Interview vs reality: How marketers know when a role isn’t the right fit
When the vision sold in a job interview is nothing like the reality, how do marketers know when to stay and make their mark or cut their losses and walk away?
The interview goes well and you land the job. The CEO is convinced you’re the best person for the role and you’re fired up for the new challenge. You might not have talked budgets or got under the hood of the finances, but nothing could go wrong, right? Or, have you, in fact, been sold a lie?
Marketers too often get sold a strategy, but end up with an execution, says System1 Group CMO and former BrewDog CMO, Jon Evans.
“The reason to hire a CMO is usually because you’ve got a big strategic problem, you need to drive growth and become more innovative, or reposition the brand. That’s what the connotation would be in the interview,” he explains.
“What often happens in reality is ‘Deliver me a Q1 plan that drives growth of 3%’. The trap is that you’re hired for your thinking and strategy, but very quickly you discover what you are being asked to do is execute an existing plan.”
