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Welcome to a new special series called the Bathroom break. That extra 10 minutes you either have to listen to marking tips or use the bathroom. Or both. But I don't recommend both. But that's your choice.
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This collab is going to be super fun. We have Daniel Murray from the Marketing Millennials and me, Jay Schwedelson from the do this, not that podcast and subjectline.com each episode in the series, we are going to go over quick tips about different marketing topics. And if you want to be in the bathroom, fine, just don't tell us about it. Thanks for checking it out. We are back for the bathroom break. This is Jaish Weddleston from Do this, not that. And I am honored to be here with the marketing millennial, Daniel Murray. And today we're actually going to be talking about how to move up in your career. Maybe get that new job, maybe get that promotion. Little tips and tricks that maybe are off the radar. But I have a question for you before we get into that, Daniel. So what was like your first job? I don't mean like real job. Talking about, like when you were a kid and, well, you grew up in South Africa, was your first job like cleaning the dung of a giraffe or something? Oh, my goodness.
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My first job ever. I was like 12 and I was, I refed. I was a ref for like four or five year old kids. It was like the first.
B
Like you babysitted them?
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No, like you were the ref and then.
B
Oh, you were the ref.
A
Like the soccer app.
B
Oh, wow.
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Yeah, yeah. So that was like my first, like where I got like an actual, like, paycheck. And I was like, oh, this is kind of cool. Like I was. You go to this like three day program to like learn it. But it was cool.
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That's cool. Yeah, I was my first job. I was like 14. I don't know why they gave me a job. I was a security. I ran the security desk at a YMCA, which is really weird because I was 14 and I was like, what am I going to do? Something bad happens here. But no, today, now we're going to crush it in terms of little tips about up leveling your career, getting that job, what you should do, what you shouldn't do. So, Daniel, why don't you rattle off your first quick tip?
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I think perception is a big thing in career. So the one tip I have is that remove the years you graduated off your resume and off your LinkedIn. Like you want to seem like you don't want your age to be a bias, even People say there's no bias, but you don't want your age to be a bias and you're not getting a job. So remove that off your resume. Remove it off your LinkedIn. You got a degree, Cool. Not many people is going to ask you for your degree. Just remove that off your LinkedIn because it could stunt you from getting a pay raise, a salary bump, or like, it could also hinder you for getting a bigger job.
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I agree totally, and I'll give you the social proof of my tips. So I've hired well over a thousand people in my career and interviewed way more than that, unfortunately. And I'll tell you a couple things that I believe to be 100% true. Number one, while you have a job, if you're lucky enough and you have a job, that is when you apply for another job. I know that's terrible to just be sitting in that job that you don't like, that you're miserable in almost using them. But you are far more attractive to somebody that's hiring if you already have a job because it looks like, oh, that company, you went through their process, they took a risk on you. And I feel bad saying that because if you don't have a job, obviously it is a little bit harder to get a job. It's just the reality. And then the other thing, I think the biggest mistake that people think about is this whole idea that you need to be somewhere for a year before you move on because it looks really bad. That is hot. Mess, garbage, trash, right? If you are someplace that's toxic, that stinks, that you're not getting paid well, that you have a bad boss about, whatever, leave. And then when you go and interview for that job, like, wow, you're only there four months. What happened? Like, listen, it was not a great environment. You know, they didn't have good structure. I wasn't learning, I was, blah, blah, blah. But for you to sit there for a year because you think that anybody cares, news flash, they don't.
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One thing I always recommend for people is that never turn down an interview. Like, if you think you might like the company, don't feel bad, like, you're interviewing, even if you don't want a job, because this could be your dream job. And I think a lot of people turn down interviews while they're at jobs because they feel like they're going against the employer. But you could, you dream job could come land in your lap and you not knowing it. So, like, always take an interview. And the other thing I, I also recommend is like the job description that a company puts out is usually written by a hiring manager who's telling the company this is what we want. So what I recommend is it takes more time but customizing your resume to the points that are on that job description. Like if a hiring manager wants something certain, they like a certain thing and you've done that third thing and you can put results to that certain thing or customize like a certain type of person, just put that on your resume because you want to get through the first inter, like the first screening. So like to do that you have to customize your resume towards the JD and then using your interview skills to get you to later stage.
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I think that's super, super smart that people aren't doing that. Meaning that you're applying for a job, you have your resume, your cv, whatever you want to call it and you're uploading the same one to all to a hundred different jobs you're hoping. But if you actually, if they're looking for somebody that you know knows Spotify, Spotify, I mean Shopify really well. If you know Spotify, you're not getting the job. You build a good, right, you sick at building a playlist, but you're really good at Shopify and that. And they're looking for somebody that's a Shopify expert, that's in their ad or whatever their job listing. But put that front and center and customize each one of your uploads to that. I think that's super valuable stuff. And then the other thing I would tell you that works really well, at least it works well in my company when people are trying to get hired here, don't play the game like everybody else. So when you go to apply for jobs on, you know, Indeed or ZipRecruiter or LinkedIn, whatever you do and you upload, you hit submit, whatever. Then what you want to do is find the person who is the senior person in that role. So if you're applying for a marketing job, you look for the marketing director, the person that you think is actually calling the shot on that job, and the hiring manager and you DM them a note that says listen, I just want, you know, I'm super excited about the opportunity. I'd be a great fit for you. I'm so good at these three things. Can't wait to hear from you. Send them that connection request with a custom note. With a custom note. And I am telling you that puts you to the top of the heap. You stand out. It works so, so well.
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Two More Things is LinkedIn allows you to do. If you go to their company page, you could see like if anybody from who you went to college with or anybody in your network has worked at that company. So if you can see that and DM them to just get on a quick call to like learn about the company or if they could tell you a little bit about the role. So if you can have another end through somewhere else, like LinkedIn already tells you this, so like why not use that? The second thing, I know this is like a more of a bigger project, but I honestly think that like building a personal brand where your perception, you can build your perception that you're better the best in the industry for that role because you putting out content and growing a following is my best thing that I ever did when I was like earlier on like a senior manager in my career because people thought I was better than some of these other marketing ops people when I was in marketing ops. But really I was just putting myself out there and scaling my like networking from building a personal brand. So I recommend people start their personal brand really early because it is your like digital resume as well.
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So. All right, back to the original stuff. So after you are a ref at 12 years old, what was the next job stop for Daniel?
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That's a good question. It's funny because Adam, who's like the CEO of work, we sent out an email about this and I listed like five, five things. Me and my brother used to go to like these camps when we were kids and we used to play this game called Runescape where we had like a bunch of like. It was like a digital game, but we used to sell all, all coins for cash on, on Runescape to people at the camp we play because it was like a popular game. That's not a job.
B
That's like a hustle.
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It's a hustle.
B
That's not a legit job.
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I used to. I'll give another job. I used to. My mom used to work at a travel agency. I mean not travel, a event. She used to own a travel company. Then she moved here, did a vent company where she sold like things. So I used to be the person in the back room packing everything and shipping everything out. So I was in the warehouse like shipping everything at like 15 years old. But side hustle. I feel like it's a job too.
B
Yeah, well that's a real deal.
A
What is your other job?
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So my next job was I worked at a women's clothing store called the Limited in the mall and I did that purely because I was, like, 15, because I wanted to. I wanted to meet girls. And I thought if I got a job there, it was all women, all women's clothing, that I would meet girls. And so they gave me a job in the back as the stock boy. My job was to, like, when they came back there, they would be like, I need a bodysuit in this color, in this size. And I was very bad at it. And so these women would scream at me. And I was horrific at the job. And nobody liked me. I made no friends. I got no. No girls like me coming out of it. It was one of the worst things I've ever done. And so, yeah, great experience. All right, well, speaking of great experience, this podcast has been a great experience. Listen, leave Daniel a review at the Marketing Millennials podcast. Tell him how great he is, and if you're bored, you can do the same for do this, not that, and we'll see at the next one later. Daniel, come on, man. I gotta get back to work. Get out of there. All right, while he's still in there. This is Jay. Check out my podcast, do this, not that for marketers. Each week we share really quick tips on stuff that can improve your marketing and hope you give it a try. Oh, here's Daniel. He's finally out.
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Back from my bathroom break. This is Daniel. Go follow the Market Millennials podcast, but also tune into this series. It's once a week, the Bathroom Break. We talk about marketing tips that we just spew out. And it could be anything from email, subject line to any marketing tips in the world. We'll talk about it. Just give us a shout on LinkedIn and tell us what you want to hear.
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Peace out.
Bathroom Break #69 🚽 | Hosted by Daniel Murray & Jay Schwedelson
Date: August 18, 2025
In this fast-paced “Bathroom Break” episode, Daniel Murray (The Marketing Millennials) and Jay Schwedelson (Do This, Not That podcast & SubjectLine.com) trade actionable and unconventional tips for advancing your marketing career. They share fresh approaches for landing jobs, earning promotions, managing perceptions, and building a distinctive personal brand. With candid stories and banter from their early work lives, this episode delivers sharp, specific advice seasoned with humor and authenticity.
Anyone in marketing (or other fields) aiming to:
Distinguish yourself by customizing, connecting, and putting yourself out there—online and off. In the words of Daniel: “Building your perception is everything.”