In recent weeks, I've had a few advisors phone me to ask, "If I wanted to create an employment ad to fill a marketing position, what would I say?"
Here are seven points that sum up what marketing specialists look for in an employment opportunity.
1. Provide an opportunity to be creative and work independently. Marketers don't enjoy working as a cog in a giant machine. We thrive on the opportunity to be creative. We resist micro-management.
2. Supply the necessary tools and budget to accomplish your goals. It's important to equip marketing and PR professionals with some of the basics: a laptop, a smartphone and design and editing software. More important, equip us with a budget to accomplish your goals, but at a level that still forces us to find creative ways to make things happen without needing to spend money.
3. Accept that, in most cases, a marketing professional will know more about his or her role than you will. Every successful business owner surrounds him or herself with people who are better at what they do than the business owner(s). Your practice is your baby, and it's hard to give up control. We understand that — but don't force us to conform to how you've "done it in the past." Instead, work with us to grow, create and think outside the box.
4. Embrace mobility (within reason). While many good things come from being in the office (building relationships with other staff members, completing administrative duties, etc.) accept that we're most successful in marketing your business and brand when we're not sitting behind a desk. Allow us the mobility to be out of the office a few hours a week, in the community creating opportunities and networking with others. Work with us to create a strategy that defines who we'll be talking to and meeting with. It's a radical concept for the financial services industry, so you must support and defend this mobility to the rest of your staff.
5. Appreciate a job well done. A 2012 survey conducted by that National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health found that PR professionals had the seventh most stressful job in the nation. Not only is our field very competitive, we also have tight deadlines and routinely work with high-visibility media outlets, which keeps stress at a high level.
