Are you in the RIGHT marketing role?

When you choose marketing as a career, you are not always sure what role is the best fit. You may join a company as a marketing generalist or a researcher or digital marketing specialist. Whatever you select as your initial position may not be where you stay long term. However, what you learn on the job will help you tailor your skills to what is the best fit for both you and the company.

When you are hired for a specific position, the goal is to excel in that role. It is important to meet the objectives, be a team player, have initiative, and demonstrate that you are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed. A company spends time and money in searching for the right candidate to fill an open position. The last thing they want is to hire someone who immediately wants to move to another position. Showing the company your work ethic and meeting the goals of the position will help you in the future if you ask to move to another position within marketing. It is a good practice to remain in your initial role for a minimum of one-two years.

To build your career roadmap, show management that you have multiple skills. Start by offering to help the person or team in your interested role. If this is not possible, you can choose to stay in your current position or look for open positions with other companies. A note of caution, doing this too soon or too often may show a pattern of indecisiveness, which can hurt your chances of advancement or being hired by a new company. Take your time, learn the skills required to excel in the role, and take the right steps when making a move.

There are personality traits that can be a contributing factor to where you may excel.

• Vision, creativity, and innovative thinking are traits that are best suited for corporate or brand marketing
• Artistry and creativity, attention to detail, and expert skills in desktop publishing tools and graphic design software are key for creative marketing roles ?????
• Great writing and storytelling skills are critical for content marketers
• Project management, the love of numbers and data, and the ability to turn that data into actionable insight are required for marketing operations roles
• Outgoing extroverts are great traits for business development and sales representatives

Certain marketing roles are prerequisites for other roles such as:

• Research is a great place to start if you want to move into a product marketing role
• Business development is a logical entry into sales
• A marketing generalist can move to many other roles such as event management, content writing, public and media relations or marketing operations
• A corporate or traditional marketing role can move to a digital marketing role
• Project management is a good place to start to move into channel marketing

The more you hone the skills required for a specific role, the better chance you have of moving into that role. Continuing your education, getting certifications, and learning new technologies are ways to show management that you are serious about changing your role and advancing your career. You can also find a mentor at your company or outside the company that holds the position you want and learn from them.?

In addition, any of these individual contributor roles can move into a management role. With management roles, you may not be hired into them initially or be able to choose to move into the roles but you can be promoted into management based upon your work history and skills.?

If you enjoy creating processes, developing strategies, implementing programs, and coaching, you may be well suited for management. When you are ready to move from an individual contributor to management, try to lead a project, create a presentation showing vision and strategy, continue your education with management courses or introduce a new marketing program. You may also suggest using new technology to make marketing more efficient or cost effective. Your actions will show initiative and that you would like, and can handle, more responsibility.

There are several benefits and challenges moving into a management role.

Benefits

• Autonomy to build and manage great teams
• Spearhead a positive work environment
• Energize and direct marketing activities
• Cultivate a culture of ownership, fairness, inclusion, creativity, and fun
• Introduce innovation and experimental marketing
• Advance team member’s careers
• Mentorship?

Challenges?

• Ongoing team motivation and inspiration
• Holding people accountable for results
• Making difficult employment decisions
• Effective communications
• Delegation and building trust
• Interpersonal conflict resolution
• Managing multiple priorities

As with any change you make in your life or career, take your time and research what you want prior to taking action. Working in multiple roles in marketing can be educational, exciting, and fun. Finding where you are best suited and what makes you the happiest will also be good for the company. A happy employee makes a good and successful employee.?

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