I just batted the cycle, time for something new.

December 11, 2007 10:31 AM

I have just been fired. I now want to transition into creative brand management and marketing immediately.

I have been a broadcaster for the last four years until yesterday morning. I like radio but I realized a few months ago that the day-to-day of booking and host management no longer appeals to me and that I am much more interested in the brand and marketing management side of the equation.

I want to help companies and non-profits find wealth by organizing their communication and marketing strategies.

I have organized a couple of interviews and even cold-called an agency on the East Coast and managed to get a six-week brand marketing work experience for 2008.

From just getting call-backs, I know I have the skills for this but I am looking for advice from people in advertising and marketing for some more 'next steps'. I am organizing some consulting work but I really want to go into full-time work.

Any thoughts you have about how to position myself for these jobs; people and ideas I should learn more about; websites I should be reading; and places to look for these kinds of jobs; and especially advice from creative people about how not to lose morale --- I need all of this. Thanks in advance and I will work to keep active to answer your questions.
I you want to e-mail me privately, you can contact me via Metafilter mail.

posted by parmanparman to Work & Money (8 answers total)

Let's hear it for positive firings! Seriously, too many people see firings as shameful.

That said, I'm not a marketing person but here's a few links I pay attention to:

What's Your Brand Mantra?
The Long Tail
Managing Product Development
posted by rhizome at 11:07 AM on December 11, 2007

The work experience angle is good. A paid internship is a logical step, too. Once you have a couple of related items on your resume (it doesn't matter how much, or if they were paying jobs), you'll look very employable.

Non profits are also famously open minded about hiring unusual applicants, so you could get lucky by targeting ones that you're interested in directly. Choose ones that work causes you believe in, and it will likely show in your interviews.

And seconding the huzzah for positive firings. Sometimes it's the best thing that can happen.
posted by rokusan at 11:12 AM on December 11, 2007

Start on your MBA. Yesterday.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:09 PM on December 11, 2007

Response by poster: I don't really think I want an MBA, only because I don't think leaving work for two years during a 'transition' period is really going to help making a transition. I have managed to get a volunteer job as campaign manager for a city council run here in Berkeley, which is going to help me get some other work. I appreciate all of your feedback and hope to hear from more of you.
posted by parmanparman at 1:23 PM on December 11, 2007

parmanparman, I don't want an MBA either, but the training my ex-boss was getting in Marketing in her part-time MBA program was very useful to her, and she had previously run her own print production business and was transitioning into upper-level corporate brand management. I think it's worth a look if you're serious about a career concerned with business model or marketing model consultation. SF State is one of the best commuter colleges in the country, innit?
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 1:45 PM on December 11, 2007

Nthing the positive firings - congrats!
My marketing pal says "opportunity knocks is still a-knockin', idealist.org is good, and a *really* great resource is the Foundation Center right here in sf."
Knock 'em dead.
posted by smartyboots at 3:28 PM on December 11, 2007

I'm glad you see your firing as a positive thing. I do want to warn you though -- pretty much every job, no matter how fun it is in the beginning -- becomes work. So you should be prepared to experience similar feelings of boredom and frustration in the field of marketing. I suppose it's possible that some people find jobs that they love 100% of the time but generally there are frustrations.

So you might also take this firing as an opportunity to look at the place that work has in your life in general. Maybe there are things you can do in your real life -- outside of work -- that can balance the annoyances of your job.
posted by Deathalicious at 5:11 PM on December 11, 2007

Response by poster: no matter how fun it is in the beginning -- becomes work

My aim, Dethalicious, is to profit from all of the marketing and fund-raising plans I have been drawing up for the last three years and giving away for free because I didn't know any better. I don't want more recognition for my accomplishments and I don't want to have more fun in a job. I want a job that will pay the bills and validate my creativity with real employment.
posted by parmanparman at 6:16 PM on December 11, 2007