5 things for marketers to remember when looking for a new role
A brief checklist to evaluate your next great marketing gig
Over the years, I have realised that we marketers are dumb at finding the roles that are good for us.
Why?
One: Because we deal in stories, we are a gullible lot for good stories ourselves, which founders are experts in. And two, because we are over-optimistic: We think we can do more than what the culture will allow us to do. Both of these are harmful.
So how do you, as a marketer, make sure you find the perfect role for yourself, where you fit like a glove and set yourself up for success?
Because otherwise you will get stuck in roles that give you no pleasure, no growth, no learning, and give the organisation no profit either. That’s not a situation you want to be in.
I’ve tried to boil my experience on this particular topic down to 5 points that you can use as a checklist, sort-of. It may not be the exhaustive list you need, but it’s certainly a starting point.
The Founder-CMO fit
For marketers early in their career, this translates to the Marketer-CMO fit. If what you want to do, and believe in, matches what your CMO is setting out to do, get on board. Whatever happens, you’ll learn stuff.
For those at my stage, knowing that your vision matches the Founder/CEO’s gives you a slightly longer thread, because things like content marketing and brand building take time. Think about what this means for you, find your fit.
Pay attention to the fundamentals
When looking at a startup or company you want to join, ask the fundamental questions, how much revenue do they make, what is the ticket size, what is the CAC, what is the LTV, how big is the sales team, and so on. You might not get all the answers, because you might be asking these things of a startup founder, but you will get the most important ones, and those would be enough.
For a pre-PMF startup, ask what the strategy and the plan is. That will almost definitely change, but that a plan exists to attack the problem is a first good signal, and if it seems well thought-out, that’s your second.
See if the role plays to your strengths
Any marketer is a particular kind of marketer. I specialise in brand, inbound and content, and any team I lead will extrapolate from there; A friend of mine is operationally very strong, so his team will be super-efficient in its mark-ops; you get the drift.
If you are going to lead the team, see if the role plays to your specific strengths. If it does, go for it. On the other hand, trying to force-fit yourself into a role made for someone else doesn’t usually play out well. Find the nail for your hammer.
Ask for the larger vision of where the organisation wants to go
This will tell you two things: one, if the organisation has a larger vision and ambition beyond the everyday stuff of running a viable business, and two, if the CEO/CMO is a good storyteller and has the ability to persuade.
Both these things matter, and they matter a hell of a lot. If the startup/company has both of these, get on board.
Get extreme clarity in what is expected of you
I didn’t do this once, just once, and it kicked me in the butt like nothing had.
Please make sure you are very, very clear as to what is expected of you. If you can (and sometimes you can’t), get this in writing. Read it at least five times, and then ask for clarification. Discuss timelines, budgets, and teams. Discuss your growth.
Startups won’t have concrete plans, but they will have some idea. Get that idea cleared up for yourself so you are not surprised later.
That’s mostly it. If you get some of these right, you’ll have made less mistakes than others. And that’s the first step to succeeding at anything new.
Best of luck on your job hunt!
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