In the category "Inspiring stories" we are featuring amazing marketers. Our next guest is Marialena. Scroll down and discover her story and advice for fresh marketers.
Hi Marialena! 👋 Can you tell me a bit about yourself?
My name is Marialena, and I come from Greece. Currently I live and work in Copenhagen, Denmark.
My background is in marketing and communications, and my career is built around that and marketing technologies.
Today, I work as an Adobe Consultant at Accenture – I started 2 months ago and I am really enjoying it, as I get the chance to dive deep into marketing software. I as well learn a lot from my colleagues, and interact with clients and partners!
Tell me one fun fact about you.
In general, I am an open book, but I will say that I am a very creative person – I love to paint, sketch, draw, and even visualize things I read or hear!
What inspired you to pursue a career in marketing?
To me, marketing is multifaceted, like me.
All businesses, no matter what they do, need marketing in order to sell their products and services or to just expose themselves to the public.
Marketing requires creativity, deep theoretical skills, and many times also technical skills. So I found this field the perfect area to combine all my interests and skills at once!
What are some lessons learned that have made you successful in your position today?
What my experience to date has taught me is to take initiative. Filter where I can go above and beyond for a position, where it is worth taking tasks outside the job description.
It is always absolutely worth it to cooperate with other departments, as you can learn a lot of things, and get a lot of exposure outside your role!
The more you learn, the more independent can make you.
Nowadays quite some organizations publish entry-level jobs that require “two-three years of experience”. What would be your advice to fresh marketers?
That is a great question! Let me project some thoughts here:
1. Entry-level jobs are "entry-level" jobs
Entry-level jobs do not require 2-3 years of experience, or should never require. That is wrong, and I really cannot explain why this is still a thing.
Entry-level means that they are looking for a person fresh out of their studies, with some internship experience, or experience from a student job, so basically more or less with 1 year of experience.
2. It is a wishlist only
A job description is basically the hiring manager’s wishlist, and it’s never set to all those points. What the open vacancy represents is a description of a perfect candidate for the hiring manager, which let me tell you - does not exist.
3. Do not get discouraged
Since we see such postings, I would say that nobody should be discouraged to apply for a job they find interesting, and they have only a few of the points asked in the posting.
It does not cost you anything to apply after all, right? All a candidate needs is a relevant, clean resume, and a strong and to-the-point cover letter, where they project their best personality aspects, skills, and experience.
Nowadays, I believe many many companies are seeking people that are willing to learn something new and are not afraid of exploring something new (for example, learning a new skill or area).
Companies are looking for people that will:
do the job,
take ownership of their work,
learn (also learn from their mistakes – we are humans after all, not machines), and
work well independently, but also in a team.
I can really keep going on this topic, but I will keep it to that for now! 😄
Thank you Marialena for sharing your story and insights with Marketing Mentors. 🤗
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