Anywhere you go, you hear about startups and tech companies. And even though the vast majority of them doesn’t make any real product and solves problems that don’t exist, they still get a ton of praise.
These days, everyone is a co-founder, vice president or head of something in a no-name tech company. And if you don’t know how it works, from outside it might look like all these people are achieving something and make world a better place.
Well, they don’t.
But still due to extensive media coverage and PR campaigns, most of us got this notion that working in tech is cool. That IT is somehow better than a job in a brick-and-mortar business.
Well, it isn’t.
It’s just apples and oranges.
But that’s not my point now. My point is the following.
When a young person after school or uni is inevitably tempted to try and get a job in IT, there are very few options:
- coder
- qa
- manager
- hr
- devops
- support
- marketer
And if you’re not particularly technical, enjoy creativity and don’t want to go against your nature, the choice really narrows down.
So a lot of people who’re into liberal arts, consider becoming marketers.
Entry level positions are easy to get. And it’s one of those jobs that may even seem fun and fancy at first.
And that’s a good thing. The more talented people become marketers the better. And if some less talented or suited for the job will come along, soon they’ll leave.
But do I recommend becoming an online marketer?
Not unless you just love to write.
There will be fewer meetings than in other IT jobs, there will be more creative freedom and choices. There will be a ton of information processing and thinking.
You won’t be making slogans whole day long. You won’t generally sit around a room in bean bags discussing creative approaches.
You will be analyzing and researching. You will need to master a ton of software and perfectly you’ll need to know some basic coding.
Most importantly, you’ll need to learn to talk passionately about products or services even if you hate and despise them.
That’s just the way it is.
You can’t sell stuff if you can’t convince yourself first that it’s the best on the market.
The thing is that most probably the product you’ll work with won’t be the best on the market. But the client can’t know about that. That’s why a lot of the times you’ll feel like you’re lying and pretending. Because you will be doing exactly that – lying and pretending.
But if you manage to grow fast and strong enough within the organization you’ll get a chance to influence the end product. So that you didn’t have to lie and pretend that much about it.
Important thing about an online marketer’s job is that you will need to know your product or service really good. Better than most in the company. And not only your product or service, but also all of your competitors’.
Also, you need to be extra careful when choosing who you work for.
Cause see, no one associates a coder or a tester with the company they work for. But if you’re the guy promoting a business – people will feel like you’re the one responsible for PR fuckups of the CEO, bad product, bad customer service, etc.
And they will be partly correct. Since it was you who convinced them that you’re not selling crap.
I might be a tad too dramatic. But you will feel all these things. A little more or a little less. Depending on the kind of person you are.
Summing up
Marketing isn’t the way you see it in movies. But it is fun.
If the company is right. And if you’re right for the job.
So what to do when you want to apply for an entry level marketing position?
I strongly advice to google around and read about the company you plan to work for. As much as you can. But don’t fall for the cliche stuff like “corporate culture”, “innovative next gen product”, “family-like atmosphere”. Read real reviews from real employees and clients.
Then read about the position you’re applying for. What these people do, what are the pros and cons. You can even get in touch with me if you really want to 🙂
But in general try to read a lot of theory on that job first. Chances are, the actual work will be nothing like what it’s supposed to be. But still.
Other than that, if you’re still in the beginning of your career – why not try yourself in marketing.
Honestly, it’s not for everyone. But even if you don’t become the next Ogilvy, it might open some new windows of opportunity for you.