Starting off in any industry is tough – and marketing is no different. Whether you want to be a digital marketer or do product marketing – there are insights about working on a team and in an office environment – especially at an enterprise level – that only come with experience – or advice from someone who’s been there.
When I mentor early career marketers, these are the types of questions they have:
- How do I know I’m doing well?
- What are the expectations of my role?
- What should I be learning?
- How do I work with my boss/manager?
- How do I deal with difficult team members?
- How soon can I expect to be promoted? Or get a raise?
Anyone working in an office might have these types of questions early on. In digital marketing and product management, there are specific activities that go on and assumptions that are made of the people in marketing.
I’ve managed teams, worked in an agency, worked for start-ups and in larger, enterprise organizations, and seen big differences in what’s expected of people, depending on where you land.
How is an early-career marketer to know what to do?
Most advice is to find a mentor. Unfortunately, it’s usually up to the individual to find a mentor, or someone who can provide answers to these types of questions. If you’re new to an organization, it’s often difficult to know who to ask, or how that request will be received, and how fast you can find the right mentor for you.
On top of that, senior level marketers are often very busy, so they don’t have time to be helpful, outside of a formalized once-a-month meeting that lasts an hour.
Typically, questions come up in the meantime: how should I handle this situation? What’s expected of me here? Or even, what did I do wrong? How do I fix this situation now?
As a marketing strategist, managing teams, I’ve noticed that younger marketers need help and often don’t know where to turn to get it. While coaching might be available for the older, more seasoned employees, the early-career employees need help just as much – or perhaps more.
What would help? A platform that provides mentoring – at scale – for early-career marketers, that:
- Answers the questions above, as well as the many others that are typically asked
- Offers ongoing answers to individual questions that arise
- Includes weekly “office hours” where questions can be asked and answered “live”
- Provides a community of early-career marketers so they can share experiences, and network
- Highlights successful Marketing VP’s and CMO’s – interviewing them, to share their career experiences and how they got to where they are now
- Partners with other organizations, providing 1:1 mentoring
This platform is coming in the Fall of 2021. If you’re interested in learning more – let me know and I’ll let you know when we’re launched!
