My early childhood involuntarily set me up for a sales and marketing career. I was an assistant to my father in his art gallery and with time, I gained first-hand expertise in customer service, sales, and marketing. I developed a liking for this job and with time I sought to establish myself as a marketer. I realized that to succeed I had to go to get lengths to achieve their dream. This is the reason why I enrolled at the best colleges and universities that would not only give me valuable academic qualification, but practical knowledge as well as help me increase my market value and chances for career advancement. Modern careers are so complicated and dynamically change instantly, therefore the need for professionals to keep upgrading their skills. The process of landing the dream job is a job in itself. I therefore have realized the need not only to possess the relevant skills but also to convince the prospective employer that I am the employees the company needs. It is therefore important to know that each company has unique needs and to understand how qualifications talents, skills, and abilities meet those needs. Prospective employees, therefore, need to prepare for interviews adequately, whether with the help of an interview coach or not. The purpose of this essay is to analyze how a prospective employee prepares adequately for an interview for a job as a marketer.
Marketing is one of the most interesting and sought after jobs because of its potential for growth and advancement. To succeed in this career I need to set goals for both short-term and long teams. My short-term goal s will be a gradual move towards the achievement of my long-term goal. Currently, I have a goal to seek a position for an internship for at least a year with a reputable company that will give me relevant on the job training as well as the opportunity to gain valuable experience in international marketing. This will be an opportunity to show my leadership and team-building skills. During my internship period, I will very part of the marketing team that grows the company’s international market value through innovative marketing tools and products. The internship will have allowed me to complete my masters as well as establishing myself as a valuable asset to Nokia America. This will have made me fully qualified to seek a marketing role permanently for a minimum period of three years through an in-house application. This will allow me to win Nokia America corporate clients(Martin, 2000).
Martin, (2000) adds that a career goal shows intentions to commit on a long-term basis to the company A career goal is a “description of (my) personal and professional philosophies and how they will help (my) professional advancement (Hansen, 2011a). My career objective should be reflected in my CVs and should emphasize my professional (not personal) aspirations (Resume & Cover Letter Guide, 2009). This is an opportunity to express not only professional expertise but also other essential skills such as interpersonal and intrapersonal skills (Hansen, 2011b).
Achieving my career as a marketer will require me to have an action plan. Backlar (2000) explains that a career strategy is a personal brand, purposed to propel a person’s career. Cameron. (2009) states that a successful career plan involves four aspects: understanding oneself, planning for your career, learning to learn, and adapt to new learning. My career strategy is influenced by my abilities to do win corporate clients. It involved acquiring the necessary academic qualification co-currently with the necessary job experience. My experience in American Mobile was deliberate to gain the necessary skills for an international career in the mobile phone industry. While at American mobile I utilized all the necessary opportunities to learn on the job, including learning from experienced marketers both within and without the firm. This will also be a valuable skill while at Nokia and will greatly help me in moving towards my career goal.
I have to position myself as the right candidate for this job through the following actions. I will research all Nokia and how it is relevant to the market in terms of market-relevant products, pricing of products, logistical abilities to manage the supply and distribution chains competitors size of the market, customers purchase power, the rate at which the market is growing and the key issues that the company can utilize for its success (NetMba, 2010; IMEC, 2008). I will then prepare a brief but informative presentation for the interview, a valuable tool that portrays that I not only understand the market but also Nokia’s opposition in it. The last bit of the presentation will relate to my previous experience in marketing coupled with my qualifications as important to my success in this position especially in winning corporate customers for Nokia.
Marketing roles vary from industry to industry and as such, I need to exhibit unique knowledge on the roles of a marketer in the mobile phone industry (Marketing Profs., 2005). My unique role for Nokia America will be doing a market study and identifying which corporate clients are worthy of recruiting into our clientele database. To facilitate my skills I will portray to the interviewer that I have the necessary skills. They include minimizing marketing budgets while maximizing returns, team building, and team management skills, not only understand what brand positioning is but also how to use that knowledge to position the company products in the market while differentiating the different roles of sales and marketing (Slideshare, 2011; Watson, 2011; Murdoch, 2011; Brelsford, 2011). The mobile phone industry’s biggest challenge is the uncoordinated relationship between developers of mobile phone applications and hardware technologies (Marie, 2006). As established marketing research, I will use this skill to link these two stakeholders. The results will be manufacturing gadgets that respond to diverse user needs.
The current position needs a person who is flexible enough to travel on short notice as well as experience in corporate marketing coupled with at least a master’s degree in marketing. This role will in cooperation entering into agreements with dealers, service providers, and mobile phone software developers. For this type of job interview, there is a need to show to the interviewer that I possess not only personality-based strengths but also professional based. Such traits as an adventure as exhibited in my hobby will be very important in seeking new markets for Nokia America. I will demonstrate that the enthusiasm that I acquired while working at my father’s shop will be a motivational factor in achieving my daily career aims. Other than honesty, professional marketers need to show concern for other people’s affairs (customer needs and CSR) (Meyerson, 2009). Other than these, portraying positive mindedness, excellent interpersonal skills, self-motivation, and ingenuity will be an added advantage (Sales Marketing Management, 2011). Lastly, the most valuable professional knowledge is the holistic perspective of marketing and its direct influence on the business, portraying this will set me apart from the rest (Golden, 2006).
The most important skill that will not only help me during the job search but also while on the job is my refined ability as a deal maker as well as creating valuable networks. These networks have yielded important market information. I also learned about this position through a professional colleague. I also have managed to help companies maximize marketing return through increased profits as well as reducing marketing budgets to the bare minimum. Not only am I a team leader but a motivator and mentor. I have previously mentored two of my team member to become established marketers in their own right. The job of a marketer needs one to be flexible in terms of movements and ideas. Networking has helped me liaise and establish mutual contacts and doing marketing research is the other half. This has been one of my highest scoring points. It has helped me acquire not only market information but also market intelligence. However, even though the American mobile is one of the biggest companies in America, it has not attained international status. International marketing is new territory to me and thus Nokia will need to consider offering further insight to help me learn on the job. I will also need to develop further insight into Nokia’s business model, marketing philosophy, and product description. Thus marketing at Nokia America is the ideal position that meets my skills
In conclusion, approaching a prospective employer need not be a complicated matter. Jobseekers need to teat job search as the job in itself. They should be actively involved in the whole process by finding out the latest professional dynamics and upgrade their qualifications if need be. They also need to do thorough research on the prospective employer. This knowledge equips them with valuable information that is useful during a job interview. They also need to impress the interviewer with their persona skills. displaying the right personal traits such as positive mindedness, altruistic attitude, perseverance, open-mindedness, and flexibility during an interview is encouraged. Other than these skills, they must prove that they understand the job description, roles, and responsibilities. Not all these would be useful if jobseekers do not have a career goal that expresses their future professional aspirations. A career goal is usually accompanied by a workable career strategy, a map that clearly outlines a job seeker’s career path to success. Lastly, it is important for job seekers to not that having all his is not a guarantee for the job. This is because there be competition for the job and another candidate may have other advantages such as genders and job experience. After a failed interview a job seeker is encouraged to maintain cordial relations with the world have been an employee. This increases their chances for future consideration or referrals.
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