I am currently marketing lead at Turbo Power Systems based on the Team Valley in Gateshead. I have been in the manufacturing industry my whole working life and have been working in marketing full time for just over four years. For me, marketing is one of those jobs where you can guarantee to be doing something different each week, which is why it still excites me every day. I’m not the type of person who can happily sit and do the same thing day in, day out.
My route into Marketing
It’s true that a lot of people don’t set out to pursue a career in marketing and I think part of the reason for this is that it is widely misunderstood and somewhat undervalued. Also, there is not enough education about what marketing is and why it is such a valuable career. I certainly had no idea what a career in marketing would be like until I “fell into it”, but I think it is important that a bigger awareness is created in schools and sixth forms to create the next generation of marketeers.
I started out as an administration apprentice at the tender age of 17 in a global manufacturing company, this was my first venture into the world of work and I didn’t really know what to expect. It wasn’t long before I started to really take an interest in what it takes to create a globally respected brand and I started to ask questions about the roles and responsibilities of the marketing department. After a brief foray into other departments, I settled in the marketing team.
I immediately started the Level 4 Certificate in Professional Marketing with the Chartered Institute of Marketing at NESMA (North East Sales and Marketing Academy). I had previously undertaken a Foundation Degree in Business Management and I had the option to do the top-up year to complete the bachelor degree but I felt the course didn’t tackle the day to day realities of a career in marketing. Studying with CIM gives you the knowledge and education you need and it opens you up to a community of like-minded individuals who share your struggles and your joy.
The CIM courses don’t just give you the tools you need to create and implement an excellent marketing plan but they also give you the confidence and knowledge to back up that plan when those around you challenge your decisions. I think in some aspects the latter is the most important part. A great way to succeed and build a strong marketing department is to encourage and educate those around you to understand why you do what you do, so the next time you need to spend a lot of money or implement an audacious campaign, you have the backing of the leadership.
At the beginning of my career in marketing, I went to a seminar where senior marketers talked about their careers and the challenges they have faced. A very wise lady stood at the front and gave her speech, her finishing note has stuck with me ever since, she said: “If you want to become a marketing director, you can’t be the person around the boardroom table who talks about brochures, you need to educate yourself on the wider topic of business management, leave the brochures at the door and be the one in the room who challenges.” I will carry this piece of advice with me for the rest of my career, I regret that I don’t remember this lady’s name and that I didn’t take the time to introduce myself to her and tell her how much I valued her speech, but I will always strive to have that confidence when I am presenting a marketing strategy that I have created.
This is the type of confidence you learn by studying with the CIM and speaking with other marketers, it doesn’t matter whether they are in the same industry as you or not, at the end of the day whether you are marketing for a fish monger or marketing for the biggest online retailer in the world, marketing at its core is about communicating the value of your products or services to an ever-changing audience.
I have just started the Level 6 CIM Diploma in Professional Marketing with NESMA and I am so excited to enhance my knowledge, learn new skills and grow in confidence.
My advice to aspiring marketers
If you want to be the best marketer you can be, my advice is, do the course, read the book and attend the seminars. You don’t know how much you don’t know until you’re out there doing it on your own, so take every opportunity to learn and thrive and speak to as many people as you can, you never know who will deliver the golden nugget of advice that will stick with you for the rest of your career.
