to recover and household spending lifts, investment in marketing is expected to follow.
“I think there’s going to be a bit of a turnaround in job ads in marketing as the consumer bounces back and businesses become more confident,” he said, pointing to renewed momentum as organisations prepare for growth.
For attendees, this session offered reassurance that while the market currently requires sharper positioning and patience, demand for marketing capability remains strong.
The level of engagement throughout the session was significant, and while many themes were explored in depth, there unfortunetly wasn’t time to address every question live.
Below are some of the most common questions raised by attendees, alongside responses where they were directly covered during the webinar or conversations post.
Q: Do cover letters really get read, or should candidates focus solely on their CV?
A: “We don’t expect perfection, but we do look for clarity. If a cover letter adds context and helps us understand motivation or fit, it can be useful. If it doesn’t add anything new, the CV matters more.” - Vanessa Hofman
Q: How do talent pools work, and how can candidates be considered for future roles?
A: “When candidates engage with recruiters, they typically become part of their broader talent network. As recruitment technology continues to evolve, including the use of AI, it allows us to be more targeted and thoughtful when matching people to specific briefs. At Six Degrees Executive, we place a strong emphasis on data integrity and accuracy, which helps ensure those connections remain meaningful over time. Every organisation approaches this differently, but staying in touch with recruiters is one of the simplest ways to remain visible in the market. Even if an opportunity isn’t quite right at the time, being open to a conversation can often lead to something more relevant down the track.” – Michelle Young
Q: How should redundancy be framed in interviews?
A: “Redundancy isn’t a red flag. What matters is how someone explains it and what they’ve taken from the experience.” - Edan Haddock
Q: What skills should mid-level marketers prioritise for the coming years?
A: “Roles that combine digital capability with commercial thinking are where we continue to see demand hold up.” - Blair Chapman
Q: How long should a CV be, and how much detail is enough?
A: "Be clear and be relevant. If it’s longer, it needs to earn the space by showing impact, not just responsibilities.” - Daniel Hasballa
This webinar was created in response to the uncertainty many marketers are experiencing right now. What became clear across every session was that while the market has shifted, it hasn’t lost direction. Employers are being more deliberate, candidates are more considered, and clarity matters more than ever.