Market yourself into a career

I read a speech given my a Mr Wickremage I think his name was the Marketing Director of Ceylon Biscuits Group, who from humble beginnings worked his way to the top of the career ladder and along the way garnered some prestigious international marketing awards to boot.

There was a lot of telling advice for youth that I thought relevant enough to note here, and hopefully inspire some of you to take on a career in this field. Sales and Marketing are fields that were in great demand in the past. Many found that if they were able to join at the bottom, their competence and ability if proven, will definitely take them right to the top, and Mr Wickremage was one who believed, and achieved the goal set for himself.

It is a unique career path that helps you to move from different companies and rise up, by sheer performance. Sales and Marketing are skills, rarely learned at University. So they generally do not hire Graduates as the outlook and expectations of graduates are very different to the rough and tumble of a marketing personality. The latter however pays a lot more than what a graduate can earn, and that is purely by effort and hard work equals reward.

While sales and marketing are different avenues, they are closely related and often training is required in both as they are complimentary. I was surprised when it was noted that youth today shun this field and they find fewer applicants choosing this field by choice. It is an indication of the expectation of instant gratification of youth today.

A good salesman can sell insurance one day, and banking products the next. Spare parts maybe later, and then pharmaceuticals, before moving on to FMCG products. It is all part of the variety of sales, and in the US sales professionals sometimes earn more than the directors they work for as their remuneration is mainly in the form of commissions on sales they make.

There was one telling passage in his speech. It was that he said we must never tell youth today, that we started at the bottom and climbed the greasy pole over decades to get to the top. Young people cannot think as far as a decade. They want to know what they can achieve in the space of a year, and if we are able to fulfill those expectations, we will be able to work on a successful relationship in a job. Rarely do sales people at the start stay on in one company for more than 2 years. So it is important to sell it short term.