Marketing Happy Hour - BONUS! Ask MHH: Dream Career Game Plan

Episode Date: April 25, 2023

Welcome back to our "Ask MHH" bonus series! This week, we're diving into our FREE digital resource: Dream Career Game Plan, and breaking down the workbook's 5 steps: defining your goals, building your network, diversifying your skills, influencing where you’re at, and investing in your growth.  Our hope is that this workbook will help you truly elevate your career, whether you’re in the market for a new position or looking to make your mark in your current organization. No matter where this resource finds you, we’re cheering you on every step of the way! ____ Say hi! DM us on Instagram - we can't wait to hear from you!  Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. NEW: Download the Dream Career Game Plan! NEW: Check out our website! NEW: Join our email list! Connect with Co-Host Erica: LinkedIn | Instagram Connect with Co-Host Cassie: LinkedIn | Instagram Follow MHH: LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter Subscribe to our LinkedIn newsletter, Marketing Happy Hour Weekly Join our Marketing Happy Hour Insiders LinkedIn Group

Erica, it is our second Ask Marketing Happy Hour episode. And today we're going to dive deep into what in the world is the dream career game plan, the resource that we created for you. But before we do that, what are you sipping on today, Erica? I just have a wonderful glass of Chardonnay. I, this brand bread and butter, one of our friends, Carly used to like love it. And she would always have it whenever we went over to her house for like friends giving or whatever. And so she got me addicted to it and I hadn't had it in a long time and I got it again and it's still very good. So what about you? Yum. I honestly, it's really sad. I'm like looking at it and I'm like sad looking at my water. Cause that's all I have right now. I'm so bummed. I am hoping to have something fun this evening. I've been omitting all the fun beverages

for the last week cause I've been sick. So it's been lots of tea. So I'm, I'm ready today to have something else, but yeah, bread and butter is great. I haven't had that in years either, but we'll certainly indulge in that here soon, but let's get into it. We only have what? 10, 15 minutes. So we're going to make this. Yeah. Yeah. So Erica, why in the world did we create this thing in the first place? Like what's your viewpoint on why we created this? And I can kind of touch on it a little bit too. Yeah. I think it's a resource that I wish I had when I was kind of like trying to figure out my next career moves, whether it was this last position that I held and then left and then kind of had to

transition and to figure out what I was going to do next or even earlier on in my career. I just remember not really knowing what I wanted to do, but being unhappy where I was or feeling burnt out where I was and, you know, not really having like a structure of what to do in order to make these sorts of decisions for myself in my career. So Cassie and I worked pretty hard to just kind of lay it out. And just from our perspective, the steps that you need to take in order to figure out, you know, your next career move and, you know, when it's time for a change and all of that stuff and kind of how you can even make an impact at your current organization so that then you're leaving on a great note or all of those different

things. I think it was just super helpful. And I wish that I had it when I was going through my times of just uncertainty in my career. So yeah, I think that kind of sums it up. Yeah, no, I would say the exact same thing. And I think for me, when I was in those moments of, I know I need to change, but I don't know what's next. I think one of the biggest things is a point we'll talk about here in a minute, but like, what does that next step look like? So, but also what are your goals and like, where are you trying to go ultimately? So you can kind of define what that next specific step is for you and making sure that you get there efficiently. Um, but you know, we mentioned too about burnout and everything, which is definitely one of the aspects that leads

to someone I know has led to us stepping down from positions in the past. Um, but knowing that it's a time for a job change is one of the reasons why we recommend people using this resource. And so Erica, what do you feel like are some of the common challenges or things that someone faces that leads them to thinking it's, uh, or leads them to definitely needing a time, a job change? Yeah. I think one of the major ones is hitting like a

ceiling and your role progression or your salary expectations and things like that, or having limited opportunities to gain new skills or expertise. I know sometimes your role can start to feel really stale when you're just doing the same thing over and over every day, or you're just getting work piled on top of the work that you have to get done every day, it can just feel so overwhelming. And you can start to really resent your position or your career or even your boss or your company that you're working for. And you just don't want to get there. But sometimes you do, and it's unavoidable. Sometimes you'll get hit with, you know, the feeling of dread and going to work or logging into your, you know, Slack or whatever it might be. And you just lose enthusiasm for your role. I think, you know, that has happened to me before. And I had to then take a step back and kind of evaluate

exactly what I wanted to do next. And I think a big misconception is, you know, you have to stay in this role. You have to do what's asked of you. And who cares if your, you know, you have to stay in this role. You have to do what's asked of you. And who cares if your, you know, needs aren't being met in the way of like gaining new skills or being creative or, you know, moving up within the company. You know, I think a lot of the generation prior to us kind of has this mentality of, you know, this is so scarce and work is so scarce that we just have to stay in things that we're super unhappy with and just that are super draining us in order to, I don't know, I guess, succeed in life.

But it's just so not true. Obviously making really wise decisions with, you know, what you want to be doing and where you are and realistic decisions based on your, you know, financial state and things like that is really important. But I think it's good to understand that, like, you don't have to stay where you are, especially if you can't perform to your best ability because of the way that you're feeling in your role. And so, yeah, that's kind of why we created this little resource to help guide those conversations with yourself, with your peers, with, you know, your family, your friends and,

and things like that. So, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I, I want to note too, and you kind of alluded to this Erica, but challenges do happen. I think there's seasons and jobs where we have challenging times. When challenging times arise, I strongly believe it's not always time to move on and leave. I think you have to kind of assess, you know, how long have I been feeling this way? Is it a complete value misalignment? I think values are a big thing that we need to pay attention to. Are we working at a place that we need to pay attention to. Are we working at a place that we agree with the way they treat people, treat clients, customers, employees

internally? But just kind of assess and figure out, is this, do I need to speak to someone about this? Is this a temporary thing that's happening or is this an ongoing challenge that I know is not going to change anytime soon? Um, but with that being said, if you feel like you're either ready for a change now, or you feel like sometime in the future, like you're, you're thinking about your next position, um, first highly recommend pausing this episode, go download the dream career game plan and follow along with the rest of this episode. And we'll go through kind of step-by-step, uh have here in this guide, but kicking it off with step one. So first things first, got to have a really clear picture of what you're looking to achieve in your role,

setting those goals for yourself, not only for the next position, but just for future positions. So in this section, we have you fill out what type of position you'd like to hold, you know, write down what that looks like, the leaders you want to work for, the work culture that you want to be a part of. And then specifically speaking to leadership too, I think there's a lot of things that we can think about from past leaders that we would and would not want to have in future leadership. And so writing those things down as well. So as you go through the interview process, as you speak to those potential leaders, you can kind of gauge, is this the type of person I'd want to work for or not? Of course, salary and benefits as well are important in assessing those jobs. Again, going back to value.

So what do you believe in? Do you believe in collaboration? Do you believe in networking internally, having allowing employees to have open discussions about their ideas and thoughts? And so again, write those down, because these are all things that can be brought up during the interview phase to ensure that there's an alignment there. And then those personal and professional goals. Do you want work-life balance? Do you want to have off on the weekends? Are you required to answer emails on the weekends? Things like that. And then last but not least in really assessing what those future jobs can look like. I really do believe that we should be looking at our hobbies, the things we enjoy doing outside of work and our skill sets as well, because that can help us

kind of identify what we're passionate about and some of the tasks that we could potentially hold in a work position. Anything else you feel like I'm missing on this one, Erica? No, I think you, you said it all. And, you know, I think it is really important to that last point to understand like who you are outside of work and like how you can kind of bring that person into your workplace and, you know, make it so that you're not dreading the job that you're going to every day because it's something that's fulfilling those, you know, interests that you have personally. So I love that part of it. And just moving on to the second step. And arguably, I might say, just from my perspective, the most important one is building your network, because relationships are literally everything in your career journey. We walk through in the workbook, identifying some people within your organization and outside of your organization to connect and spark that relationship with. We have some outreach tips in the resource and just kind of like connecting with them, whether that's on LinkedIn or in real life, there's all sorts of networking events and industry events that you can go to, to kind of build that network.

And it's something that's really impacted my personal career is just making connections and, you know, kind of have to be proactive at it. You can't just sit back and wait for people to connect with you. You have to get out of your comfort zone and go up to people and talk about who you are and, you know, what you're looking to do. So I think that's a super helpful one too. And then Cassie, if you wanted to go into our third one. Yeah, no, absolutely. That was great. I will add to one thing. I mean, you and I talk about LinkedIn all the time on the show, using LinkedIn for this, both in your organization and outside, you can use that as a tool to discover people. A lot of companies will have those internal databases as well, but not just asking for a connection from someone, but introducing yourself, new technology, new things that you need to learn in your space and making sure you're really staying on top of that stuff is very important, whether you're looking

for a job or not. So in this next section, step three and diversifying your skills, we just ask for you to write down a couple of those skills that you know are very important in a future role, writing down your current proficiency and how you're planning to develop those skills. So let's say, for example, you're a copywriter, and this is fresh on my mind because we just got off of a discussion about chat GPT, but you know, AI and copywriting softwares are a big one for your industry. And so if you're not proficient already on chat GPT or platforms that are really going to be huge in the future of copywriting, that's one area that you could write down. For example, we also have some really great resources that we recommend.

Uh, they're all free. And so you can go through those and get different certifications, uh, learn more about new things. We also have a list of podcasts that we really love, but, uh, yeah, just always being out there and looking for new skills to evolve. But Erica, what do you have for us at a step four? Yeah. And those skills are always great resume builders too. It's, you know, not just, you don't want to just learn them when you're looking for a new job. You want to just keep learning every single day. So I love that point. And then the fourth step that we have in our workbook is just influencing where you're at, which just kind of means, you know, stepping out and speaking up and sharing your voice with,

you know, within reason in the role that you're in currently and just, you know, getting your ideas out there. We have a checklist in our digital resource of, you know, just the current role that you're in and the ideas that you may have to pitch or pilot to your team that will establish your credibility and influence in whatever area you're have to pitch or pilot to your team that will establish your credibility and influence in whatever area you're looking to grow more into. Something that's really great with that is maybe your leadership had no idea that you

had this wonderful idea and or this wonderful interest that they want to then invest in your development around. So that is something that you can do, even just where you are right now and not even thinking about looking forward, but just to kind of, you know, increase your happiness in your everyday role. And then that will in turn, you know, make you more marketable as a person. If you can speak to those specific instances where you pitched or piloted a new idea, a really fresh take on something to your team within your current organization.

Yeah, yeah, no, absolutely. This is super important, especially if you want to be recommendable. So if you're not planning on staying at the current business or the brand that you're working for right now, and you want to move on, making sure that you leave on a good note and just do the most that you can in your current position to be recommendable. And then that goes back to the relationship building as well. So if you don't currently have regular check-ins with your manager, your leader, make sure to get those scheduled. Often, I know they're busy, but getting that time

in the calendar with them is absolutely crucial. So last step here, step five is invest in your growth. So we are launching really exciting marketing career consultation calls. So if you're interested in learning about that, definitely let us know whether you are looking to move on to a new brand or stay within, if you're really struggling of figuring out what exactly that looks like, how to get there, how to have those conversations. Let us know. We have been in the space for quite some time and we're excited to pass along all of that information to you. And then on this page as well, we have some really great podcast episodes from our show that speak to a lot of this career development. We try to infuse

that in every single one of our episodes, but these specifically are speaking to these points that we discuss. So highly recommend checking that out. And yeah, I don't know, Erica, anything to add to that as we close out? No, I think it's super exciting too. If you are out there interested in those consulting calls, we, you know, you can ask us any questions you like about the job search or what you're specifically looking to do. You can bring your resume in for a resume audit. You can get tailored job recommendations for your specific needs. One of my specialties is looking for jobs across the internet. I love finding amazing opportunities for people and

sharing them with my network of people who might be looking for new jobs. We also will utilize our network to hopefully introduce you to some individuals at companies that can either help you start your journey or be open for informational interviews just to kind of get your feet wet and just understand, you know, what it takes to kind of work at that company. Yeah. And so if you like what you hear, go check out the workbook. It's called the Dream Career Game Plan. We will link to it in our show notes. You can also head to marketinghappyhr.com forward slash freebie. We're also going to include the little ad that we have for it at the end of this episode. So if you didn't catch it just when I said it, you'll catch it then. But any last closing points before we bid everyone adieu?

No, I mean, not really. I think we really spoke to all of it. I think just the biggest thing here is no, you're not alone in feeling like you're not at the right place. I think it happens, especially being young in our career. Um, but just taking the due diligence and the steps to really sort that out, figure out where you're trying to go, figure out people to talk to. But I think what's really going to come into play for you is just like we mentioned relationships. Number one, if I were to pull out any of these steps out of this whole game plan workbook is relationships are so huge. And so having people you can talk to, you can come talk to us, but leaning on those people that you really

trust and just build confidence. You're going to get through it and you're going to figure it out and you're going to have an amazing career. And we're excited to cheer you on. Yes. Couldn't have said it better myself. And thanks so much again for just tuning in this week and hearing about all of our amazing steps in the game plan. We really appreciate you. We are so excited to share that our first ever free marketing happy hour digital resource is now available. Download the dream career game plan today at marketinghappyhr.com forward slash freebie. That's marketinghappyhr.com forward slash freebie. This five-step workbook will guide you through defining your goals, building your network, diversifying your skills, influencing where you're at, and investing in your growth.

Cassie and I created this resource with marketing careers in mind, but the framework can be applied to any industry. Our hope is that this workbook will help you truly elevate your career, whether you're in the market for a new position or just looking to make your mark in your current organization. No matter where this resource finds you, we are cheering you on every step of the way. So go check it out at marketinghappyhr.com forward slash freebie to download and make your career dreams come true.