You're nervous. It's your first day or week on the job, and you have some questions. You know that you need to project confidence and a can do attitude to impress your boss and make your colleagues feel confident that you're the right person for the job. When you're in your first marketing position, it's normal to be a little worried, but you need to embrace the fear, ask your questions, and be humble enough to let your new experiences shape you.
You Have Something to Offer
Whenever you're feeling uncertain in your new position, remember that you have something to offer - which is why you were chosen to fill the role. It will also play a role in the development of your marketing career down the line. Every day, you're faced with a decision: you can hide your uncertainty and the gaps in your knowledge, or you can embrace them and move forward in your discomfort. Know that it's all right to be the new person learning the ropes. Know your deficiencies as well, and be willing to learn more about them. Recognize that feedback is one of your most valuable learning tools, as long as it is done in a constructive way that helps you pinpoint places to grow.
Choose a company culture that embraces teamwork as well as individual learning.
You're Part of a Team
When you're choosing a new apprenticeship or finding your first job in your marketing career, choose a job where you're part of a vital team. Look for a company culture that embraces failures as learning opportunities. As Seth Godin says, "A failure is a project that doesn't work, an initiative that teaches you something at the same time the outcome doesn't move you directly closer to your goal." Seek out chances to work as part of a vital team that brings diverse strengths to a project. Practice failing. According to Forbes, "Admitting what plagues you (and then learning that others feel the same way) will help you realize that while self-doubt is vexing, no one dies from it." Does your workplace encourage dialogue and an analysis of failures, strengths, and weaknesses? This type of applied education allows you to learn from others and bring your own strengths to the team.
Ask Questions to Move Forward in Your Marketing Career
As you move forward in your marketing career, the question is your best friend. Asking strategic questions not only helps boost your confidence and clarity, it also helps your workplace in the long run in solving problems. Here's a few examples of questions to ask once you bgein your new job.
- What's the bigger story behind the service or product that we provide and how does our company fit into that narrative?
- What's the biggest problem our company is trying to solve in the next 6-12 months?
- Who's who in the office? Where do individuals' skills and roles fit into this problem?
- How do we "do" marketing here? What are the communication channels that are already set up to facilitate a marketing campaign?
- How are we building our marketing plan so that some marketing is hard-wired into everything each employee does?
- What is our history? What are some of the biggest marketing successes and failures that we've had in the past, and how can we learn from these?
By asking savvy questions, you'll not only build your understanding of the business and its marketing history, you'll also develop a reputation for asking pertinent questions and trying to grow in your knowledge.
Looking for a marketing job now? DCI can help. Our apprenticeship program gives you support as you grow in your first marketing position. Check out our listings today!
