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What’s holding you back?

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What’s holding you back?

A recent study of 2,000 marketing professionals has found that 95% of those polled by a UK job board were actively considering a change in role - but that a number of things were holding them back from job hunting. 

These include:

A lack of confidence

Clichés abound in this area, as people often stay in unfulfilling roles and environments with the attitude of “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t” rather than risking “jumping out of the frying pan into the fire”. In fact, confidence was cited as the major reason for over half of those polled not making an active effort to find a new role.

This doubt can sometimes be combined with imposter syndrome where perfectly capable employees doubt their skillset and ability, and are worried about being “found out” by employers. This is a very human emotion and has affected many high-achievers including Tom Hanks, Serena Williams and Michelle Obama to name a few. The thought of interviewing for and starting a new role can amplify this lack of self-belief.

A lack of knowledge

Being in a company for a few years or more can mean little contact with the external job market and a resulting lack of knowledge as to who to approach, what salary level to look for and what skillsets are most in demand. Also, rustiness around interviewing and preparing an up to date CV can be a barrier to getting the process moving.

Overwhelming information

We live in an age of information, but sometimes there’s just too much noise! For the average job seeker there are now an overwhelming number of routes to the job market with social media networks, job boards, networking events and recruitment agencies all vying for your attention, time and buy-in.

So how can we overcome these hurdles and release ourselves from the resulting inertia?

Steps to take

Looking for a job can seem an arduous and time-consuming process but there are a few things you can do to ease the journey and cut down on wasting time. Check out this blog on 5 ways to boost productivity during your job search for more information.

Know your worth! Often candidates are unsure what the market rate is for their role, so have a good look at any information available and use salary guides. Here’s a salary snapshot infographic I created to show the average salaries of B2B marketing professionals across different levels in the North of England.

A good recruiter can help – offering career, salary and CV writing advice, insight into companies and hiring managers, plus helping to prepare you for interviews and presentations. For more support in either of these areas have a read of My 5 top tips for interview success and How to ace an interview presentation.

If you do chose to work with a recruiter - do your due-diligence. Are they well-connected, visible in the market place and have they been recommended to you? Select one or two to help, meet them if possible and let them do the work; good ones are experts in their field, can give you honest advice and help boost your confidence.

Good luck and let us know if we can help!

Dan Middlebrook is the B2B Marketing Recruitment Lead at Forward Role. If you’d like to discuss general career progression or are actively considering a change in role, then please get in touch on dan@forwardrole.com or 07469 390 919.