What is your advice for someone at the start of their marketing career?

Firstly, I think it is important to understand that marketing is not just advertising, and with all the facets and assets that surround marketing, it is actually a very broad discipline. Therefore, the first bit of advice I would give to someone starting out in their marketing career would be to find your niche and what you enjoy. Do you like digital and creative marketing or are you analytical and numerical? No matter what your strong point, there is an aspect of marketing that you can go into.

In terms of how to get there, there are two clear paths - university and apprenticeships. I personally feel that the apprenticeships which are becoming available in the industry are much more effective than the university route, however, it heavily depends on the individual. I do feel it is important to emphasise that if the university route is your pathway of choice, gaining work experience within a marketing department is a very strong foundation which will be advantageous when it comes to looking for full-time employment after university. Not only will this advance your practical skills, but having office experience and understanding how your role fits into a wider organisation with different teams is extremely valuable.

Generally, different types of businesses use different strategies for recruiting junior marketers. Big corporate companies are much more likely to favour the university route, taking on students for placement years then converting them into permanent members of staff once their degree is completed. Small digital start-ups and agencies, however, are much more inclined to recruit inexperienced apprentices and up-skill them by learning on the job.

How do you think marketing has evolved over the last 5 years?

Marketing has become much more integrated. By this, I mean the lines between traditional IT roles and marketing roles are becoming increasingly blurred and it is a lot harder to pinpoint where marketing responsibilities stop, and tech responsibilities start. If you look at User Experience (UX), CRM, and Automation, it is easy to see that marketing and development teams must work much closer together than ever before. Today, a strong marketing team will be made up of a multi-disciplined team of Analysts, Developers, and Marketers, all reliant on each other to achieve the same goal. Therefore, to be successful, it is important to have all-round business knowledge and understand sales, accessibility, usability and the customer lifetime value.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of contracting?

Although they all have their similarities, I think contracting, consulting, and freelancing are all different. I would describe contracting as going into a role on a fixed-term basis such as a maternity cover or trailing a role before it becomes permeant. As a Consultant, you would usually be mentoring or upskilling a business in a certain area, and freelancing is usually technical support or leading a niche project.

Contracting comes with many advantages; you have much more flexibility, free time for family and other commitments, and the potential to earn more money is high. However, you do have to compromise your job security, which comes with some challenges.

It is important to manage your pipeline and find a balance between working and prospecting. To be successfully self-employed you must use your free time efficiently and stay in regular contact with prospective clients. On the flip side of this, it is important not to overfill and over-promise. Timing is very important, and as you go through this cycle a couple of times, it gets much easier to gage. However, my advice would be to always have a financial buffer so if your pipeline is looking a bit dry, you don’t have to put pressure on yourself straight away.

What are the standout characteristics of a marketing/digital recruit?

It totally depends on the organisation. Teams are completely different depending on the size, scale and culture of the business. Even if you have a really good candidate, they won’t necessarily work well in any business. When I am hiring a candidate for a finance business with a start-up feel, for example, I usually look for a candidate who is comfortable in a fast-paced environment, numerical and not afraid to have a voice and fight their corner. Alternatively, in more corporate businesses, there are a lot more processes and a structured hierarchy, so the ideal candidate may be an individual with strong attention to detail, for example.

Additionally, when recruiting, I like to create a team as opposed to just a group of individuals. I always consider the current team and look for a candidate who will complement their personalities and skills. Personally, I like a fun team and I like people who I’m able to have a laugh with. By making the first interview quite informal, you tend to find out much more about the person and their interests. The second interview is where I start drilling down into their skills and set them a challenge to examine their thought processes. For me, I am drawn to candidates who are numerical and commercial, with no fluffiness. Even in content marketing roles, where candidates are often much more creative, being results-orientated is still very important. Always think about why you are doing what you are doing and have a key performance metric to measure against.