Qualified

My question today is – do you feel ‘qualified‘ to do what you do?

Whether you serve in retail, teach, or work in marketing – can you honestly say that you feel 100% equipped in your field?

This isn’t a test or a trick question, you definitely can feel like you are qualified. Maybe you have years of experience or have a degree in your target area. However, a lot of people may have a secret feeling that they ‘don’t really know what they’re doing’ or that they’re ‘making it up as they go along’ – perhaps a lot more people than you think! But, this is by no means a bad thing.

Personally, I don’t feel ‘qualified‘ to work in the marketing industry – however, regardless of this, I do so with confidence and zero apologies.

I have just graduated from the University of East Anglia with a First class degree in French studies. Evidently, this is not a marketing qualification.

Since I first thought that I might want to pursue a career in marketing (back in 2018) I have put a lot of effort into learning as much as possible about the industry. I worked freelance for a bit, before I even realised that the work I was doing fell under the umbrella of marketing. I applied for and completed a few digital marketing internships. I’ve done some free online courses and read some significant literature. But the biggest investment that I have made towards my career is a CIM qualification.

Looking back, I may have been a bit naive. I knew that I wanted to go into marketing and I felt like I needed a qualification to do that. Therefore, I found a ‘beginners’ course in my chosen field and went for it. I passed and the rest is history really. Yet, as it is a lower level ‘foundation’ course, I doubt it will ever get brought up with any great significance.

Regardless of the perceived value of certificate, the most important thing that the course gave me was confidence. No longer did I have to feel inadequate when applying for marketing jobs. I could share my passion for the industry and prove my dedication with a qualification that I self-funded and worked for during my final year of university. I may not have spent 3 years studying the theory of consumer psychology, but I made an active effort to better myself on my own accord.

Now, having nearly finished by 2nd full-term marketing internship, which is becoming a full-time position upon completion, I am starting to feel like I have earned my place here.

Qualified? Perhaps not. Yet I feel like I deserve to be where I am and that I am good at what I do. Maybe that’s better than having countless diplomas hung on my walls? I suppose it boils down to personal preference.

The key thing to take away from this ramble is: you deserve everything that you work hard for, regardless of whether you feel qualified or not.