We wear many hats throughout our careers. With the average Australian now able to list a gobsmacking 17 jobs and 5 careers over the course of their working lifetime, very few of us remain on the same career path we initially set out on.
That was definitely the case for our gun SEM Specialist, Keegan Best, who joined the Synq team in February 2018.
Here’s a bit about his transition to the world of digital marketing the skills he’s found invaluable from his previous experience working in education…
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I didn’t really know what to expect when I left the classroom after 10 years of teaching to move into an office environment and the wonderful world of advertising and digital marketing.
To give you a bit more background on my path to Search Engine Marketing (SEM), I had no previous experience in marketing outside of two weeks of interning and an Intro to Marketing course at university.
I had never really considered a career in marketing, instead focusing my time and energy on teaching. However, now as I reflect on my working history, hobbies and interests, I realise I was much more of a good match for SEM than I initially thought.
In the 18 months since I made the change, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how many of the skills I had developed in previous roles could be easily transferred to work in digital marketing. SEM is such a multifaceted discipline that almost everyone would have at least one skill that could be applied to the field.
One thing I’ve realised is that skills ARE TRANSFERABLE; skills learned in one career can be applied successfully across workplaces.
If you too are considering making the transition to a career in digital marketing, you probably already have skills which you’ve developed in your current career that can be easily transferred to a career in the digital space.
These are the skills I’ve found most valuable in my new career:
- Communication: I found working in education more of a performance art than anything else. You need to effectively communicate your message while engaging your audience—skills which have been invaluable in the advertising space when liaising with both colleagues and clients.
- Coaching: My teaching experience has helped in situations where I needed to train-up colleagues, allowing me to feel confident and comfortable imparting knowledge in a way that the recipient will understand and absorb.
- Critical thinking and problem solving: These skills were a must-have in schooling—the ability to reflect on past mistakes or errors and use your judgement and problem-solving skills to review and rectify issues were crucial. I now use these skills on a daily basis. When reviewing an account or advertising campaign, I’m able to review performance outcomes to critique the existing strategy and tactical decisions to identify and implement innovative solutions.
These are just a few of the skills I’ve found really handy—if you have a background outside of digital marketing and you were to sit and write a list of your own skill set, I’m sure there would be so many skills you could bring to the table that would benefit a digital agency.
Whether it’s creative thinking, people management or a mastery of Excel, you have a skill that can be applied to the SEM space.
To finish, I am going to leave you with a quote I used in teaching that is also true in the SEM space: “Everyone brings different skills to the table.” Remember it’s the unique experiences, talents and skills that you can offer that help drive a business forward.