Name: Leah
Blog: www.DevotedToPink.Blogspot.co.uk
Industry: Marketing
Job Title: Head of Marketing & Business Development
Brief description of job role and industry
I run a Marketing department for a multi-franchise car dealership, and the business development part of my role sees me manage commercial projects within the business. Over the years I have worked agency and client side, specialising in media buying, PPC and social media, but I'm now happy heading up a team that cover most aspects of Marketing.
An average day consists of...
Most of the time I'm in meetings, approving artwork, making decisions and speaking with my team to make sure everything is running smoothly, not to mention the mound of emails I have to get through each day and reply to. Throw in external meetings (so some travel required), award ceremonies, presentations, meeting with my MD, networking lunches, interviewing and taste testing chocolate and you can see it's pretty varied job!
Career progression
The levels will vary from company to company and the type of Marketing you want to do. But as a guide for general Marketing you would be looking at:
Marketing Assistant
Marketing Executive
Senior Marketing Executive
Marketing Manager
Head of Marketing/ Marketing Director
Qualifications/experience required
Most Marketing roles now days do require you to have a degree and sometimes a CIM (Certificate In Marketing) too. However, I don't have either so don't be disheartened if you want to get into Marketing and don't have the formal qualifications - it just means you have to work that little bit harder to get your foot in the door. If you don't have a degree and really want to get into Marketing then you can do a CIM part time. Your qualifications and experience will dictate what level you can go in at, but if you are starting out then I would definitely recommend you give this a go.
Best tip to crack the industry
Never give up! Marketing is a very competitive industry and it seems every graduate I speak to wants to be a Marketer. As I said, I don't have the formal qualifications, so I had to get to my position through hard work and recommendations. Because of this I don't always look for a degree/ CIM when I am recruiting - although this depends what level I'm recruiting for. For me, being proactive, dedicated, hard working and a quick leaner is more important than a qualification, as ultimately I can teach you Marketing, but I've learnt over the years that you can't teach someone to work their butt off! If you don't have the qualifications and find that you aren't getting anywhere when applying for jobs try looking for Marketing roles in small to medium size companies, as they aren't always so strict about the qualification criteria as some of the bigger PLC's.
Best thing about my job
My team definitely make my job. I've always said that you are only as good as the people you work with, and my team are all fantastic at what they do. Each of them specialise in their own area - online marketing, graphic design, analysing data, social media, email marketing and so on... It's my job to have a good understanding of every field to be able to make decisions, but also to utilise their strengths and knowledge in order to make it happen and make sure the detail is correct.
Worst thing about my job
I absolutely love my job and I can honestly say with my hand on my heart that there isn't anything "bad" about it. Although what I would say is that Marketing is one of those jobs where everyone has an opinion. Quite often there isn't a right or wrong, especially when it comes to things like design, yet everyone has their own opinion and thinks they are right. This can mean that you find yourself having to justify your decisions a lot of the time, but I like a challenge, so that isn't such a bad thing :-)
Keep an eye on my Blog as I will soon be writing a more detailed beginners guide on "How To Get Into Marketing".
Thanks for reading
Leah x