Three Templar tips for career progression

You may have realized by now that, in your early years, most business self-help books are utterly useless for career progression. Particularly when green & keen, we’ve all tried reading them – One Minute Manager, 7 Habits, Who Moved My Cheese, How to Win Friends, etc.

The irony is, especially when fairly junior, anyone spouting the business babble comes across as weird and so is unlikely to be promoted.

[As an aside, if you feel that emotional intelligence isn’t your strong suit, to the point that you need to learn it in a book, my advice would be to focus on the Big Data / Operations side of marketing. This is no bad thing, as you’ll most likely end up earning a lot more than your charismatic colleagues.]

With few exceptions, my experience of career progression has been that if you work hard, take the time to master your brief, are a reliable team member, have good organization & communication skills and are always upbeat, you’ll rise above most of your peers.

The one self-help book I would recommend is Richard Templar’s The Rules of Work: The Unspoken Truth About Getting Ahead in Business. It assumes you’re good at your job and suggests practical actions to help you get on and up. Rather than CEOs or wannabe Bransons, it’s aimed at those in the early stages of their career hungry to climb the ladder. Chapters include: If you can’t say anything nice, shut up; Act one step ahead; and Know the system – and milk it.

From the 100 rules, here are three I’ve found particularly valuable:

1)    Know something others don’t
Hopefully you know about a lot of things, however it’s worth being the go-to person for something crucial. This makes you indispensible and – if you pick your topic well – offers an opportunity to be a subject matter expert with insights the exec team crave. For modern marketers, you may want to consider:

• Funnel math – If there’s one thing likely to get you noticed by those up the food chain, it’s fully understanding and articulating Marketing’s impact on revenue. This is the difference between fluff & bluff and talking the talk of the top table. Refer to Rozzer’s Marketing Metrics post if you need some guidance.
• Systems and data – This is fast becoming one of the most influential areas of marketing and yet – due to complexity or dullness – one that many avoid. If you’re not one of these people then chances are you’ll be in high demand. Several years ago, one of my team took a punt that Salesforce was going to be the foundation of our company’s sales engine and so decided to master it. In her mid 30s, she’s now VP Global Sales Operations, one of the most influential people in the company, and pulling in massive coin.
• Market analysis – It’s often scary how many strategic decisions are based on a sales/exec manager’s gut feel – usually because they’re too time poor to undertake proper research and analysis. Being the oracle of market data – such as segment size, growth and potential – will give you a seat in strategy discussions. And being able to present this in a concise, compelling way, will take you far.

2)    The power of the unsolicited report
Personally, I’ve found this the best suggestion in the book. Most of the time, CXOs are too busy to do the research and so are suitably amazed/delighted when an interesting, snappy report appears out of the blue that addresses a pain point.

Chances are, when it comes to implementation, your name will be the top of the list and you’ll find yourself on some plum projects. In your manager’s eye, you’ll be elevated to a thinker and a problem solver, rather than just a foot soldier.

3)    Capitalize on moments to shine
Isn’t it annoying not to be appreciated for your brilliance at least a few times a day? The fact is, there’s likely to be only a handful of high-visibility opportunities a year where you get a chance to make a name for yourself. Like it or not, exec opinions of you are often based on these – so spot these opportunities a mile off and nail them.

How not to phone interview for a marketing role

In the last two months I have phone-interviewed over 40 candidates for a handful of junior marketing roles and it is amazing the basic mistakes that people make. What I found is that you usually know within ten minutes of the call if someone is going to make the next stage.

One thing I did realise is that it is tough out there. Hundreds of graduates are desperate for entry level roles and many young people have been made redundant from struggling organisations. All the more reason to do everything you can to come across well in your first interaction (I am not going to cover CVs here although the errors here are worth a whole post).

I had some terrible phone interviews and in the end I classified the worst into the following categories. Do your best never to be classified as follows.

The Hunter

This person was out in the wild with the sound of the jungle seeping down the phone. Usually they were on their lunch break and standing next to a busy road or in the middle of a town centre. Every fifth word was punctuated with the sound of a car, a screaming baby or a dog barking. One guy bumped into a group of work colleagues and proceeded to have a 60 second conversation about where he was going for lunch while I was on the end of the phone (McDonalds in case you were wondering).

It sounds obvious but find somewhere quiet to do your call from or don't do it at all.

The Moron

Amazingly only around 60% of candidates had any idea what my company did. 60%! If you do not research what the company does and are not able to talk about it for a couple of minutes then you are a moron. Fact.

In some instances it was so bad that I had to end the call there and then. Why would you apply for a role that you have no idea what it entails? What kind of passion does it show? Spend at least the length of the scheduled interview time researching the company and the person who is interviewing you.

Desperate Dan

Desperate Dan doesn't always rear his ugly head during the interview, sometimes it is a spectacular encore. For example, one candidate who didn't get the role wrote two letters to me outlining how I had made a huge mistake and how it would have a large impact on the future direction of the Fortune 50 organisation I work for (bear in mind this was a graduate position). Unfortunately for the candidate this campaign moved to Twitter and the person in question implored me (and the world) on Twitter to reconsider.

The result? Blacklisted from graduate positions in the organisation and branded as a moron. Be gracious in defeat and don't burn any bridges. The person interviewing is taking a lot of things into account during the interview process and it is probably best for you both that you are not put into a role you are not right for.

The Theoretical CEO

This is the person who has a marketing or business degree, probably including a masters, and has read every book in the world. They quote the marketing greats extensively and are jam-packed full of jargon. They are seconds away from bursting onto the scene and making CEO in a matter of weeks.

There are positives here - the ambition and the knowledge - but generally this candidate has no idea how to practically deliver marketing day to day and is going to come down to earth with a bump. Theory is great, but if I am hiring a graduate I won't somebody who is going to roll their sleeves up and get dirty down the marketing mines. I also need someone who can take constructive criticism and continually evolve.

If you don't have any practical experience convince me that you are desperate to get down to some hard work and that you know you are not the finished article.

The Politician

This is the candidate who hears a hard question and just decides to answer an imaginary question that they would prefer to answer. Some are so good at it that you actually forget the question you asked in the first place.

While this can be a useful skill in life it is not good form in an interview. If you give me a random answer I am just going to keep asking you the same question until I get what I need. I definitely don't want to spend the next three years in meetings with you trying to search for the truth.

Happy hunting!