Guidelines and Glossary

Here is how this works

The concept of this newsletter is based on two fundamental facts. The first is to writers, copywriters, and marketing professionals:

The best time to look for a job is when you already have one

And the second is for companies, organizations, and recruiters:

The exceptional talent you are looking to hire is currently employed

Meaningful Work Meaningful Pay (MWMP for short) is all about filtering the career opportunities worth pursuing by experienced marketing professionals.

Over 90% of what you see on job boards are going to waste your time. But what wastes your time is just right for another person. Also, what is a time waster to another person is just right for you.

But you can’t get that through the information on job posts. The information given are often generic and so vague. In some cases, companies are trying to get one person to do 4 people’s jobs.

And also, some companies just like to write all kinds of things on their job post when actually what they need is just 1 of the 7 things they wrote. And in marketing, there are a lot of nuances.

Content writing responsibilities are quite different from content marketing responsibilities. Well, that’s why you are here. We will slice, dice, and investigate. Only the good stuff will be shared with you, with as clear instructions as possible.

Hopefully, in the near future, recruiters and companies will come directly to us. And we will force them to align with our principles and standards. But before then, we investigate.

Here are 21 guideline points to note:

1. No entry level (at least 2 years experience)

We will be focusing on associate, mid-senior roles and above. To keep this very precise and reasonable, we will be avoiding entry level roles.

The consideration begins from roles requiring 2 years experience. In the future, we can expand to entry level roles, but for now, we stay away from that to be focused.

Also, this is for writing, copywriting and marketing roles. In the future, we can expand but for now, we stick to this niche.

2. Meaningful work definition

This is a crucial point - how do we define meaningful work? We are not defining meaningful work as something that has to do with saving the world and all of that.

Instead, meaningful work is defined here as work with a definite form. What does the company do? That is the question to which we seek an answer.

Of course, what appeals to one person will not appeal to another person. But when we cannot precisely find what a company does and they are just all over the place, that is a red flag.

So, meaningful in this context means precise. You know exactly what the company is doing, who their customers are, who they are trying to target, and how they make money. We feel anyone working in marketing should know all of that before jumping in.

3. Pay range qualifiers

Not all companies put out their pay range. We don’t think that is fair. But we also won’t use that as a factor to disqualify roles we will showcase.

If there is no pay range and we see a couple of more red flags, that will be a reason to disqualify. But if everything looks decent and the only issue is the absent pay range, we might still feature the role.

However, as we get more prominent and have direct relationships with companies and recruiters, it will mandatory to have a pay range on every job post. And the range on a specific role must NOT be wider than $50,000.

4. Remote or not?

There are 5 options regarding this;

  • Fully remote

  • Remote first

  • Remote landlocked

  • Hybrid

  • On-site

Fully remote means the entire company is remote. They have no physical office. They work in a collaborative manner from everywhere everybody is via the internet.

Remote first means that the company has a physical office, however, they don’t mind people working from home or wherever they are. And in some cases, people might be called to show up in the office.

Remote landlocked means that the role is remote but you must be based in a particular country or specific region. And there is usually a compliance or legal reason for this. (This is a term we came up with at MWMP because we noticed the confusion it is creating).

Hybrid means that they allow staff to work from home on some days while they come to the office on other days. In most cases, you have 3 days in the office and 2 days remote (in a week).

On-site means that you have to be in the office. No remote option.

We do not discriminate any of these. The company wants what the company want. They function the way they can in the most productive way. Even though we have a bias for remote flexibility, we would consider all work options, including on-site.

This is about meaningful work and meaningful pay. Just because it is not right for you doesn’t mean it isn’t right for someone else.

5. Sourcing

Our investigation will ONLY start from LinkedIn. In the future, we may have companies come directly to us, but for now we start with LinkedIn.

But LinkedIn is not where it ends. It only starts there. We would do a deep dive into the company looking through every possible information of them online and give you the most accurate precise information.

And the focus will be jobs posted within 1-2 weeks. While some might slip to 3 weeks, we would absolutely disqualify anything older than 4 weeks except we have direct information from the company that they are yet to find a suitable candidate.

6. Skills and tools

Marketing job posts often have this requirement of tools proficiency such as Hubspot, Klaviyo, etc. But if you have been around marketing for long enough, you have probably used a variant of those tools.

For example, let’s say you haven’t used Hubspot before but you have used ActiveCampaign. We know that it will take just a few minutes to understand the new tool interface. So, we won’t be hellbent on specific tool knowledge.

Skills can be very subjective. So, we will always find a way to distill the skill requirements into something marketing people can understand. Most of the job posts for marketing people are clearly not written by marketers. You can tell that much.

7. Hiding behind a recruiting agency

100% instant rejection. We welcome collaborations with recruiting agencies. However, the idea of not telling applicants the exact company they are applying to is nonsense.

People must know the company they are applying to. Period. No negotiations.

8. Company type

There are basically 4 kinds of companies here:

  • Startups

  • Marketing agencies (and SMBs)

  • Privately owned mid-size companies

  • Big companies (mostly, public companies)

We will consider all types of companies. But you must be clear that each one of them is different. And their appeal is different.

If the company is a startup, expect that you will probably do more than just marketing. You will do sales too. Roles can change anytime. What you are promoting might change 3 times in one week. The flow is chaotic. However, the team is small and there is no bureaucracy.

Marketing agencies are best when you want to work with peers and do lots of creative stuff. Unlike startups where you are probably the only person that understands marketing, marketing agencies are more suited for people who love collaborative work with other marketing minds. That doesn’t mean it can’t get lonely though. Company size matters. Also, this often involves dealing with clients.

Mid-size businesses give you the precision of work like marketing agencies but in a calmer startup environment. You don’t get to deal with clients (like agencies) and the marketing department is often more than 2 people. Downside is that you may start having issues with sales and finance departments. A lot depends on company leadership here.

Big companies are perfect for precision work. But you will often have a supervisor or someone you report to. Very little autonomy in most cases. And a lot of bureaucracy. And yes, office politics too.

No place is perfect. It’s a “pick your poison” kind of situation. What are you willing to bear with at this stage of your career? It’s up to you.

Companies hiring for multiple roles (in marketing) will be prioritized over those hiring for just one role.

9. Benefits

This includes the healthcare, medical, vision, 401k contribution, etc. This is important for a lot of people. What would be desirable for you may be mundane for another person.

There are people who wouldn’t consider a role that doesn’t have health insurance. So, yes we would pay attention to this part and bring you the details as precisely as we can.

10. Visa sponsorships

This is also a benefit but we are giving it a special recognition. This is very important for those it matters to.

When it is NOT expressly stated, we will assume there is NO visa sponsorship available for the role. And some companies get sneaky where they will not really exclude it but they ask it in their forms.

Our principal assumption here is that if visa sponsorship is not stated in the job post but they ask if you will require it (in the application form), we will assume that visa sponsorship is NOT available. They just use that as a criteria to screen out applicants.

We would be on the lookout for jobs with visa sponsorships expressly stated to be available.

11. Contract roles and talent pools

Yes, we will consider contract roles. But it has to be with a meaningful pay. Generally, we are skeptical about per hour rates. That is because of the question - how will you measure hours worked?

Marketing often requires thinking and brainstorming. If it just about performing a task, you can get ChatGPT get you answers. But ChatGPT cannot think from the customers’ perspective.

Therefore, contract roles with per hour rates will only be considered if there is a clear directive of how many hours per week it will be and how the hours will be measured. It doesn’t have to be detailed, it just has to give a fairly good idea for transparency.

Talent pools will be rejected. “Join our talent pool for something someday” is not in the scope of this newsletter. However, that doesn’t mean it is bad.

12. Toxic workplaces and a**holes

We have no way of knowing just by investigating online. There are places that seems toxic that are actually delightful. And there are places that looks delightful but are very toxic.

And we can’t totally rely on online reviews either. It might just be a disgruntled employee trying to hurt a decent company. However, if something looks concerning about a company that ticks all the boxes for us, we will add a warning.

We will not always get this right though. So, you’ll have to forgive us in advance if we showcase a toxic workplace. Also note that a pressured workplace is not the same as a toxic workplace.

Pressure is when they are demanding. Toxic is when they are consciously abusive (often stemming down from a leader).

13. Seniority levels

This matters a lot in big companies. You don’t want to be reporting to someone who should be your intern. Most people say they don’t have a problem with this, but they often do internally.

Yes, we will pay attention to this for big companies. We may not have all the answers all the time, but will give you a sense of what that looks like.

For example, there are some companies that have 200 “vice presidents” role. So, you see a VP role and you might be thinking you are just one step from the CEO, meanwhile there are still 40 people in front of you.

In other words, position and titles can be deceiving. We would investigate the true seniority position and tell you where the role is on the hierarchy. Or at least, give you a good idea.

14. Diversity and inclusion

We consider this mostly trash. Companies don’t do it because of candidates, they do it because of some rating, investor sentiment, and PR. We think it is an insult on someone’s skills and experience to be hired based on DEI.

Diversity in business is supposed to be the diversity of perspectives. People coming from different angles, so that when they brainstorm together there are no blindspots. But most companies today just get people of the same perspectives in different skin colors and call it diversity.

So, we will not take anything regarding diversity and inclusion by any company seriously, especially the big companies. We will just ignore this.

15. Financial stability of the company

The last thing you want is to get a new job and then 3 months later, you realize that they have run out of money. This happens to startups more than any other group.

Of course, we cannot check the bank account details of the company to see if they really have money. But we will watch for signs. We will investigate and disqualify any company that seems to be in an obvious financial bind.

This will not be perfect, but as time goes on we will create ways to be sure a company is financially stable.

16. Academic requirements

This will be taken with a grain of salt. There are companies who insist on having certain degrees. And we will note that in our showcase. But for most companies, it doesn’t matter. This is marketing, not accounting or medicine.

But yes, a degree of some kind is required. But ultimately skills (and experience) is what matters. And yes, some ask for portfolio. We would also indicate those who insist on seeing a portfolio.

17. Taxes

You may be surprised why this is here. And I will tell you. This is something most working people don’t know. If you have been an employee all your life, there is a high chance you don’t know this.

Let’s take the US government as an example. The US government pays businesses (around) $29k per year for every W2 employee they retain throughout the year. I don’t know what the exact number is right now (or when you are reading this), but this is definitely a thing.

This is why you find some companies say they are hiring “remote but US based”. Essentially, they are remote landlocked. They want you to be based in the US so that they can qualify for that tax deduction. And there are other incentives like this that you do not see.

Also, the process of sponsoring visa for an applicant is so difficult and cumbersome for most companies. Only big companies often have the manpower to deal with this. And even most big companies will pick a “B” candidate they don’t have to sponsor the visa over an “A” candidate that they have to sponsor visa. That is just the nature of the game.

So, there are hidden incentives like this that influences the hiring practices of businesses. Sometimes the reason you are rejected for a role is not that you are not well qualified. The reason mostly has to do with an incentive you do not see. It is just easier for the business to go with another option.

While this will not be explicitly stated, everything that is considered an absolute requirement (by a company) has a reason like this embedded in it. If you don’t fit, don’t force it.

Absolute requirements must be something you perfectly fit in. If there is the slightest deviation (or something that needs to be explained with your fit) to the absolute requirement, just let it go - it is not for you. Avoid unnecessary rejection.

18. Managing your expectations

The major problem with recruiting practices today is poor communication. And sometimes, it takes almost nothing to send an automated email in a pre-prepared sequence.

This “only qualified candidates will be contacted” is the most annoying thing ever. And they collect emails. What does it cost after moving forward with other candidates to send an automated email to all those who aren’t chosen to inform them to stop expecting?

As the influence of this newsletter grows, we would mandate companies to always give feedback. But in the meantime, if you haven’t heard anything in 4 weeks, just assume your application was rejected. The only exception to this is big companies - they actually take longer. But in most cases, their communication is better too.

If they are not a public company and they reply after 7+ weeks of zero communication, please be (at least) skeptical.

We cannot control the communication from the companies. But in the future, we might have a system whereby when some people are already invited to an interview, we will notify all others who didn’t get the invite that their applications were rejected.

19. Talking to recruiters

Recruiters often have tons of DMs on platforms like LinkedIn. So, it is unlikely that we get any kind of response if we try to ask them about a job post.

But as we grow bigger and they take notice, they would have to talk to us more. And we will be sharing more precise information. In fact, we may have calls with them before posting their open role.

But for now, do not assume that we are in talks with any recruiter. When we get to that point, we will make an announcement.

20. Application submission

All the links we share will go directly to the application page on the company’s official website. This would be the norm for now. If something changes in the future, we would announce updates in that regard.

This is because sometimes a job post is on LinkedIn but it is no longer on the company website. So, if for some reason you find that the link to a particular job post is not working anymore, just know that the role is no longer open to applications.

Also, when you apply on the company site, you can do us a favor when they ask where you saw the job post. Just mention “meaningful work meaningful pay”. Help us gain influence, so that we can have the power to reform hiring practices.

21. Monetization

This newsletter will be FREE forever. Monetization plans does not involve charging money for access to this. For transparency, here are our monetization plans;

  • Companies pay to send their job posts exclusively to us. And we would indicate clearly that they are sponsored job posts vetted by us.

  • Businesses advertise complimentary services on our emails. For example, a marketing conference, a marketing course, etc.

  • A higher tier subscription strictly to designate high levels of experience. For example, if a company like Spotify is looking for a CMO, only people with over 10+ years or 15+ years experience needs to see that. We will use subscription tiers to separate out people like this. But that is when we start seeing a lot of those offers or we create a partnership that exposes us to such

We are under no pressure to make money. Our overhead is as close to zero as it can get. And this is treated as a side project for now.

Final Words

As you apply for these career opportunities, note these:

  • Companies are sport teams - not family. Don’t be emotionally attached.

  • Don’t apply to a company with an absolute requirement you don’t have. Avoid unnecessary rejection

  • We will try to make the job responsibilities as clear as possible, so always ask yourself, “Will I hate myself for doing this?” If the answer is yes, don’t waste your time applying

  • There is always something for you. Don’t try to force yourself into something not meant for you

  • We will only focus on companies in US, UK, EU, and Canada. In the future, we may expand but for now we stay narrow

  • We only focus on writing, copywriting, and marketing roles. We may expand in the future

  • The best time to look for a job is when you already have one

  • (For companies) - the exceptional talent you are looking to hire is currently employed

  • This “guidelines and glossary” will be updated from time to time. We will let you know on email whenever there is a major update

  • The best way to contact the leadership of this project for feedback, inquires etc., is LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/davidolarinoye 

Cheers.

P.S. We would greatly appreciate it if you share this newsletter with colleagues and friends