Date: Wednesday, 31 May 2017

I'm a marketer. It's been my choice of career for almost 25 years. I am the first to put up my hand and say that I know very little about anything other than marketing - and even with that, it's a daily challenge to keep up to the many changes in dynamics, technology, and human behaviours that affect our ability as marketers to do a job well.

Over a year, I speak with hundreds of marketers and potentially, more than a thousand entrepreneurs. More recently, interviewing people for roles with our fast-growth company has meant that I have been having conversations with quite a few marketers, many of whom have tried their hand at being entrepreneurs. In fact, more than 30 percent of the marketers in the latest bunch have started a company, and during the job interviewing phase, have said that the company was successful, but either exists no more or is put to the wayside.

High expectations of themselves

We will continue to have the University vs. real-world experience debate in this industry until the end of time, however, I feel this comes from those who sailed through Uni, didn’t take the information on board and showed up to every Wednesday morning lecture in the same clothes they wore out on Tuesday night. There is no substitute for education, whether that comes from practically undertaking tasks or learning theories and case studies in the classroom. In this competitive industry, you are required to wear many hats and need to be an ace of all trades to set yourself apart from other candidates. Here are the 3 best tips for young marketers breaking into the industry.