In today’s edition:
Three early career & TX based jobs in Marketing & Advertising
How to find a mentor in the wild
Join our free virtual networking lunch session
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This week’s curated job postings
Early career jobs in Marketing & Advertising: TX-based with salary
Check out all live early career job openings on Forward’s job board, updated weekly.
Career Tip of the Week
Mentorship is critical at every stage of your career, whether you are just starting out or you are 30 years in. But how do you actually develop mentors in your life?
First of all, there’s a good chance you already have a mentor in your life. A mentor isn’t just someone who has your dream job and is actively coaching you; a mentor is anyone who has a perspective, skillset, wisdom, or value set that is helpful.
Here are some examples of mentors that I have had:
A start-up founder who taught me about sales
A friend who gave me the courage to explore my sense of personal style
My cousin who somehow manages to “do it all” and hypes me up on my down days
A colleague who gave me rigorous feedback on how to improve my presentation skills
A mentor can be a boss, a peer, a friend.
A common question I get asked is “do I have to ask someone to be my mentor?”
I have never asked that question explicitly. What I have done is make an effort to:
Keep my radar up for people who I admire, feel comfortable with, and have expressed a desire to be helpful in a meaningful way
Stay in touch consistently in a way that makes sense to them (e.g. monthly email updates, regular meetings, text/voice notes, etc.)
Keep the dialogue a two-way street. I want to be a resource to them too. Or at least, be someone they enjoy talking to!
Every mentor relationship is different. When you approach them with consistency, respect, and authenticity, they are rewarding for EVERYONE.
We hosted our first networking workshop of 2025 last week, and many of you have asked for more opportunities to connect, so we’re excited to announce that…
📣 We are hosting our first networking gym, this Friday, January 31 @ 12:30 pm CST
Gyms are low-pressure & live sessions to exercise your career skills where you can apply the tools and tricks you've been learning about.
Over 60 minutes, you will be paired with a fellow job seeker to grow your circle and hone your networking skills, such as active listening and storytelling.
Grab your lunch & let’s connect!
Overheard from a recruiter
I’m having conversations with recruiters, hiring managers, and other talent decision-makers weekly, and want to share tidbits of what I’m learning with y’all here too!
FYI - these aren’t direct quotes, but a summary of a longer conversation!!
Nothing is black and white when it comes to the job search. For example, the “one page resume” rule. Sometimes you are actually doing yourself a disservice by cutting it down to one page!
One of the most frustrating parts of the job search process is that there is no perfect formula. For every piece of advice you hear… someone will probably tell you the opposite.
Resume length, for example. The recruiter I sat next to at dinner last night said that one of his biggest frustrations is that people are so strict about the idea that their resume HAS to be one page.
If you have several years of work experience that are valuable, and it can’t fit on one page… then make it two pages. What he said was that it isn’t so much about the actual length of the resume, it’s about the quality and impact of the content.
A lot of the candidates I have worked with have only 0-2 years of experience. He agreed that folks with that background SHOULD probably keep it to one page, because they likely don’t have enough high-impact experience to call for a two-pager.
My sister, on the other hand, has been working for 5 years and has multiple degrees and research projects under her belt. Her resume is two pages, but only because every single bullet point on her resume is relevant to the exact type of job she wants. She removed random school clubs and side projects that don’t connect to her dream job, for example.
When in doubt - take a pause and use your critical thinking skills here. Is keeping your resume one page working against you because you have cut out genuinely important experiences? Is your resume two pages because you feel the need to list everything you have ever done? It’s important to contextualize your own experience and the job that you are going after!
Refer a friend to this email newsletter, and upgrade your career journey
If you refer 5 friends to this email newsletter, you’ll get a free resume review session
If you refer 15 friends, you’ll get a $50 digital gift card
If you refer 25 friends, you’ll get a speaker
Take a break
Job searching is hard work. You deserve a break. Here’s how I took time to rest and recharge this week!
As I mentioned earlier, I got dinner with a bunch of HR and talent folks in Austin last night! We went to De Nada Cantina, which I highly recommend if you are ever hosting people from out of town. Fun vibes, delicious tacos, and hefty pours.

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Thanks for showing up this week! We appreciate you. See y’all same time next week!

Mariam Matin
Connect with me on LinkedIn!

