- Skill is behavior that is learned and can be improved with instruction.
- Knowledge is information, concepts, facts, and theories acquired through learning processes.
- Ability is the innate or acquired proficiency to perform certain functions.
- Personal characteristics are an aggregate of competent social-interaction behaviors.
When a marketing professional's work experience is judged by any potential employer or interviewer, essentially two factors are taken into consideration:
- Whether the person has appropriate work experience to perform the required job functions
- Whether the person has the needed technical skill
- Which tasks did you like best?
- Which tasks you didn't enjoy?
- Describe specific accomplishments and the way they were achieved.
- What did you learn from the work experience?
- How did you deal with difficult problems?
- Describe challenges you faced and how you solved them.
- Building technical competence: This includes product knowledge and marketing knowledge.
- Marketing existing products to existing clients: This represents a significant increase in interpersonal skills.
- Marketing new products to existing clients: Another step up the ladder, at this stage, you have technical competence and have developed the interpersonal skills to be able to market new products to existing clients. This may seem like a small difference, but it is significant for both yourself and anybody reviewing your portfolio.
- Marketing existing products to new clients: Another step toward building up your marketing skills that is enormously relevant to both potential employers and yourself. In the first three steps, you moved along the periphery while increasing your interpersonal skills. At this level, the acquisition of skills is dramatically different since it involves developing client relationships on your own and serving new clients. A sizable portion of these new clients can remain yours and will be willing to switch products or services when you switch companies.
- Marketing new products to new clients: This is the marketing professional's real job, but it is one that cannot be reached through shortcuts. At this level, sophisticated interpersonal skills and consummate knowledge, skill, and ability are essential.
- Marketing Management: Once you have covered steps one to five and have acquired knowledge of marketing theories, you are well equipped to be the next marketing manager and move your career forward.
Reference:
Weitzul, James B. Personality Traits in Professional Services Marketing. Westport, CT: Quorum Books, 1994.