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October 28, 2019 Content Chat Recap: Content Marketing Career Planning and Core Competencies

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Modern employers seem to mainly focus on free snacks or gym memberships as employee perks, but is that what employees actually want? Clear, documented career paths and development opportunities are often more desired in the workplace, but many employers neglect these areas. That’s why it’s on you to take charge of your career growth.

Whether you’re full-time in-house, a freelancer, or your own boss, this #ContentChat recap walks you through how to plan the next steps in your career. Answer the questions below and read our thoughts for ideas, tips, and examples.

Q1: What is your current #contentmarketing job, and how many years have you been working as a content marketer?

Our community members represent a range of experiences. We have folks who have been in the content marketing world since before it was called content marketing, pros who switched to marketing mid-career, students who are eager to start full-time work, and everyone in-between.

Q2: Does your organization have a defined career path for your job area, or for specific job titles/level of seniority? (i.e. is there a defined set of criteria for getting to the next level in your career?)

Many companies do not have defined career paths for their employees or fail to effectively communicate these paths.

Certain factors may dissuade a company from creating career paths, including having a fixed staff size or working exclusively with freelancers.

Or, some position may be new and a trajectory has yet to be determined.

Regardless of what your company currently offers, you should have some understanding of the key responsibilities and competencies for your current and ideal roles. Erika explains what this can look like:

What happens if your team does not have defined career paths? It could mean that individuals are stuck in roles they have no interest in doing, causing a ripple of upset that leads to costly turnover and lasting culture damage.

Q3: What would a typical career path look like for a person with your current marketing role, as they head towards your ideal content marketing job?

Career paths can take many shapes, especially depending on internal structures or your desire to gain cr0ss-functional skills. The community shares their paths below:

Q4: What core competencies do content marketers need to cultivate to continue to grow in their career?

Assessments like StrengthsFinder can help you identify your core competencies, and Erika also shared a resource on the topic.

Common signs of career growth and related competencies include: Advancing from content creation to data-driven strategy development.

Coaching, mentoring, and overseeing the strategy without becoming a dictator or over-involved.

Assessing how individual team member skills and characteristics complement or detract from the skills of the rest of the team.

Understanding how to gain buy-in from other decision-makers.

Staying on top of emerging technologies and associated skills. For example, areas like SEO and analytics are becoming increasingly important for pros today and will be essential for the pros of tomorrow.

And regardless of your title, you can’t forget core skills like critical thinking, communication, and determination.

Q5: Does your organization provide training or professional development budgets to help you and your colleagues progress on their career paths?

Many organizations are willing to provide training or professional development opportunities, but these are all-too-often slashed with budgets. Ask your employer if they have training options that you can use.

Q6: What are some of the most useful career development and training resources, tools, and organizations you’ve made part of your personal career development journey?

The community recommends: MarketingProfs and Content Marketing Institute for resources and trainings.

Industry and local organizations like the American Marketing Association.

Educational pursuits.

These great reads.

Networking with other professionals, or finding mentors.

And Twitter chats like #ContentChat.

Remember that you can learn a lot from your colleagues, good or bad.

About Alek Irvin

Alek Irvin is a content marketing professional with a rich history in social media management, executive thought leadership development, and media relations. As a consultant at Erika Heald Marketing Consulting, he creates human-focused content and thought leadership platforms that help brand leaders connect and engage with their communities. Alek has worked with a range of startups and Fortune 500 companies across the B2B technology and consumer spaces, including IBM, Dell Technologies, Hitch Works, Emtrain, Integrate, and Frameable. Connect with him on Twitter @AlekIrvin.

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