Starting a career in any area is a big step. The idea of building your career by following your interests and things that you’re good at is an exciting prospect that will affect your life beyond just the professional.
Over the course of our careers, all of us face different challenges and opportunities to grow both personally and professionally. From Junior Executives to Managers, there are always new hard and soft skills to build, and within the digital marketing sector this is no different. The digital world offers endless opportunities across all areas of expertise for individuals to develop their skills and build knowledge.
Whether you want to start working as a freelancer or in a recognised digital agency, there are a few questions to ask yourself before entering the digital marketing sector:
Here, you can find some real-life scenarios and professional advice from people working at Passion Digital!
Acknowledge Your Current Skills and Abilities
Doing a self-analysis is probably the first step to take when starting a career in digital. As trends and technologies are changing at a fast pace, knowing your strengths and maximising their impact within your area of performance is vital. Understanding analytics and the terminology of the industry regardless of your area of expertise will give you an invaluable competitive advantage.
Evaluate your own performance in your past jobs and take note of the areas you need to improve in order to reach your desired skills and ability level.
Draft Out Your Career Opportunities
Mapping out your potential professional journey is another important step when pursuing your digital career. Having your professional and personal goals and objectives well defined will help you make decisions that will lead to your desired outcomes. There are so many avenues to go down in digital that there is bound to be something that matches your skills and interests best, and having your options mapped out in advance will lead you to make more proactive choices.
Knowing the , practices and processes within the sector will allow you to make the most of your opportunities.
Show Yourself to Your Audience – Build an Online Presence
This might be one of the trickiest points. We might be good at pitching and implementing marketing activities for clients, but when it comes to producing content for ourselves, the mental boundary can be much higher. Building your own, personal brand and having and a place to reach, meet and compliment others’ ideas will put you on the right track to building credibility and staying up-to-date with industry developments. From creating your own LinkedIn account, raising your voice within your personal social media platforms or having your own website, you will expand your opportunities to reach others and make a difference within your area of expertise.
Upgrade Your Professional Status – Certifications and Experience
Being ahead and up to date with the latest trends might not be enough in these ever-changing times. We are facing a fast-growing level of competition within the industry and we need to be ready for it. Attending training courses, getting certifications and having a wide understanding of the different areas of expertise within the Digital Marketing sector will help you to stay on top of the job market.
Seek for Networking Opportunities
Another critical, yet sometimes underrated opportunity for professional growth is being part of a network. Being able to talk about yourself, your areas of interest and the role you play within your company will hugely improve the quality of your connections and your credibility as a professional. Networking offers endless opportunities personal and professional advancement within your sector. Continue to get out of your comfort zone and get yourself out there!
Advice and Tips from PD Staff
At Passion Digital, we work with talented, experienced and ambitious professionals. These are the main tips and takeaways that they would like to leave you:
If you are interested in building your professional skills in order to climb the career ladder, our Digital Kitchen training courses cover everything from CRO to PPC and from SEO to Social Media. Sign up to expand your digital marketing knowledge.