My fellow marketers and I are not happy!

Someone, please explain to me why employers expect a marketing person to be able to fulfil multiple roles when they are hired to do one.

I saw this post in a marketing group and I have seen so many roles advertised by recruiters that are similar. It has to stop!

This is a real marketing role that was advertised.

When you are hiring an accountant do you expect them to be able to write tenders, understand SEO and help with customers’ online orders? NO!

So why do you think it is OK to expect a marketing professional to fulfill multiple roles?

The above ad is looking for a marketing specialist, purchasing officer, customer service manager, HR person, project manager, website developer & accounts payable coordinator.

Most of these tasks are NOT marketing

It is time that companies had a realistic expectation for the marketing roles being advertised.

And I call on recruiters to help manage these expectations as much as possible. These types of clients are setting everyone up for failure.

Marketing has huge scope. From generalists to specialists. Just like law or accounting or any other number of professional roles. Be realistic!!

• Do some research if  you are looking to hire a marketing specialist,  around what you should expect of someone
• Be clear about the key tasks they need to perform and focus on that (anything else is a bonus)
• Understand the marketing function and what we do. We are not hanging around taking selfies for insta all day (despite what is shown on Emily in Paris)
• Remunerate accordingly. Senior tasks require senior-level pay. Don’t insult someone by offering a junior salary but expecting them to do work above their pay grade.

 

The above ad will never find someone that can do all that, it is doomed to failure. And I guarantee the person they find won’t stay. If the HR person or boss has these sorts of expectations, they will be impossible to please.

 

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