Supporting Our Employability as Marketers
I have often been asked: “If I get this qualification, will I get a better job”? Well, to be fair, in my experience, it certainly won’t do us any harm. However, I have always felt that viewing a qualification as a simple transactional that can be a golden ticket to career success, is arguable a bit too simplistic, for what is in reality a multi-faceted consideration. Qualifications are definitely very important, but they only represent one aspect of what it takes to become truly employable.
As we know, as Marketers, we need to draw upon a wide range of skills, abilities and attributes, if we are to develop a platform for our ongoing success, within a dynamic workplace. In fact, the importance of making the most of our own employability skills and building on them, cannot be overstated and could not be more topical.
Employability isn’t new of course, for example twenty years ago, Peter Hawkins in The Art of Building Windmills, stated that “To be employed is to be at risk, to be employable is to be secure”. Which as well as being very thought provoking, even sobering, is something of an eternal truth. Investing time, effort and indeed money into a professional qualification, is a still significant decision though. Indeed it is one that we know, will add value to our own learning and development and in turn directly benefit our own professional standing. Taking our accredited learning to the next level, by working towards and ultimately obtaining Chartered Marketer status, will allow us to be readily identifiable, as up to date, experienced and qualified marketing professionals. However, we should be ever mindful, that we also need to be able to consolidate, or even expand upon these excellent achievements. Making a concerted effort to focus upon our ongoing development of a range of hard and soft skills, which will be needed, if we are to become the truly rounded professional that employers and clients seek, will clearly take us to the next step and help us to differentiate ourselves in a positive way.
Employability within Marketing, has clear links to reputation and professionalism. In fact, reflecting upon our own employability, is an important aspect of being a modern professional. Focusing upon the qualities that our industry connects with, is always a useful exercise. The importance of stopping to consider, how we will continue to have the capacity to function successfully in our roles, while retaining the ability to move between settings, as needs and ambitions dictate, cannot be overstated. In fact, this is the roots of our ability to remain current and in turn remain employable, throughout our careers. Within Marketing, we are fortunate to be able to readily refer to the Professional Marketing Competencies which act as a very helpful framework of recognised marketing abilities. They provide us with a clear guide to the skills and behaviours that are expected of professional marketers. This not only sets out the technical competencies we need, but also the capabilities that sit at the very heart of marketing and very importantly, the behaviours that marketing professionals need to be able to consistently demonstrate.
Building our portfolio of employability at first sight might seem like an abstract task that is something of a parallel to our already demanding roles, something of an “extra job” that we could well do without at the moment. However, emphasis rather than effort is also very much part of the order of the day. There are inevitably a number of sources that provide us with recommendations for this and most will clearly add value. For me though, selecting to focus on the following ten, will definitely add value, if embraced in a purposeful way.
Ten activities that will support our employability as Marketers:
- Obtain relevant qualifications
- Demonstrate consistent and effective performance.
- Deliver positive change
- Build constructive relationships
- Form a solid awareness of our internal and external environments
- Demonstrate marketing competencies in practice
- Foster creativity, resilience, self-esteem and confidence
- Ensure that by our efforts, our organisation became a better place because of us
- Maintain an active CPD programme
- Reflect upon our employability status and ensure it remains on track
Six of these of course, clearly require us to carry out our day to day pursuits in a certain way, rather than an additional way. Others like understanding what is going on around us in a detailed way, is at the very heart of being a professional in the first place. In fact, as we know, until we actually understand our own context, it is going to be difficult to know very much at all. So hardly an optional extra really I guess.
Remember though, that being part of the world’s leading professional marketing body, has of course, already brought us clearly into a supportive professional zone. For example, those of us who embrace our values, are better equipped to thrive within a world of increasing competition, transparency and change. In addition, our local, national, and international networks and events, can help us share information and connect at every level in the marketing community. Also proving our worth to current and future employers, can be enhanced by joining our Chartered CPD Programme. Wherever we see our ambitions taking us within our profession, remember that our CIM membership, will help support and inspire us at every stage of our marketing career.