Don't want to give too many details, but I work in marketing/business development in a commodities industry. I sort of fell into the role but I really enjoy it, so lucky me.
Wait, so you just fell in to marketing or did you just fal into this specific role of marketing? I only ask because I thought you need a degree to work in marketing?
I fell into marketing! And I don't have any degree whatsoever - I left university two years into a B.Sc. to go work at a lab. I started to help out with some marketing stuff and then helped more and more until it became my role. It helps that I had a pretty strong/unusual background in sales. That being said, in my industry they'd likely rather have me finish my B.Sc. and gain practical marketing/BD experience instead of getting a marketing degree, as hiring someone with a marketing degree in a more technical industry isn't very helpful when they need the marketing person to be able to understand the technical processes. (If that makes sense.)
That's really cool. I know, having been involved in a few engineering circles, that a lot of engineers say that generally you just have to accept that the marketing team aren't going to understand the technical sides and so you are going to just have to deal with some tension when there are clashes. I like that some companies seem to try compensate for this by hiring marketers with technical degrees. :)
I think that was definitely a part of why I was allowed to fall into the role. I can be at a trade show and when someone asks about applying the so-and-so process to a particular type of material, I can actually win their confidence by knowing enough of what I'm talking about (and knowing when they need someone with greater expertise - honesty can be very handy!).
Don't want to give too many details, but I work in marketing/business development in a commodities industry. I sort of fell into the role but I really enjoy it, so lucky me.
Wait, so you just fell in to marketing or did you just fal into this specific role of marketing? I only ask because I thought you need a degree to work in marketing?
I fell into marketing! And I don't have any degree whatsoever - I left university two years into a B.Sc. to go work at a lab. I started to help out with some marketing stuff and then helped more and more until it became my role. It helps that I had a pretty strong/unusual background in sales. That being said, in my industry they'd likely rather have me finish my B.Sc. and gain practical marketing/BD experience instead of getting a marketing degree, as hiring someone with a marketing degree in a more technical industry isn't very helpful when they need the marketing person to be able to understand the technical processes. (If that makes sense.)
That's really cool. I know, having been involved in a few engineering circles, that a lot of engineers say that generally you just have to accept that the marketing team aren't going to understand the technical sides and so you are going to just have to deal with some tension when there are clashes. I like that some companies seem to try compensate for this by hiring marketers with technical degrees. :)
I think that was definitely a part of why I was allowed to fall into the role. I can be at a trade show and when someone asks about applying the so-and-so process to a particular type of material, I can actually win their confidence by knowing enough of what I'm talking about (and knowing when they need someone with greater expertise - honesty can be very handy!).
Ya I agree, honesty and professionalism is what I hope to use as my edge in my business in an industry that has very little.