Senior Consultant, Marketing | Female | 30
Senior Consultant has rough start to her career because of her toxic manager
Disclaimer: For brevity and ease of read, some answers have been edited.
Snapshot
Job Title: Senior Consultant, Marketing
Industry, or desired industry if unemployed: Consulting/Agencies
Time in workforce: 6-10 years
Age: 30
Company type, by FTE size: 1001-3000
Total compensation: 130k; Holiday Bonuses, Health, Dental, Vision and 401k
Location: Washington
Sex: F
Degree: BA Marketing with a Minor in Psychology
Satisfaction with current role (1-5): 5
Satisfaction with overall career (1-5): 5
Exploring Career
What are your main responsibilities in your current role? Please list 3-5 key tasks or duties of your role.
I basically oversee all aspects of marketing campaigns for my clients, starting from generating leads (potential customers), through to developing proposals that outline the services or products being offered, and providing coaching on how to effectively present these proposals to potential clients or stakeholders. My daily responsibilities depend on where I am at with each client and what needs to be done to move the campaign along.
What about your job do you enjoy the most? What could be improved about your job situation?
I love EVERYTHING about my job. I get to be creative, solve problems and help my clients every day. My co-workers are awesome which is super refreshing (my first corporate job was extremely toxic) and my company is also very growth-oriented, which I appreciate.
How much of required capabilities and skillsets in your role are coming from a formal education (your degree), certification, or apprenticeship (experience)?
A lot of the skills I need for my role have developed through my years in the workforce, but I do think I had a strong foundation from the classes I took for my degree. Psychology in particular really helps me understand clients and connect with their needs. I also used to work retail so I experienced a LOT of different people which I think helped me learn how to deal with different types of personalities.
What made you pick this career -- did you have a specific career goal growing up, or did your career path develop over time?
When I was younger (high school) I wanted to be a psychologist, so I went in to college to study that initially but switched to Marketing with minor in Psych because I thought a Marketing degree would allow for more opportunities. My first year of college I met my then boyfriend and he was in Double A with a very high chance of getting the call up so I stopped prioritizing school and I was living out my best WAG life. He eventually did get the call up and got a HUGE signing bonus. At this point I thought we were going to be together forever and I was set financially (LOL), but we ended up breaking up after a couple of months of him being in the majors. I moved back home and started working in retail while I finished my degree and then landed an entry level analyst role. I eventually moved up and out through different companies and now i’m here and happy it worked out this way.
Please describe how you got your job and what the process was like.
Multiple applications. I applied through LinkedIn and Indeed primarily. Once I would submit an application I would look for a point of contact in the organization and reach out to introduce myself and let them know I applied. My first job, after retail, took a little longer to land, but the process got easier once I started moving around in my career. For my current job, searching didn't take long as a friend referred me to the opening but it was about a month and a half long process with 6 interviews.
How long have you been working at your current company? Are you considering leaving? If yes, could you briefly share the main reason driving this decision?
4 years and I am not looking to move. Every year I’ve moved up in my role and my salary has increased as well. I think my company truly values me and I plan to stay here as long as I feel that way. The ONLY reason I would consider leaving is if I want to leave Washington which is getting increasingly more dangerous and expensive, but I don’t have any plans to do that in the near future.
How well does your career progression match your vision or plan so far?
I would say there’s no vision to match but it’s going well. I think I had a couple of rocky starts and made some dumb decisions but I landed where I did and i’m proud of how i’ve moved up. I never really had a plan for my career and I would’ve been happy being a stay-at-home baseball wife but I hated how useless I felt when I had to basically start fresh after leaving my future in someone else’s hands. Now, I’m pretty ambitious and I want to be financially free as an independent woman, but I also still want to start a family and when that happens I think I will take some time off but ultimately go back to work and keep growing my career.
Do you have mentors? If yes, how did you find them, and what impact have they had on your career? If no, how has the lack of mentors affected your career?
I don’t know if I do. I have people I look up to but I don’t think I have anyone who is personally invested in my success and growth. I think a mentor would’ve told me not to be so f*** stupid by putting all my eggs in one mans basket lol.
Getting Deeper
Share your career horror story (a terrible job experience or a moment from your career that left a lasting impact). Feel free to include how you navigated it and what you learned.
When I was in one of my first roles as a Marketing Analyst, I had a manager who was so nice at first (especially throughout the interview process), but he gradually started getting worse. He belittled every single idea that I had, and verbatim told me my ideas were ‘too ambitious for someone of my level’. It was awful and I already wasn’t in the best place mentally considering my life completely pivoted with my break up so I eventually asked my older brother for advice and he told me to confront him (context, my brother doesn't take s*** from anyone, but I'm more passive). I ended up very respectfully bringing my concerns up to my boss, and he basically gaslit me and told me that it was I was being sensitive and need to learn how to handle ‘constructive feedback’. I felt like I wasn’t cut out for the corporate world because I had already fallen behind when I was living my WAG fantasy. I hated every single day at work, and I felt like an idiot. But, I eventually moved on from the company, and now I couldn't be happier where I am. Looking back, I wish I had 1) known everything would work out okay and 2) documented every single little thing that man said to me then told him to go f** himself.
What is something you like, or dislike, about the way your manager manages?
My favorite thing about my manager is that she never turns her nose up at an idea. She may disagree with it, but never just because. My team is very close, and I think it's because of the mini-culture she fosters. She makes us all feel seen and validated, and because of her, we all row in the same direction and are so excited to work. She is what every manager should strive to be.