How to transition from Sales to Marketing?
Asked by ♥ Shell ♥
Recently I learned of an opportunity to join a GREAT company as a Marketing Analyst in charge of print advertising. I know first hand (someone close to me works there, and formerly held this role) that most of the applicants are recent college grads with little to no "real-life" job experience but have the degree. I on the other hand am still working on my degree but have TONS of work experience. I have held a number of types of jobs ranging from Apartment Manager to Accountant to (most recently) Sales as I have been in the work force for the last 13 years. In each of the roles I've held, there has been elements of marketing - i.e. desktop publishing, market research and studys, competitor comparisons, etc. and of course in sales I've developed a number of skills as well. The person hiring (I've already talked with him) is asking me to tailor my resume to highlight my skills from a marketing perspective...and I'm stuck. Can anyone offer any advice?

Best Answer:
First, congrats... on the opportunity you've opened to yourself and the courage to pursue a career change. Second, when I'm hiring people I am first/foremost concerned with enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Skills can be taught, self-motivation and initiative can not. So from this perspective, of for a marketing analysis job, you might want to develop a story/theme about how you identified a need, quantified the opportunity, determined what their "pain points" were, and what the results were. Thirdly - given the job you're pursuing, there are a couple terms you might want to include in your resume that people will be looking for - CPM and ROI for example. You might also want to include some computer tools/skills, including databases such as a CRM or SFA. A good working knowledge of Microsoft Excel is probably a pre-requisite - a couple hours using the online help & tutorials to brush up your skills are worthwhile. Lastly, you might want to do a search in Monster.com for some example resumes of people in a similar situation. Finally - keep up your positive feeling about your experience as a positive differentiator rather than a handicap! You've obviously got a lot to offer, so continue letting that strength come thru in your interviews. Good luck!
20 years in marketing, variety of companies & roles
Answered by peterknh