My Advice For Working In Marketing

Away from my little corner of the internet, I am working in marketing as a Head of Department. When I was growing up, I had no idea what marketing was and never in a million years did I think that this would be my career.

I most certainly fell into this career path and now after working in this role for almost 10 years, I wouldn’t have it any other way. In this post I am going to answer some of my most asked questions about my career, how I got into it, my thoughts around the space and much more.

 

 

How I got into marketing.

In 2013, I began working. I had been fast tracked through my degree and I was at a crossroads. I could either do another degree and trundle along at the same pace as my peers. Or I could try to find a job. With a holiday to Ibiza planned with the girls, I decided to opt for the job in order to get a little extra cash. I applied to be an administrator one Sunday evening, I had an interview the following day and by the Tuesday I was thrown into the deep end at work. Once I started, I put my organisational skills to good use and I killed the game. My efforts were quickly spotted by the company MD and he wanted to put me in each department to see what was a good fit. Fortunately for me, that was marketing.

 

My education prior to working in marketing.

As I mentioned above, I fell into a career in marketing. I had no idea that this is what I wanted to do. Because of that, I most certainly didn’t have any education in marketing. Instead, I was encouraged at school to pursue the things that I enjoyed rather than follow a path of what I wanted to work in. Which is why I decided to do a degree in history. I have always adored history and I think that comes from me being an incredibly nosey person. I love to know everything about everything and everyone, regardless of the decade or century. As much as I loved learning about Russian crop rotation at degree level, it really hasn’t helped me in my career!

 

The qualifications that I then undertook.

When I realised that marketing was the avenue that I wanted to pursue, I did want to learn more. That is because I was only been exposed to a few marketing disciplines at the company that I worked for, but I wanted to do so much more. That is why I enrolled in CIM. Slowly and surely, over the years I began to undertake more qualifications, climbing my way up the ladder. Eventually, I reached the highest level of CIM and by that point I was able to put what I had learnt into practice when I became the Head of Marketing. I think CIM has been pivotal in my success as a marketer and I would highly recommend those wanting to get into a marketing career to check out their education tools.

 

What I enjoy the most about working in marketing.

Every single day is different when you work in marketing. To be honest, I have some days where every single hour can be different. There are times when I have to switch between campaign planning, strategy, website, SEO, communications, design, etc. People in marketing have many skills under their belt and having the ability to switch between a range of tasks is essential. Having something different to do almost every hour makes time go so much quicker, brings enjoyment to my job and enables me to adapt and grow skillset. Plus, marketing is a role where you can be both very organised and creative within the same space!

 

What I look for in new marketing employees.

More than anything, the main thing that I look for in a new employee is energy. I feel like this in many areas of my life. But especially when it comes to work. Marketing is meant to be a high energy and a vastly creative department. You can not achieve what is required if you are a flat and low energy kind of person. I want to be able to hold a strong conversation with people, I want them to have something about themselves and a certain energy that is captivating. Thankfully with all of my marketing hires, I have felt a connection almost instantly.

 

Do I think a degree is required for marketing?

In a word, no. I don’t think that you need a degree to get into marketing. If anything, I am going to make a bold statement here by saying that sometimes a degree can actually alter an individuals perception of what working in marketing is actually like. Nothing in my opinion will ever compare to people obtaining real life experience and learning on the job. That way individuals learn about the company, products, culture and so much more. It is great people committing to their education and I never want to deter from that. However I have found that these people tend to struggle coming to grips with the everyday grind and the high volume of work that comes from working in a bustling marketing department.

 

What can the challenges be about working in marketing?

There are two big challenges that I can easily identify from working in marketing. The first is that people have no idea generally what marketing is. I get so many comments about creating flyers and altering the website. They have no idea the effort that has to go into every aspect of marketing in order to keep things smoothly ticking over. It can be insulting, but then again I need to remember that just before getting into the industry myself, I too didn’t know what marketing was. The second is that things can change incredibly quickly, especially with SEO. What worked one day, will be gone the next and there is no way to keep up with things!

 

What do I think the future holds for marketing?

Marketing is ever evolving. There is so much changing in the space at the moment it is a really exciting time to be working in this sector. I think one of the big advancements to come in the marketing space will without a doubt be the use of AI. If you are interested in the space, I am sure you will be familiar with ChatGPT. Tools like this are going to really define the space, either for the positive or the negative. I think AI will eventually be carried out through many aspects of marketing. Marketeers will have to learn how we can work alongside AI and how we can optimize it, instead of fighting against it.

 

As always, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this post. I would say that if you are looking to get into a career in marketing, take the leap and go for it. I feel so fortunate that I happened upon this job. As I mentioned, it never dawned on me that marketing might be the right path. It was certainly never mentioned to me in comprehensive school or at college. It would have made things hell of a lot smoother if I did know about it earlier on. However, I do have to stress that it is never too late to get into the marketing game. The marketing space is always evolving and changing so there is always room for new individuals to enter the space!