Industry: Marketing
A Day In the Life of a Marketer
Provide Marketing services to clients. I've had an independent (work from home) consulting business for 8 years. Services include Product Marketing – including: Email / Release Notes / Webinars / Blogs / GTM / Product Launches / Website Content / Sales Enablement / Positioning & Messaging / Net Promoter Score / Buyer & User Personas
Educational Pathway
My major was journalism at SDSU, but I had an emphasis in advertising. During college, I sold Advertising for the Daily Aztec (SDSU campus newspaper), and I got an internship at a prestigious San Diego Advertising Agency. That start put me down the path of Advertising (first) then Marketing.
Characteristics/Skills/Inspiration
Creative Thinking, Organizational Skills, Good Planning, Negotiations, Communication, Presentation, Sales, Networking, Work hard/play hard. But mostly it was the creative environment and daily problem solving for a variety of clients across multiple business sectors that I found interesting. No day was ever the same and there were always fun challenges to be had. The people and the work were always interesting and exciting.
Pros and Cons
Pros: Huge perks, met lots of interesting people, was able to see the fruit of my labor manifest in a tangible/physical way.
Cons: High Risk / Reward meaning marketing is a field is usually the first budget that gets cut when times are hard. This means high turnover and layoffs are very common. Advertising Agencies currency is ideas. This creates a pretty cutthroat environment where sometimes the best idea doesn't always win. Therefore, it can be a very politically charged environment. Entry-level / early career earnings can be low.
Biggest Challenge Faced In Getting Where They Are Today - How did they overcome it?
Surviving multiple layoffs. I'm actually in the process of writing about surviving a layoff.
Advice For One Pursuing this Career
Work hard, nothing comes easy. Being good at your job is not enough. You have to be personable, likable, and easy to work with. Don't underestimate the importance of politics in the workplace. Very few workplaces are meritocracies - and they are never fair. Understand and accept this and take it on these terms, and you'll be fine.