By Catherine Lund, Toronto Marketing Recruiter
Before you become the Chief Marketing Officer at a multinational organization, you need to work your way up. All current C-level executives didn’t start at the top, and the best executives worked their way up over time, gaining valuable experience in the process.
As recruiters, we work with our fair share of motivated marketing professionals who want to advance their career as quickly as possible. Many want to skip the entry level positions out of school and go right to the top. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way for most marketing professionals.
Here is our advice for marketers who are looking to advance their career:
1. Be patient
While having diverse experience working with multiple organizations can help you develop your skills and advance your career, moving around too much could hurt your chances of being recruited for top level marketing positions.
Many young marketers are impatient. They don’t want to wait or put in the time necessary to climb the corporate ladder. This is why we are seeing so many marketers jump from company to company – they want to move up as quickly as possible.
“How can a 32-year-old who has already been with 7 companies make a compelling case for a potential employer? In my view, this short-term strategy will fail over time,” says Kimberly A. Whitler on Forbes.
She makes a great point – moving around too much could hurt your development, and companies could also view it as a red flag. Give things a chance to develop before making a sudden career move that may be unwarranted.
2. Take advantage of training opportunities
There is no question that organizations want marketers with extensive training and experience. Take advantage of all training opportunities from day one of your career. Take advantage of company training, opportunities to gain valuable certifications, and coaching and mentorship programs.
3. Experience as much as possible
Even in your current position, take advantage of opportunities to gain valuable experience that will benefit you in the future. Join internal committees, take on special projects, attend company and networking events, go to conferences, and work on building your own portfolio of work.
“The right experiences – at the right companies – directly determine your long-term economic value. You need to be the one who actively manages your career roadmap,” says Whitler.
You are in the driver’s seat. If you want to advance your career, it’s up to you to make things happen.
Get more advice about how to approach your marketing career from our marketing recruiters by checking out these insightful blog posts:
Outlining the Ever Changing Landscape of Marketing Careers
The 3 BIGGEST Challenges Marketers Face in Today’s Marketplace
4 SIMPLE Yet EFFECTIVE Ways to Improve Your Marketing Skills
Top 4 OVERLOOKED Advantages of a Marketing Career
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IQ PARTNERS is an Executive Search & Recruitment firm with offices in Toronto and Vancouver. We help companies hire better, hire less & retain more. We have specialist teams of recruiters in Financial Services & Insurance, Marketing Communications & Media, Emerging Tech & Telecom, Consumer Goods & Retail, B2B & Industrial, Technology, Accounting & Finance, HR & Operations and Mining & Engineering. IQ PARTNERS has its head office in Toronto and operates internationally via Aravati Global Search Network. Click here to view current job openings and to register with us.
