When I was building my team at Alliance Data I looked for people with background in literature, languages, and psychology.
To be database marketing analysts.
Why?
Because all of those disciiplines have creative thinking and analytics baked into them. Interpretation, analysis, trends, behaviors. Very hard to teach.
Tech skills. Piece of cake.
I have had 4 past employees tell me they owe their career to me, or that I was the best person they ever worked for and they want to work together again.
It's weird, bc I had no idea the impact I was having by teaching people, coaching people, trusting people and covering when mistake was made.
It's been 20 years since Alliance Data and Frontgate, but still hearing from them kind of makes my day.
Don't forget to send Amy a note every now and then.
I love this so much. Even more because you explained *how* those seemingly unrelated backgrounds actually possessed the core traits that make someone successful as a database marketing analyst. Zero percent surprised to hear they had great things to say about their time working with you.
You probably hire more experienced marketers who pick those skills up over time. I was hiring right out of college where teaching that analytics you and I use, the "Why did we get this result", is harder than teaching SQL or SAS.
How many people do you work with come from a marketing degree vs something else? And, in particular, as marketing degrees are being viewed as less valuable, it's more the experiences you look for.
I was a collegiate athlete (also soccer) turned very curious marketer post-college. This one resonated with me on every level. Thanks for sharing Sam!
Ahh I love to hear the similarities! What position were you? I was an outside back + center back.
When I was building my team at Alliance Data I looked for people with background in literature, languages, and psychology.
To be database marketing analysts.
Why?
Because all of those disciiplines have creative thinking and analytics baked into them. Interpretation, analysis, trends, behaviors. Very hard to teach.
Tech skills. Piece of cake.
I have had 4 past employees tell me they owe their career to me, or that I was the best person they ever worked for and they want to work together again.
It's weird, bc I had no idea the impact I was having by teaching people, coaching people, trusting people and covering when mistake was made.
It's been 20 years since Alliance Data and Frontgate, but still hearing from them kind of makes my day.
Don't forget to send Amy a note every now and then.
I love this so much. Even more because you explained *how* those seemingly unrelated backgrounds actually possessed the core traits that make someone successful as a database marketing analyst. Zero percent surprised to hear they had great things to say about their time working with you.
And yes, it’s on the list today don’t worry 💙
You probably hire more experienced marketers who pick those skills up over time. I was hiring right out of college where teaching that analytics you and I use, the "Why did we get this result", is harder than teaching SQL or SAS.
How many people do you work with come from a marketing degree vs something else? And, in particular, as marketing degrees are being viewed as less valuable, it's more the experiences you look for.
Glad you reached out to Amy. Have a good week!
I'm genuinely curious now to look back + see what everyone on our team studied in college. Stay tuned 👀
As if you needed more work from me... HA HA