[CLOSED] August 2 - August 6: AMA - Building a Career in the Future of Work

[matthewbarby]

Hey Community,

I’m Matt Howells-Barby, VP of Marketing at HubSpot. During my time at HubSpot I’ve been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to build multiple teams filled with incredibly talented individuals, which has given me a valuable insight into how to grow your career in a digitally focused role.

As part of World Certification Week, I hosted a presentation on how to grow a career in the future of work. I’d love to continue the conversation from the session and open up the floor for questions from you about this topic.

This AMA will be open for questions from Monday, August 2 - Friday, August 6. All questions will be answered on Friday, August 6. 

Not sure what to ask? Here are a few sample questions:

1. How do you recommend someone looking to start using micro-credentials get started? 
2. What advice would you give to a new to the market job seeker who is just beginning their career in the digital economy?
3. How do you balance the need to be highly skilled in digital trades with the need to be a well rounded candidate for a role in areas like marketing?

No question is a stupid question, so please do ask whatever you’d like to here my perspective on.

Look forward to chatting with you in the thread and hearing all of your questions! 

[Vmorfin]

Dear all,

It is a pleasure to meet you guys, so important people here, unfortunately I am not into codes, decodes of programming neither into graphic design. Email marketing called my attention regarding to management, handling a bunch of boring emails, and I thought that email marketing is a refreshing idea into social media.

Regarding to the question.

• 1. Micro credentials: Perhaps, get started with innovative presentations, empower teachers with a digital tool to call the attention of the audience, this might demonstrate skills according to the workforce or department needs.
• 2. Digital economy: A piece of advice to get a ahead is by doing a research of the profile to apply for, then design an impressive coverletter and a resume, and email your credentials in no longer than 2 pages, as the reader is a business man who only has time to read 1 page.  However, according to Jersey, an assistant of project management needs to set up the the computer in emergency response, cyber security is a must do, and provide policy support to the digital economy team, which is email marketing out there. at all times. 
• 3. Raounded skilled worker vs marketing: Well, Your skills are the open door to a job, but handle the routine, to manage the communication and to get along the way down the road, marketing is an asset, due to the global needs of companies. For example, the engines that Google algoriths that use to determine the curtomer needs for the design of BLOGs, PPC marketing to targeted customers. As well as the technique,  knowledge and experience on handling deadlines.

I guess that-s everything, at the moment, I will see you guys tomorrow in the test section, or anyother certification, in my case if I don-t approve it, I will have the knowledge not the credentials, right?

Best,

Vmorfin😎

Bibliography.

Seeker,gg (2017-2021) "Cortex: Project Assistant, digital economy-Jersey" Retrieved by: Project Assistant, Digital Economy - Jersey - Full Time Temporary Project Management job in Jersey -...

2.

[AmirNik]

Hi 

I’m Amir 

here to learn SEO

[SBoston]

What is the best practice to build organic traffic surrounding your site? IE backlinks, shares and promotions of our business and our already large network of affilities, customers and suppliers. Thanks! Sheri

[YNoshi]

Hello @matthewbarby , 

I just started my job as a business development manager, currently working in e-marketing and developing their instagram and facebook content. I found this great website I'm sure I can benefit from. What do you advise me to begin with? Our company name is Faustine Furniture AE.

Appreciate your advice! Thanks!

Yasmeen

[AnkitaIyer]

Being a marketing communications professional with experience in B2b marketing, could you please advice if I should opt for learning cloud computing services like AWS Admin certified or SFDC Marketing Cloud consultant. Pademic has resulted employment gap for me professionally (2 years precisely); I really want to focus on upskilling which leads me to a growth oriented opportunity.

Is is necessary for marketing professionals to learn and hustle in cloud computing services since automation has paved the new ways of customer engagement?

Thank you in advance for consideration.

Regards

Ankita

[ARipamonti]

Hi Matthew,

Hi have been in the creative/design industry for over 10 years. First as a graphic and web designer, than photographer and finally art director. I started looking into marketing and branding out of need and curiosity and ended up loving it. Specially areas related to customer experience and inbound marketing.

I will be persuing marketing roles in the near furure, and the question I have is "how would a company, looking for a marketing person, see a prospect like me with a strong visual communication background but relatively new to marketing? Would it be a huge plus or not really?

Thanks

[DDArrigo]

In my humble opinion, A HUGE PLUS!

[FHardware]

Building a career in the future of work requires adapting to evolving trends and technologies while honing skills that are in demand. It involves embracing remote work, digital literacy, and a proactive mindset towards lifelong learning. This can include developing expertise in fields like artificial intelligence, data science, cybersecurity, and sustainable technologies. Additionally, soft skills such as adaptability, communication, collaboration, and problem-solving will continue to be crucial. Networking, staying updated with industry trends, and being open to new opportunities are also key strategies for success in the rapidly changing landscape of work. Exploring niche areas like the Burlington Range can provide specialized opportunities for growth and advancement.

[DDArrigo]

Hi Matthew 🙂 I'm starting a new job as digital and e-commerce specialist for an online training platform in Australia. What advice do you have for running successful paid campaigns on both social media and Google?

[matthewbarby]

@DDArrigo it's been a while since I've run any paid campaigns in e-commerce, but my general advice here would be to spend as much time as possible testing your copy and imagery of your ads as possible. You'll learn a lot from what your competitors are doing - platforms like Moat & Semrush are great for competitor research, in particular.

[Afsana_1]

1.How do you recommend someone looking to start using micro-credentials get started?
:Micro-credential help people to share their achivement, experiences and explore in our society.
2.What advice would you give to a new to the market job seeker who is just beginning their career in the digital economy?
:To take part of HubSpot and learn how to grow small business and career in the digital economy.
3.How do you balance the need to be highly skilled in digital trades with the need to be a well rounded candidate for a role in areas like marketing?
To following steps and learn more about marketing. It is very important to update and follow digital trade to understand well rounder candidate to meet goal.

[ACorredor]

En mi opinión los especialistas en marketing no deberian de saber de codigos, sino estar totalmente enfocados en la atracción de prospectos, creación de clientes y fidelización e interpretar metricas.

[IlhemBenaissa]

Hello, everyone. I'm Ilhem and i'm new to this field, i don(t know precisely what is SEO or how to be SEO friendly, but i hope this course will enlighten me. 

[fathima]

Is it possible to be good at digital marketing jobs without content writing of their own if they are doing well at stragegy, marketing ideas, designing images, SEO, data analytics & digital technologies ?

[matthewbarby]

Hi @fathima,

Absolutely! There are many different skills that you can develop and refine within marketing roles but you don't need to be a content creator to be successful.

[dsecareanu]

What do you recommend for people wanting to get started in digital marketing, to become a specialist in a niche or rather a more rounded professional with knowledge from multiple areas (i.e., SEO, SEM, content, strategy, email, data analytics, digital technologies, integrations, etc.)?

[matthewbarby]

Thanks for the  question, @dsecareanu .

This is a question I get asked a lot. My first comment on this is honestly not to overthink it. I ended up going down a path of specialism early on in my career but my plan was to focus on being more of a generalist. What I found was that after working on a few things I became really passionate about 1-2 areas that I just wanted to go deeper and deeper on. As long as you're enjoying what you're doing and moving in a general direction that aligns with your career goals, you'll be all set.

That to one side, here's a brief breakdown of my thought-process on the pros and cons of each path:

Generalist Pros vs Cons

Pros:

• Earlier in your career, being a generalist is a great way to help you really find which aspect of your role you enjoy the most, and which parts you’re particularly good at. As a result, you’ll also come across a more diverse and broad set of challenges that will give you valuable experience later in your career.
• In the earlier stages of your career, a generalist is more likely to have a company hire them for potential because the company can invest in their development and have them work across a broad range of tasks vs having to hire several specialists for individual tasks.
• If priorities change within your company, or resources are allocated away from the projects you’re working on, you’ll be much more likely to find another role in the same organization where you can continue to make an impact, whereas a specialist is less likely to adapt in this situation.
• You have more open opportunities as a generalist and the ability to explore specialization in the future if you like - or even work towards being a deep generalist (i.e. someone with deep knowledge in a number of areas (this is what most tech companies would call a “unicorn hire”). It’s worth noting that it takes a LONG time to get to that level and most people never do.

Cons

• It’s much easier to find a replacement for a generalist than it is for a specialist, so your stock is lower than a specialist.
• While you have a wider range of opportunities open to you, it’s much tougher to differentiate yourself from the other candidates.
• If you want to remain as an individual contributor (that is, not to be a people manager), it becomes increasingly difficult to find senior roles, and as a result, higher compensation. The highest paying senior individual contributor roles are nearly always for specialists; hence why software engineers win this particular title most of the time.
• If you ever decide to go out on your own as a consultant or freelancer, it’s tougher to articulate the unique value you offer, which can make it more challenging to sell yourself.

Specialist Pros vs Cons

Pros:

• Being a specialist in a technical area will dramatically increase your likelihood of being hired into a technical role. When you’re going into a role like, “head of technical SEO”, unless you have deep expertise in tech SEO, you’re unlikely to be able to compete with other candidates in the pool.
• our stock will typically be higher. Being an expert in one area will definitely help - in the short term - to get a step up when it comes to compensation. This is primarily relevant for Individual Contributor roles vs people managers.
• You’ll definitely find it easier to transition into a freelance/consulting role (if you wanted to) as you have a very specific, clear offering to companies that will make it easier to both sell and stand out from the crowd.
• If you’re several years into your career and are looking to gain senior roles in an organization, specialize will really help here. Typically, it’s much harder to replace a specialist, so you’ll have more social capital within your org that you can use to move up the ladder.

Cons

• The further you go as a specialist, the tougher it becomes to move out of it. Really think about this because if you’re not necessarily passionate about what you’re doing, this will really impact your happiness in the future.
• You’re inherently linked to the need for your particular skill(s). If priorities change or resources are shifted from your focus area - for example, let’s say you’re an ASO specialist and your company decides to pull back investment in their app strategy, this could leave you in a tough spot. If your skills aren’t needed anymore, it will likely result in you moving on vs a generalist will be able to slot into another area of the team.
• You’re going to competing for a much smaller batch of jobs against a much more skilled talent pool. While being a specialist can really increase your personal stock, the roles you’re going for are going to get more and more competitive. The difference between being a good specialist and a great one is very far apart, so if you go down this route, you’ll really have to put the work in to become great.
•  It’s tough to become a specialist. It requires several years of both skill development and actual experience on the job before you can even claim to be a specialist. Be prepared to have patience and be focused on the long term (often at the sacrifice of the short term).

I'll caveat a lot of what I said above by saying that they're largely generalizations (tough not to answer a question like this without generalizing, though!). It's all about the type of career you're looking to build and what you're passionate about. Ultimately, you have the ability to change path so this doesn't need to be something you decide upon and never change. Hope this is useful!

[dsecareanu]

Thank you for your extensive reply! 🙂

I have developed professionaly more as a generalist (marketing technologist with a communication background) and sometimes I find it challenging in certain projects as they require more of a specialist profile (especially when related to technologies, which I'm good at, but not an expert at).

By the same token, the breadth of my professional experience allows me to better understand most topics as I look at them from multiple perspectives (or wearing multiple hats) and I believe that the generalist profile is better suited for strategy (where I want to focus as I feel I can perform better), while the specialist profile is better suited for implementation (which I like in certain cases, like tinkering with cloud servers and websites and other technologies, but I'm not that good at as compared to a professional).

[megantruax]

At my current job my title is called Marketing Coordinator - but I mainly do graphic design. However due to the pandemic I have learned I LOVE working from home and I recently started looking into Marketing itself and found HubSpot certifications which I have been taking the past few weeks. When applying for Marketing/Digital Marketing/Inbound jobs is it beneficial to also show in my resume my design background or should I focus more so on the Marketing side of things?

[matthewbarby]

@megantruax  It's definitely beneficial to show your experience/credentials in design. The key here is not to have a boilerplate resume.

Try to tailor your resume to the role you're applying to. If you're planning to expand into a broader marketing role, make sure you craft a story around your career to-date that shows you have the skills/knowledge outside of just design - but definitely don't hide what you're great at. If I'm hiring someone into a marketing role and there isn't a particular need for design skills, it would still be a big bonus. I;d be looking at this and thinking about  how adaptable you are (try to make this part of the story you share when applying).