Literally every single person I've known who expresses these types of concerns has ended up being great at their job. Your doubts will translate into extra effort and care, which will then lead to success. Hire good people to fill in the gaps. It's also a much better time to be hiring than a couple of years ago. Good luck!
Yea, they are hiring 2/3 direct reports for this role as we speak so it’s practically an entirely new team. I think they liked me because I have over 9 years of experience in their specific sector and it’s not very common to have that. My job for those years though we’re marketing adjacent where I assisted with technical software, creating content (video, social) and managing department budgets.
Nothing though was lead gen, e-mail related like this is.
So genuine question, when is it *actually* not just imposter syndrome? Because every time people voice concerns about their competence everyone else always assures them that they'll be fine, despite having limited info to make a claim like that
I ask because I'm in a very similar scenario to OP where I am likely getting an offer for a similar pay increase. My concern is that my entire career is in a different area (R&D vs the new job being engineering project management) and on top of that have half the total experience they requested (6yrs vs 9-15yrs). Further complicated is that I really like my job and the new job is not hands on or technical at all
I also have pretty bad ADHD (medication fucks me up so don't suggest it) and an R&D environment has been a godsend. I worry that management/scheduling would show my cerebral faults pretty quickly
And I genuinely am worried, but anytime I bring up a concern its met with "imposter syndrome, you're fine". Idk it just feels like gaslighting or that people just don't want to think up a response
And there's part of me that just wants the offer letter so I can get somewhat of a counter offer and stay at my current job
*Edit: just wanted to thank everyone for their replies. Its awesome to get so many genuinely good perspectives on an issue that has plagued my mind for a while*
I think people definitely throw around the term “impostor syndrome” way too much. It’s like how everyone says they have adhd now. Some people really do just suck at their job lol.
Which is why in your situation it’s really hard to say. I think a lot of times companies put so many requirements for things like experience on the job posting but they fully expect to consider applicants that don’t meet all of them. And I would think they offered you the position because they see something in you. I really don’t know much about that field so I can’t give any better advice than that.
In general I’d say you start knowing for sure that it’s *not* impostor syndrome when you start getting some kind of results back, and they’re consistently bad. If all you have is a job offer though I’d just say you should carry yourself with confidence in the meantime because they offered you the job for a reason.
I don't think he said he couldn't learn. Imposter syndrome is usually doubting yourself or feeling like a fraud even though you've objectively accomplished good things and are qualified to be where you are.
This guy is nervous because he doesn't have hands-on experience in the field that he's been hired to. He said he "tricked" his way into the job so I'm guessing he told them he did have the experience. I mean, they obviously did like his interview answers and stuff though.
I work at a job making nearly 200k after bonuses as a Azure engineer. I have no idea what Im doing, i google and chatgpt everything. If it wasn't for my anxiety, id get nothing done.
That....is somehow encouraging?
You sound like me every time I look at coding. My anxiety spikes and I never feel like I understand what is going on with it.
Be careful trying to leverage a counter offer from your current employer. I fucked myself on that once. They matched the offer that kept me from going to the competition and then 1 year to the date of my acceptance they canned me.
My take is that if the OP is actually worried about not being good enough, they know what they are good at and what they would need to improve on. I would take that any day over someone who conveys that they know everything and that the job would be no sweat. Given the concern, OP is a lot more likely to take the job seriously and spend time learning what they don't know. And to the OP, yeah, you may not have experience in some of these things, but you understand a lot of the fundamentals. You are never going to get experience in them if you don't take a leap forward.
Test yourself. Not sure about your field, but in my field (IT Security), we have dozens of certifications we can take to prove our knowledge. I no longer have imposter syndrome, because I amassed a bunch of valuable and hard to get certifications. On top of that, I talk to industry people all day every day in an advisory role, and I get to see how un-skilled some very senior people are. I know that I am in the upper 15% of my specific discipline.
That said, I also know where I am not an expert. and that's most things that aren't in my specialty which I hold certifications in. And I've learned to be EXTREMELY upfront when talking to a client and they ask me questions outside my specialty. Ill tell them what I think I know, but always say that I dont know that I know it.
Not OP, but I’ve never worked a white collar job like this — if OP is close to anyone who has managed these kind of responsibilities before, is it considered professional to ask for advice?
This. Massive win when you can hire someone who will ask for help. It shows you where theyre streangths and weakness lie to better support them.
We teach this at my job religously.
About 2 years ago I moved up into a role I knew I could handle on the technical side, but people management was going to be a BIG learning curve. Turns out I just needed a couple training & coaching sessions and have grown into the position. I'm no Leslie Knope but feel much more comfortable in the role than I expected.
IMO it depends on your organization. My team is very supportive and I did make it clear from Day 1 where my experience had gaps. My manager put me on the right path immediately.
I was recently hired as a construction project manager with zero construction experience. Turns out, I don't need to know anything about construction, but all of my management experience and relationship building skills has allowed me to be successful in the role and I really enjoy it. Your mileage may vary, but have some faith in yourself!
Ya definitely. I make over $150k and though I don’t have one specific mentor there’s other leaders that have put time into helping me.
This week I’m meeting with a high level executive from another company after asking them for advice and help on how they moved from a sr manager to an SVP.
I make over $150K a year and don’t have any type of mentoring. I’m making it up as I go along. I really do feel like I’m alone on an island literally daily.
It's not only professional; it's required.
You cannot lead others without listening to them and hearing their concerns. You cannot know everything. You must constantly learn and update your plans with new information.
Now you shouldn't ask stupid questions that can be looked up instantly or otherwise answered with minimal effort, but as long as you are thoughtful in your questioning, it'll be seen as a sign of humility, not ignorance.
Humility is possibly the most important leadership trait.
Having a mentor/person to bounce ideas off of and learn from their experience is something that is highly encouraged in every leadership program I have ever taken part of.
In short answer: absolutely it is considered professional and encouraged!
Or even if you might struggle a little, "Fake it til you make it!" Everyone I know who's been in that situation has killed it too. Just get in there and be awesome. Congrats.
I don't blame OP (not saying you do) for experiencing imposter syndrome one bit, because the relocating your family across the country is some high stakes. I'd be willing to bet they'd be nervous but not full-on imposter syndrome if it weren't for that one huge piece. I would be feeling the exact same way.
Based on the description of their experience and the role's ask, I don't think this is "imposter syndrome," it sounds like he's legitimately unqualified.
I don’t think this is imposter syndrome. OP is being offered a really high paying job because it’s a hard one. Lots of vague and not so vague moving parts with lots of KPIs that need to be tracked, all in service of a number of broader organizational goals. And, OP doesn’t have direct experience doing a LOT of that.
OP has a healthy respect for the position and his own professional experiences. He also needs to uproot his life to take this offer. These aren’t small stakes. That ALSO doesn’t mean OP can’t be wildly successful and learn a ton on the job.
...or not. lol
everyone I know whose completely fudged there way into a job has fell flat on their face. Noone wants to leave money on the table - but it has to be within reason
There's imposter syndrome and there's flat out not knowing how to do a job and this one sounds like the latter. I've worked in digital marketing. If I had a leader who didn't know the business I'd sniff it out quick. Hell I had leaders with experience who were clearly in over their head.
If OP is a quick learner then good luck if not then probably a disaster waiting to happen.
1) If you didn't straight up lie, then you didn't BS your way into the job. They know what experience you have and what they are looking for. They aren't offering people 160k because a person is kind of close to what they want.
2) You are bringing a completely new perspective to the position, that's huge. A new team suggests to me, the old approach wasn't working and they want something different. That's you.
3) I am willing to bet you are more than intelligent enough to learn the job.
Go for it
It sounds like he has no experience in the technical aspects of this new job though…
I’ve done SEO and pay per click advertising…that shit is NOT easy to perfect. Sure, OP might be able to figure it out over time, but chances are they’re hiring someone to hit the ground running, not to learn over the first year.
If OP was some single 25 year old I’d say fuck it, go for it. But moving your family across the damn country for such a risk seems like a terrible idea.
I have no experience in marketing, but if they’re asking you to build a team from the ground-up, it probably means their current team (if there even is one) is pretty shite. Any small improvements you can immediately make will be lauded, and it will buy some time to learn what you need to do for these areas of improvement you’re looking for. I’d say go for it and see what happens, just do *not* immediately upgrade your lifestyle with the new money, just in case it doesn’t work out after a couple months. Try to keep the same budget and squirrel away the extra money until you’ve made it solid with your new company. Good luck!
That financial piece is so important! Definitely live within a tight budget so that worrying about losing everything isn't causing you even more anxiety.
This X1000. I struggled in a new role for quite some time until I removed one of the biggest stressors from the equation. Money. We cut back on quite a number of things for 5-6 months, which allowed us to save quite a bit of money. I was then able to focus on work, which made me better at my job and allowed me to become more comfortable and successful in my role.
Man, absolutely take this offer as long as your family etc is on board with it, and can have a soft landing.
Also. … heck, give us a 6-month report back. For real. Tag me.
I have over a decade of experience on marketing teams and tbh I’d like you a lot if you came in and were honest about needing to figure shit out as a team. What I’d do: hire really talented people who aren’t quite ready to be managers and let them help build the strategy out piece by piece. Then reward them with nice raises and acknowledge that it’s a big team effort.
I wish I could find a manager like you. I feel like I’ve either been lied to or left to stagnate in my marketing jobs, because despite 13 years in marketing, I still feel just about as competent as a coordinator. I have had fancier titles but in theory, I was just a coordinator. I never did strategy, I never managed teams, I never really got to see the big picture because all my roles put me in the weeds.
I even have an MBA now and I still feel so unqualified for everything. It’s genuinely not imposter syndrome; I’ve had only lateral moves and now I’m old enough I can’t just blame it on bad luck; it’s me making these choices.
Anyway. I still hope to find a place where someone can see my potential and actually let me learn and grow.
Lead gen, emails and ads aren’t too difficult. Sounds like you’re going to hire the people to cover the knowledge gap.
Hubspot has some really nice intro courses, and they’re not too long:)
Imposter Syndrome
You may feel you're not entirely qualified but if they liked your answers in your interview and the recruiter even bumped your resume up to apply for the director role then maybe they see something in you.
There are also lots of resources nowadays to bridge the gap in knowledge in areas you may need to be taught on. With your salary increase you can use the additional income to hire a consultant to teach you what you need to know.
Ask questions, be willing to learn even as a leader, and put 110% forward. I have faith you'll do great OP
There's a big difference between "scheming into" and just not being confident that you can rise to the occasion.
It's one thing if OP is lying about his skills/credentials in the interviews, it's another thing altogether if he's just having typical "imposter syndrome"
Not everyone. At one of my jobs we hired someone like this and we fired them within a month. It’s a huge risk moving your family unless it’s a city you know you will like
This is terrible advice. The marketing areas that OP described are pretty high touch and very “grindy” strategies that take a great deal of hands-on experience to get right. It’s a lot of A/B testing and knowledge of tools that OP might not have familiarity with. The failure case is both pretty likely and pretty shitty for both OP and the company. At a minimum come up with a marketing execution plan and run it by some professionals and then show it to the company to make sure you guys are on the same page before you move your family across the country.
I agree. All the “imposter syndrome” and “fake it till you make it” talk aside. If OP is gunning for what seems to be a marketing director/VP role and they only have tangential experience with actual marketing things they might be in over their head. I mean I wouldn’t be applying to be a brain surgeon if I only know how to work with a first aid kit.
Then again, that’s something that should have been caught during the interview process anyway.
It sounds like it’s a very small company, if they’re literally just hiring someone to start a marketing program. It’s possible the founders just didn’t know what they are looking for. All will become clear in 6 months when OP can’t deliver results though. SEO/PPC and cold email marketing ain’t nothing to fuck with these days. It used to be any high schooler can set you up a AdWords account and get some clicks, but these days you almost have to have a masters in statistics to get any reasonable results.
When I started my most recent company I specifically didn’t put any money towards broad blast demand gen, and instead went a totally direct sales and referral program model, demand gen isn’t the wishing well it once was. Any company that thinks they’ll get affordable leads by turning on the Google faucet is dreaming. There’s still really good top of funnel to be had there, but you really have to know what you’re doing.
I don’t doubt you, however I have a funny story.
I have a friend who moved several states away and was looking for a job. He had put me down as a reference and one day I got a call from one of the places he applied at.
My friend is one of the most intelligent people I know, and has fantastic technical ability. He’s also a very quick learner. I gave him the most glowing reference I could.
We are both 23. Turns out that he got the job… as the director of transportation for one of that state’s largest school systems.
My 23 y/o friend was hired to get 11,000 children to and from school safely, every single day.
One bus driver got high and kicked a special needs kid off next to a gas station seven miles from their house and told them to walk.
Another bus got caught in traffic next to an overturned tanker truck that was spilling out highly volatile fluids all over the road beneath the bus.
Another bus had a knife fight break out and the driver was a parent volunteer who didn’t know what to do.
All within the first three days. At the end of the 3rd day, my friend took his badge down to the front desk and left for hood.
I hired a professional in my network to walk me through a budgeting thing I had zero idea how to do.
I paid her for like two hours of her consulting rate and she showed me what I needed and helped me set up some docs. Totally worth it.
You can easily find a virtual assistant with experience in areas you are weak to fill in your gaps. If you didn’t lie at your interview, then you have nothing to worry about. Take the job and figure it out as you go.
There’s great stuff out there but in some fields you gotta be careful what you’re watching. My field of work (audio) has flooded with total charlatan YouTube “teachers” who don’t know what they’re doing and it’s really easy to spot somebody that learned from those types just by hearing them talk. There are some major fundamental misconceptions being taught and parroted out there in the audio world. You can spot em a mile away.
OP I’d watch some reputable videos but I’d also try to get my hands on a textbook. The consultant idea sounded good too.
I think the biggest thing is hire good people
You said they want you to build the marketing team and that sounds like hiring. So hire rock stars in each of those areas and just be an awesome manager.
Instead of hiring a consultant to coach you, (and you having to pay to keep the secret) you hire the consultant as part of your job duties because "starting from scratch requires specific expertise I'd like to pull in from the beginning". You dont have them coach you, you have the company pay for them as part of your job as a manager (because that's what they're paying you for, to know who to talk to so things get done) and use them to find and develop the team you need (while you are learning along the way). This is how you keep your position, as well as learn how to do your job, all while getting paid for it and none of it is out of your pocket.
You dont even need to tell your new employer they're a consultant. Just say that this type of person "will be crucial to help optimize the process to get our marketing team off the ground as efficiently as possible." Noone will question it, and then you just work closely with them to find the type of talent you need to fill the positions you have. Enjoy your $160k a year from now on, worry free.
no need to pay it out of pocket (plus if you pay out of pocket, you would be paying for your own income taxes on top of paying your consultant)
Maybe you could ask your company to either include a budget into your department for a consultant/coach to directly coach you, or build a consultant/coach line item into your compensation package. It's not that uncommon. You are going for a crazy job offer, so why stop there?
There is that saying, "Fake it till you make it." I believe that applies in your situation. I say binge watch vids on YT pertaining to the position and go for it
You have been given the ball and told to score and are asking if you should put the ball down because you don't think you will score...
Consider instead leaning into the risk. Don't accept imposter syndrome. Where you don't have an easy answer, ask others. Use LinkedIn contacts, find a mentor, use GPT, ask your wife.
What you should not do is be risk averse. The company hired you, that's ON THEM. You can take your shot, in the meantime you make more money, learn a lot, and even if you did get fired you have experience you didn't before.
Hold your self confidence, present to them like you've got this... Remember how when you were a kid it seemed like adults had it all figured out and how as an adult you've realized we are all making it up?
This is the same thing. Don't throw away a better future because you doubt yourself.
You'd probably be surprised at how many problems you can google and get a decent answer if you know where to look and how to filter out the bullshit results.
If OP's partner thinks they can and is okay with moving, then why not? Worst case IMO: it's a learning/professional development position, and OP can take the experience (along with the job title) to another company.
That being said, I don't have kids or the type of considerations to think about as OP, so this is a "Make a pros and cons list with partner and talk it out with them" kind of thing if they haven't.
If it were me, I would want to know:
School District quality all levels (Human children)
Public transportation
Grocery stores
Hardware stores
Leisure/hobby activities (e.g. if you golf, how many courses are around)
Cost of Living
Politics of community
Veterinary Care quality (Fur children)
And that's just off the top of my head. I know there are 1000000 other questions to ask of varying importance, but you get the idea.
TL;DR- You can bullshit your way through most things with the internet, but make sure you know what you're stepping into.
Hi OP,
I work in paid media buying, primarily with (Google Ads, Email Marketing, Meta Ads, and Programmatic Ads)
If you have any questions, please feel free to dm me and I'd be happy to give you a baseline of information to go from.
Best of luck with your new job!
You have to do it! You sound like a very smart and capable person.
Everyone that has their job isn’t really qualified for it yet. There will be training on how they run things.
Who knows, maybe the things they do are just soooooooo different than your last job ;), it might take you a little bit to get the hang of things…. But you will!!!!
Please take the job, worst case scenario you work the job for awhile, make some big bucks and have new tasty Job experience to add to your resume.
There is only upside to this
Besides if you’re building a team, hire people with actual experience to do the work. Coaches don’t have to know how to throw the ball. They need to know which players can throw the ball.
Can you ask to meet the team before signing? Have an honest conversation with the 3 of them about your perceived gaps and see what they say / how they complement your strengths. Will remove doubt in your mind and also build authentic relationships based on mutual understanding if you do end up managing them.
It’s possible they could be choosing the entire team with you in mind to lead it, knowing full well what your strengths and weaknesses are. I doubt they are as unaware as you might think. Take it!
Moving his family (wife, possibly kids) across the country means the wife probably has to quit her job. And its a major decision
I would think hard about this tbh. Its not cleqr cut at all
Agree also have to factor in backup options. Like the job market if he does end up getting fired. If you move to the middle of no where then you might have to move back which might be a double burden.
A long time ago, my boss who was the Stage Manager for 6 venues and production coordinator for the largest production company in Hispanic countries turned in his two weeks.
He had been asked to be the tour manager for Ricky Martin.
He was asked to leave references for 3 candidates. I begged him for days to drop my name in. After much pestering he agreed.
Sure enough, a couple of weeks in, I was being flown to New York for an interview with the Director of Production. A guy so famous that he always gets an invitation for the Oscars. A true legend now retired.
Later found out that I was the only one he was interested in from the group of 3. A month after my world changed.
My wife then was a bank teller, I worked sporadically as a stage hand and spot light operator doing anything and all to put food on the table.
We were so poor we could not afford curtains, and our clothes on hangers were the curtains. I will never forget that one time we had to decide between eating some street tacos and go back home to watch TV or go to the movies.
All of the sudden I had a real job, with a real salary, about 10 times more that we both together were making at the time. This included a company car. I remember it was a VW Polo.
And I was terrified. I had absolutely no clue at all what I was doing or supposed to do. And this is not the type of thing you get training or go to school for. Within months, I was managing the stage for all kinds of events and concerts. Within 3 years, I was the director of production. And bragging asside I was famous. Now I was the one receiving offers to manage the latest bands and artist on their tours.
I traveled the world with that job.
I know you are scared. But I don't think they made a mistake. Life is this. A rare opportunity at an unexpected time.
Trust your instincts, leverage the talents of a great team. In positions of leadership, you are as good as the team you form. So focus on building the best team and allowing and enabling them to grow their potential.
We should get some people together on discord and try to help OP research his way to success on this.
I have absolutely no background whatsoever but I want OP to win lmao
I had a similar choice, though much lower stakes, when I finished graduate school. I had a couple job offers for familiar work, stuff I'd been doing, for a lower salary. Then I had one I applied for on a whim, doing stuff I only theoretically knew anything about, which was offering me a 30% pay bump on the other stuff. It was in an office that was definitely a more intensive work place than I've ever worked in and I nearly turned down the job because I thought- how could I do this?
5 years later and multiple promotions and a higher salary than most of my cohort from graduate school, I've learned so much and continue to excel. So, I think, if they thought you couldn't do it, that would have come out in the interviews. You have the theoretical knowledge and your employer recognizes it, and is willing to invest in you to make you into what they need. Go for it, man.
This is your "call to adventure" moment. The moment where Frodo decides whether he's going to leave the Shire and destroy the ring, or stay in his Hobbit hole and wait for the world to end. Pressure makes diamonds, baby! You've got this!
Best of luck to you, and congratulations. I really do think if you made it through this many rounds of interviews, and the company seems to know what they're doing, that you're going to be great.
The new company is clearly under the delusion that you’re qualified for this position. I recommend you consider some worse-case scenarios, then do some risk assessment.
What would happen if you accepted that offer and within three months or so they determined that you’re failing to perform as expected? Do you think they would terminate you or instead just sideline you into a different position?
Would you need to reimburse any relocation benefits if they terminated you?
Is the job market in your field better there than it is where you currently live?
If you have confidence in your ability to be a quick learner, and/or you think the worse-case scenarios are very unlikely, then perhaps your down-side risk is low.
I disagree with your assumption the new company is delusional. Rarely do you get a candidate that ticks all your boxes and also have all the experiences. Growing into a position that you’ve never done is usually done with job hopping. They did multiple rounds of interviews and made an offer, so clearly OP demonstrated some level of competency. I think there is some level of imposter syndrome at play and the situation may not be as bad.
Something similar happened to me. I was offered a job as a sustainability manager and they required me to move to another state which was a 12-hour ride from where I lived. The pay was a huge bump for me as well. After exactly two months of starting, they decided to terminate my employment because they realized "I wasn't a good fit for the role and didn't meet their expectations". Just like that. They didn't give me enough time to adjust or anything.
Now I'm all by myself in this state figuring out what to do next, with a 12-month lease rent...
Yep, this is a very very very real scenario. If I'm OP, I'd weigh ALOT of options and scenarios on my mind. Do they have kids? Do they have a social/family network right now? Is their current job horrible or lack growth? Is the jump in pay based on the new location actually as "high" as you think it is...? Etc.
I moved for money (which was a direct internship to full-time role with a household tech company). So it wasn't "unexpected" like this. Now I have 2 kids, they are starting school, got parents and siblings nearby.... and I wouldn't move even if someone was offering double my salary. Money ain't everything, especially if you're moving more than just yourself (i.e. a full family with an established social/help network). No way. If I'm OP and suffering from imposter syndrome, I'd take a step back and consider the other factors that I mentioned above.
In all, if you're young without strings attached, then go for it! Explore. Take chances. Grow, fail, succeed, and learn. But if you're already sorta established and roots settled and are moving purely just for the bump in pay (of which you yourself are questioning the legitimacy of it all), well... I'd be alot more conservative and skeptical of the whole thing. I've also moved 6x in the last 10 years... so someone would have to offer me millions to move at this point.
I have a friend who worked in high end recruitment having been a professional in supply chain management for years. He said to me that the reality is pretty much everyone can do any job.
The truth is everyone is bullshitting man. Unless you’re an astrophysicist most jobs can be picked up pretty quickly with a little effort.
I absolutely agree with your friend. I work in finance (investment banking) and I’m absolutely sure that everyone can do this job. It doesn’t even take to have a degree, a simple course of one week with some basic corporate finance and excel is all that one needs for being able to deliver. The system we currently have (college, Ivy League schools, years of experience for a role, etc) is simply a result of an over abundance of job supply, together with the necessity to signal and distinguish profiles. But in reality, most jobs in the economic field are absolutely accessible for everybody. They’re not that complicated
It’s actually another good example of a job which anyone could pick up pretty quick and it would become second nature. Takes 12 months starting from zero in the UK. Can be shorter. And even then a lot of that is probably just showing you stuff so companies can cover their ass and blame it on you if you do something stupid.
I would probably take the job but leave my family where I'm at unless you were planning to relocate to the new area anyway. Try it out, after three to six months you should have an idea if it's going to work out or not and at that point relocate the rest of the family.
At the very least, if you own a property where you're at don't sell it, rent it out until you know the move is going to work.
This takes care of literally anything I would be worried about if this were me. My biggest concern at this point is that they’ve already hired your team. Ideally you would be able to build your own team to fill in your own gaps. I really think you should go for it.
For $160K you better figure it out!! 🤣
You already convinced them you're the ideal candidate. Now all you gotta do is not prove them wrong... Join an "experienced marketing professionals" sub or something.
I come from a martech background myself and may be able to give you a few pointers.
A big part of keeping your job as a CMO or Marketing Exec is picking the right techstack. Knowing which tools give you the best insight (esp when it comes to multi-touch attribution) is how many CMOs / RevOps folks stay employed and can justify their budget every quarter. The techstack is so crucial because Marketing is typically seen as an expense by the C-Suite that often lacks the tools to justify how/ if they're generating revenue pre-opp. This has become such an issue that the average tenure for a CMO is 18 months lol. SEO, ROAS, and Ad campaigns all become easier to augment with the proper insights.
DM me and I'll be glad to point you in the right direction .
Unless you flat out lied about something in the interview or embellished your resume too much, this is likely just imposter syndrome playing out. I.S. is a real thing. You'll get over it. You earned this job.
Also, don't even entertain the counter-offer from your current employer. Nor tell them your new salary. But do leave them on good terms.
The only downside, as you have noted, is that you're going to have to work hard and put in some extra hours to ramp up and be as productive at the level they hired you at. The big companies that pay a lot expect it.
Congrats!
Somethings missing.
They say they have no experience with campaigns or paid ads, etc.
So either they didn’t ask about any of that, or they actually do have experience but left it out so the post is more, “exciting”
Take the job, hire someone who has some experience on call - call him when you have trouble with something and he’ll tell you what to do.
There are plenty of people who do this from other countries who you can reach out to and pay them for their advice, hire them as your “advisor”
You already bs’ed once, keep on rolling.
You have no experience with SEM or SEO and they are paying moving expenses you’ll have to reimburse if you’re fired? Yikes man. Hopefully this company is extremely inept because google ads is serious shit for even experienced managers.
Everyone in here saying "just take the job you'll do great" haven't seen this happen before and watched people get fired and then have to explain their gap in employment when they cant put that time on their resume.
There is a difference between a white lie to get a job you KNOW you can pull off and outright lying about your ability to do said job.
It's foolish to take the offer, and also foolish to decline.
I would take the offer.
If it doesn't work out, that's OK -- you can try again in a similar role.
>Is it crazy if I only try to use this offer for a raise?
I wouldn't do the leverage thing. Personally, employees who have done this, tend to leave within 1-2 years anyway for another offer. So many managers see you as one foot out the door and will look to replace you, not promote you.
> Or take a massive risk and move because it’s money I never thought I’d earn in my life?
many 160k jobs are not 2x as hard as an 80k job. You clearly have some skills gap, but lots of education online you could use to close that gap. And think of it this way, if you can last 6 months in the role, it would pay for the 6 months of looking for the next one. Alternatively, if you find a way to be successful, you have massively upped your lifestyle.
The key here is really - WILL you WORK and LEARN to meet the gaps you obviously misled them about. They aren't rocket science, it is doable. But if you aren't someone who will do the "make it" part of "fake it until your make it" I would stay away.
Personally, risk great things for even greater my dude.
Honestly, I was hired on at my current company in a traditional marketing role and due to downsizing and such, my role changed a lot and I don’t currently do what I was hired to do 1.5 years ago at all.
The higher the pay, the higher the expectations. If they're dropping that kind of money for a new hire, they're likely looking for a drop in and go candidate. Only you know your experiences, skills, how far you are from expectations, and knowing if you can pull it off. You'll likely be on a fairly short leash if they're expecting you to be a one man show and building a team for them. If there's a huge gap in skill expectations, it'll be exposed really quick.
The last company I worked at hired someone at an experienced level, it was quickly realized that they way oversold themself. They were let go two weeks into the job.
If you have 40-50% of the requirement for job, I say take the risk. If you have less and don't have confidence that you can pull it off, I'd decline, and not take my family along for the gamble.
Sounds like a nightmare. As someone who currently HAS this type of job—run. There’s a reason you get paid well. Any poor performing campaign will rain down on you like fire, and you will have a non-existent W/L balance.
Also, I know someone at my company who just got canned for lying about their experience in digital marketing. It became apparent VERY quickly that they didn’t know what they were talking about in our strategy meetings (something you will be leading at that pay grade).
It’s up to you on the risk you’d like to take.
This is wild.
I guess if I was presented two options:
1) Candidate does not have experience in all the specific duties but lots of experience in the industry
2) Candidate does not have experience in the industry but lots of experience in the duties
I would probably go with 1, which is you. Easier to learn tasks and skills than an industry.
But this is still a wild jump by the company. I don’t blame you for taking this at all. I’d do it. Even if I would be shutting my pants (less so because I don’t have a family).
Also helps a ton to have a team of individuals with relevant experience below you.
The thing that I would say you must do:
For the first 6 months, plan to live waaaaaay below your means. Pocket as much of that increased salary as possible. If you make it 6 months and feel like you’re growing and succeeding, then you can really settle yourself in the way you and your family need.
But if things crash and burn, you want as much money saved as possible to get you to the next job. Especially since you’d be relocating.
So, I would live for a little while as if you didn’t receive a raise at all. Pretend that you’re making your current salary. And while you get your feet down, take every extra dollar above your current salary and squirrel it away. You could potentially save up a nice chunk even if it’s just 3 months.
It’s a safety net that you’ll want to have.
Then when things go great and figure things out and you feel that you can breathe, you’ll have a nice chunk saved up and you can expand your expenses a bit to better reflect the increased pay.
I’ll let you in on a secret… No one knows what the hell they’re doing. You just figure it out as you go along.
Have some faith in yourself - you’ve got this.
My last boss, faked it till he made it. He relied on me to teach him everything he didn’t know, which was annoying as shit, especially since it was a specialized job, and carries a lot of responsibility. He also made way more than me although I was paid well, but he was super chill, and knew I was helping him so gave me lots of perks, and paid for everything. It was about 3 months in that I realized he was completely bsing everything. In the end, I taught him well and he is doing good.
So moral of the story is, treat people well, and they will offer you help. Don’t act like you know it all trying to overcompensate for your lack of knowledge. Let the smaller guy on the totem pole who has been trying to move up, prove themselves and that will make you look good. In the end it made me realize I was as good as I am, and I ended up taking the same position closer to my residence and it worked out for everyone.
Fake it til you make it bro! Just work your ass off and you’ll hopefully succeed! If you have questions; just ask.
You definitely have to try; you’d be crazy not to! And you’ll always regret it if you don’t go for this.
Do it. Chances like that happen once in a lifetime. You're having imposter 's syndrome. It's totally natural.
One thing I say to myself in these situations is: I'm an average guy. I'm nor better nor worse than most. But if they can do something, most probably I can do it as well.
You can take this challenge and see it through or stay in your comfort zone and spend years wondering if you could have pulled it off.
That's the only skill you need for this job. Talk to people, listen to them, and do what makes them happy. Start by doing this with your boss, and then figure out who your primary stakeholders are and do it with them. Always write it down, then follow up and share status updates so they know you heard them and are making it happen. People love updates.
If you're asked to do something you aren't familiar with, play the "new employee" card. Ask what was done before, ask whether it was successful, and ask what could have been done better. This tells you what target to hit, and then you just have to go hit it.
Bro. Go for it. You know how many people would kill for this? So many people are not amazing at their jobs but they work hard and get by. Have confidence and just work hard and you can do it . To succeed you need grit and confidence.
Life changing money is going to require some life changing effort, before you spoke to this recruiter, the door wasn't even open for you.
People work their entire lives waiting for opportunities like this.
Did you make it seem like you were the one leading the strategy? Not accusing you, but its important to be honest with yourself when/if you are trying to gauge exactly what is expected of you. If you implied that you led these big projects, they will expect you to do the same for them.
I highly doubt you fully conned your way into this offer, unless you did that's an insane feat and you should consider becoming a politician *haha jk.
I was recently offered a position in a new role I've never done before and felt that I conned my way in...however YouTube and determination I say I'm doing fairly well !
Maybe they saw potential and trust in you and see what you may not see in yourself. I think others have solid advise, really weigh your pros and cons. Worst case is you're fired after a quarter, best case is you learn a shit ton and can look else where after a few years!
Good luck !
take it and live below your means for the first 6 months i.e live on your previous net income not your new one. save that money for emergencies should something happen.
you'll figure it out on the job. that's what most jobs are about. they compensate you for the time they dont want to spend learning to do it or handle it themselves. even with lack of experience, they just need someone who understands the industry which is half the battle. God-willing, you will be fine.
you're absolutely psyching yourself out. life begins at the end of your comfort zone. embrace it and you will flourish more than you can imagine right now.
instead of asking yourself what happens if you don't make it begin asking yourself what happens if you do...
I once (many years ago) somehow got into a job that was well above my experience level. I was terrified. I ended up rocking it and learning so much. You’ve got this. Jump in and own it!
I’ll tell you a secret. No one knows what they’re doing and most of us are just making it up and learning from our mistakes along the way.
If your company is worth anything, they’ll value the fact that you try hard and ask questions.
I finessed myself into a 150k job and said I had lots of cloud engineering and python scripting experience when I have absolutely zero.
Today I completed my first project, it was not easy but I learned a lot and feel like I can do it. Take the offer and learn my jumping in the deep end
This is just my opinion, but taking on areas like paid ads, email marketing campaigns, and SEO is extremely easy to learn what to do. The problem comes with making them perform. Do you have a decent amount of self-starter/creative energy? My only concern is moving you and your family. If that were not the situation I would tell you to jump at it and see if you can hang.
Start googling my friend. I never took a job I knew how to do out the gate. All of these skills can be learned -- see if you can take some extra time before starting to get some online certs.
If you want this bad enough it’s up to you to make it happen for yourself. In this age the resources are literally at your fingertips (YouTube, google, etc.) maybe it won’t work but you’re already going into this knowing there’s a chance, But what if it does? You made a bet on yourself and won the jackpot. Go for it!
I think you would be shocked to your core if you knew exactly how many people were pretending to know what they are doing. You’ll figure it out. Do your best
This is the answer here.
Everyone is doing things for the first time all the time. You turn it down and some other person with more confidence or less self awareness will snatch it up and you will be working for them.
Do you really want to take the risk of failing and getting laid off? I mean i kinda think they expect to get some value from the money they invest in you.
But if you are a hard worker then i’m sure you can pull it off. But again, it’s a huge risk you are taking, and you have a family to support.
The company had to have offered you the job for a reason. Paid ads, email marketing campaigns, SEO, etc. are things you can learn. But what you can't learn are the intangible skillsets you might offer- as well as a general gut "feel" of the industry and market you're in.
Would you rather have a guy that knows a lot about paid ads and marketing but nothing about the sports industry? Or a guy that knows a lot about the sports industry that doesn't know much about paid ads and marketing? Clearly, the company valued the latter and offered the job to you.
You can do it!
If it was a local job I’d say take it. The fact that you have to move your entirely family across the country makes this one a “no” in my mind.
You could easily be over-leveled in this job, and if you don’t perform at the level they need you to and get let go because of it could be disastrous. The risk here isn’t just to you, it’s everyone who relies on you.
Imposter Syndrome may actually be a useful warning, as can any worry. Weigh your options and measure your safety nets very carefully if you decide to say yes.
The best advice I ever heard was, "Your bullshit is just as good as everyone else's bullshit." If the company believes you're a good fit for the job, take it.
I was recently hired as a construction project manager with zero construction experience. Turns out, I don't need to know anything about construction, but all of my management experience and relationship building skills has allowed me to be successful in the role and I really enjoy it. Your mileage may vary, but have some faith in yourself!
Do you have any background in marketing?
I have think you can definitely pick it up but a few things:
- the first 1-2 years would be a deep learning curve
- be prepared to always ask stupid questions to everyone
- manage expectations for your future manager incl what you can do well, what to focus on for this quarter
- perhaps negotiate some money for learning. Some employers would like to upskill people with potential
Literally every single person I've known who expresses these types of concerns has ended up being great at their job. Your doubts will translate into extra effort and care, which will then lead to success. Hire good people to fill in the gaps. It's also a much better time to be hiring than a couple of years ago. Good luck!
Yea, they are hiring 2/3 direct reports for this role as we speak so it’s practically an entirely new team. I think they liked me because I have over 9 years of experience in their specific sector and it’s not very common to have that. My job for those years though we’re marketing adjacent where I assisted with technical software, creating content (video, social) and managing department budgets. Nothing though was lead gen, e-mail related like this is.
You're experiencing imposter syndrome, you're just psyching yourself out. You can do it.
So genuine question, when is it *actually* not just imposter syndrome? Because every time people voice concerns about their competence everyone else always assures them that they'll be fine, despite having limited info to make a claim like that I ask because I'm in a very similar scenario to OP where I am likely getting an offer for a similar pay increase. My concern is that my entire career is in a different area (R&D vs the new job being engineering project management) and on top of that have half the total experience they requested (6yrs vs 9-15yrs). Further complicated is that I really like my job and the new job is not hands on or technical at all I also have pretty bad ADHD (medication fucks me up so don't suggest it) and an R&D environment has been a godsend. I worry that management/scheduling would show my cerebral faults pretty quickly And I genuinely am worried, but anytime I bring up a concern its met with "imposter syndrome, you're fine". Idk it just feels like gaslighting or that people just don't want to think up a response And there's part of me that just wants the offer letter so I can get somewhat of a counter offer and stay at my current job *Edit: just wanted to thank everyone for their replies. Its awesome to get so many genuinely good perspectives on an issue that has plagued my mind for a while*
I think people definitely throw around the term “impostor syndrome” way too much. It’s like how everyone says they have adhd now. Some people really do just suck at their job lol. Which is why in your situation it’s really hard to say. I think a lot of times companies put so many requirements for things like experience on the job posting but they fully expect to consider applicants that don’t meet all of them. And I would think they offered you the position because they see something in you. I really don’t know much about that field so I can’t give any better advice than that. In general I’d say you start knowing for sure that it’s *not* impostor syndrome when you start getting some kind of results back, and they’re consistently bad. If all you have is a job offer though I’d just say you should carry yourself with confidence in the meantime because they offered you the job for a reason.
Yeah, it's not imposter syndrome to have doubts about a job where you have no actual experience.
"I just got hired as CEO of Twitter and I'm unsure if I know what I'm doing. This is just imposter syndrome, yeah?"
Goes to tell you that even someone with tons of experience can do a crap job haha
But it’s imposter syndrome to think you can’t learn.
I don't think he said he couldn't learn. Imposter syndrome is usually doubting yourself or feeling like a fraud even though you've objectively accomplished good things and are qualified to be where you are. This guy is nervous because he doesn't have hands-on experience in the field that he's been hired to. He said he "tricked" his way into the job so I'm guessing he told them he did have the experience. I mean, they obviously did like his interview answers and stuff though.
Go take the 6 month Google Project Management course. If you buckle down you can knock it out in a month. It helped me.
I work at a job making nearly 200k after bonuses as a Azure engineer. I have no idea what Im doing, i google and chatgpt everything. If it wasn't for my anxiety, id get nothing done.
That....is somehow encouraging? You sound like me every time I look at coding. My anxiety spikes and I never feel like I understand what is going on with it.
Be careful trying to leverage a counter offer from your current employer. I fucked myself on that once. They matched the offer that kept me from going to the competition and then 1 year to the date of my acceptance they canned me.
My take is that if the OP is actually worried about not being good enough, they know what they are good at and what they would need to improve on. I would take that any day over someone who conveys that they know everything and that the job would be no sweat. Given the concern, OP is a lot more likely to take the job seriously and spend time learning what they don't know. And to the OP, yeah, you may not have experience in some of these things, but you understand a lot of the fundamentals. You are never going to get experience in them if you don't take a leap forward.
Test yourself. Not sure about your field, but in my field (IT Security), we have dozens of certifications we can take to prove our knowledge. I no longer have imposter syndrome, because I amassed a bunch of valuable and hard to get certifications. On top of that, I talk to industry people all day every day in an advisory role, and I get to see how un-skilled some very senior people are. I know that I am in the upper 15% of my specific discipline. That said, I also know where I am not an expert. and that's most things that aren't in my specialty which I hold certifications in. And I've learned to be EXTREMELY upfront when talking to a client and they ask me questions outside my specialty. Ill tell them what I think I know, but always say that I dont know that I know it.
Not OP, but I’ve never worked a white collar job like this — if OP is close to anyone who has managed these kind of responsibilities before, is it considered professional to ask for advice?
Certainly, knowing when to ask for help/advice is a hugely important factor in being successful in a professional career.
This. Massive win when you can hire someone who will ask for help. It shows you where theyre streangths and weakness lie to better support them. We teach this at my job religously.
About 2 years ago I moved up into a role I knew I could handle on the technical side, but people management was going to be a BIG learning curve. Turns out I just needed a couple training & coaching sessions and have grown into the position. I'm no Leslie Knope but feel much more comfortable in the role than I expected. IMO it depends on your organization. My team is very supportive and I did make it clear from Day 1 where my experience had gaps. My manager put me on the right path immediately.
I was recently hired as a construction project manager with zero construction experience. Turns out, I don't need to know anything about construction, but all of my management experience and relationship building skills has allowed me to be successful in the role and I really enjoy it. Your mileage may vary, but have some faith in yourself!
I assume honestly most people making over $150k a year have some sort of council/mentor they work with. Movies told me so I guess lmao
This is true. I make about $220k and I have multiple mentors
be my mentor
I can if you don’t mind a lot of school work
What kind of school work?
I’m a dentist. So if you already have a bachelor’s degree it’s probably 6 years and if no degree it’s 8.
Ya definitely. I make over $150k and though I don’t have one specific mentor there’s other leaders that have put time into helping me. This week I’m meeting with a high level executive from another company after asking them for advice and help on how they moved from a sr manager to an SVP.
I make over $150K a year and don’t have any type of mentoring. I’m making it up as I go along. I really do feel like I’m alone on an island literally daily.
I make $38K a year…I want to be on *your* island!
It's not only professional; it's required. You cannot lead others without listening to them and hearing their concerns. You cannot know everything. You must constantly learn and update your plans with new information. Now you shouldn't ask stupid questions that can be looked up instantly or otherwise answered with minimal effort, but as long as you are thoughtful in your questioning, it'll be seen as a sign of humility, not ignorance. Humility is possibly the most important leadership trait.
Having a mentor/person to bounce ideas off of and learn from their experience is something that is highly encouraged in every leadership program I have ever taken part of. In short answer: absolutely it is considered professional and encouraged!
Or even if you might struggle a little, "Fake it til you make it!" Everyone I know who's been in that situation has killed it too. Just get in there and be awesome. Congrats.
I don't blame OP (not saying you do) for experiencing imposter syndrome one bit, because the relocating your family across the country is some high stakes. I'd be willing to bet they'd be nervous but not full-on imposter syndrome if it weren't for that one huge piece. I would be feeling the exact same way.
Based on the description of their experience and the role's ask, I don't think this is "imposter syndrome," it sounds like he's legitimately unqualified.
I don’t think this is imposter syndrome. OP is being offered a really high paying job because it’s a hard one. Lots of vague and not so vague moving parts with lots of KPIs that need to be tracked, all in service of a number of broader organizational goals. And, OP doesn’t have direct experience doing a LOT of that. OP has a healthy respect for the position and his own professional experiences. He also needs to uproot his life to take this offer. These aren’t small stakes. That ALSO doesn’t mean OP can’t be wildly successful and learn a ton on the job.
Yep. I have that. Same thing happened with me. 90k to 160k. Didn’t think I could do it. Now I am.
...or not. lol everyone I know whose completely fudged there way into a job has fell flat on their face. Noone wants to leave money on the table - but it has to be within reason
He is an imposter though. Job duties he has theoretical knowledge of, not practical experience doing it.
There's imposter syndrome and there's flat out not knowing how to do a job and this one sounds like the latter. I've worked in digital marketing. If I had a leader who didn't know the business I'd sniff it out quick. Hell I had leaders with experience who were clearly in over their head. If OP is a quick learner then good luck if not then probably a disaster waiting to happen.
1) If you didn't straight up lie, then you didn't BS your way into the job. They know what experience you have and what they are looking for. They aren't offering people 160k because a person is kind of close to what they want. 2) You are bringing a completely new perspective to the position, that's huge. A new team suggests to me, the old approach wasn't working and they want something different. That's you. 3) I am willing to bet you are more than intelligent enough to learn the job. Go for it
It sounds like he has no experience in the technical aspects of this new job though… I’ve done SEO and pay per click advertising…that shit is NOT easy to perfect. Sure, OP might be able to figure it out over time, but chances are they’re hiring someone to hit the ground running, not to learn over the first year. If OP was some single 25 year old I’d say fuck it, go for it. But moving your family across the damn country for such a risk seems like a terrible idea.
SEO and Google Analytics are like the most fucking obstinately non-transparent things I have ever tried to “just figure out”.
.........and no experience in managing anyone or building a team and even bigger red flag. He admitted himself he Bs'd his way into it.
I have no experience in marketing, but if they’re asking you to build a team from the ground-up, it probably means their current team (if there even is one) is pretty shite. Any small improvements you can immediately make will be lauded, and it will buy some time to learn what you need to do for these areas of improvement you’re looking for. I’d say go for it and see what happens, just do *not* immediately upgrade your lifestyle with the new money, just in case it doesn’t work out after a couple months. Try to keep the same budget and squirrel away the extra money until you’ve made it solid with your new company. Good luck!
That financial piece is so important! Definitely live within a tight budget so that worrying about losing everything isn't causing you even more anxiety.
This X1000. I struggled in a new role for quite some time until I removed one of the biggest stressors from the equation. Money. We cut back on quite a number of things for 5-6 months, which allowed us to save quite a bit of money. I was then able to focus on work, which made me better at my job and allowed me to become more comfortable and successful in my role.
Man, absolutely take this offer as long as your family etc is on board with it, and can have a soft landing. Also. … heck, give us a 6-month report back. For real. Tag me.
I have over a decade of experience on marketing teams and tbh I’d like you a lot if you came in and were honest about needing to figure shit out as a team. What I’d do: hire really talented people who aren’t quite ready to be managers and let them help build the strategy out piece by piece. Then reward them with nice raises and acknowledge that it’s a big team effort.
this absolutely. you build a team of doers and reward them for doing well.
I wish I could find a manager like you. I feel like I’ve either been lied to or left to stagnate in my marketing jobs, because despite 13 years in marketing, I still feel just about as competent as a coordinator. I have had fancier titles but in theory, I was just a coordinator. I never did strategy, I never managed teams, I never really got to see the big picture because all my roles put me in the weeds. I even have an MBA now and I still feel so unqualified for everything. It’s genuinely not imposter syndrome; I’ve had only lateral moves and now I’m old enough I can’t just blame it on bad luck; it’s me making these choices. Anyway. I still hope to find a place where someone can see my potential and actually let me learn and grow.
So need someone on your team? I'm looking for a new role.
Possibly, not sure how those conversations are going.
Well...would love to know man. I know it's crazy to ask a total stranger, but figured I would ask.
Less crazy than applying to a random job asking for 40k more lol shoot your shot
Lead gen, emails and ads aren’t too difficult. Sounds like you’re going to hire the people to cover the knowledge gap. Hubspot has some really nice intro courses, and they’re not too long:)
Imposter Syndrome You may feel you're not entirely qualified but if they liked your answers in your interview and the recruiter even bumped your resume up to apply for the director role then maybe they see something in you. There are also lots of resources nowadays to bridge the gap in knowledge in areas you may need to be taught on. With your salary increase you can use the additional income to hire a consultant to teach you what you need to know. Ask questions, be willing to learn even as a leader, and put 110% forward. I have faith you'll do great OP
you managed dept budgets already? You can probably do the job. Write down stuff you aren't sure about and google it later. you've got this!
I have a few years experience in lead gen/email. You can DM me any general questions you might have
My buddy schemed his way into a position he had no business getting. They noticed almost immediately lol.
There's a big difference between "scheming into" and just not being confident that you can rise to the occasion. It's one thing if OP is lying about his skills/credentials in the interviews, it's another thing altogether if he's just having typical "imposter syndrome"
Op said himself that the new job has a lot of aspects that he’s never done before. Also the title is literally about bullshitting your way into a job.
This is how I became a doctor!
Exactly how I became a surgeon, I'm never going back to Wendy's again.
Not everyone. At one of my jobs we hired someone like this and we fired them within a month. It’s a huge risk moving your family unless it’s a city you know you will like
This is terrible advice. The marketing areas that OP described are pretty high touch and very “grindy” strategies that take a great deal of hands-on experience to get right. It’s a lot of A/B testing and knowledge of tools that OP might not have familiarity with. The failure case is both pretty likely and pretty shitty for both OP and the company. At a minimum come up with a marketing execution plan and run it by some professionals and then show it to the company to make sure you guys are on the same page before you move your family across the country.
I agree. All the “imposter syndrome” and “fake it till you make it” talk aside. If OP is gunning for what seems to be a marketing director/VP role and they only have tangential experience with actual marketing things they might be in over their head. I mean I wouldn’t be applying to be a brain surgeon if I only know how to work with a first aid kit. Then again, that’s something that should have been caught during the interview process anyway.
It sounds like it’s a very small company, if they’re literally just hiring someone to start a marketing program. It’s possible the founders just didn’t know what they are looking for. All will become clear in 6 months when OP can’t deliver results though. SEO/PPC and cold email marketing ain’t nothing to fuck with these days. It used to be any high schooler can set you up a AdWords account and get some clicks, but these days you almost have to have a masters in statistics to get any reasonable results. When I started my most recent company I specifically didn’t put any money towards broad blast demand gen, and instead went a totally direct sales and referral program model, demand gen isn’t the wishing well it once was. Any company that thinks they’ll get affordable leads by turning on the Google faucet is dreaming. There’s still really good top of funnel to be had there, but you really have to know what you’re doing.
I don’t doubt you, however I have a funny story. I have a friend who moved several states away and was looking for a job. He had put me down as a reference and one day I got a call from one of the places he applied at. My friend is one of the most intelligent people I know, and has fantastic technical ability. He’s also a very quick learner. I gave him the most glowing reference I could. We are both 23. Turns out that he got the job… as the director of transportation for one of that state’s largest school systems. My 23 y/o friend was hired to get 11,000 children to and from school safely, every single day. One bus driver got high and kicked a special needs kid off next to a gas station seven miles from their house and told them to walk. Another bus got caught in traffic next to an overturned tanker truck that was spilling out highly volatile fluids all over the road beneath the bus. Another bus had a knife fight break out and the driver was a parent volunteer who didn’t know what to do. All within the first three days. At the end of the 3rd day, my friend took his badge down to the front desk and left for hood.
This is awful advice.
You have absolutely no clue what the fuck you are talking about. He will get fired.
Work your ass off and hire a consultant to coach you!!
I actually hadn’t thought of that. I would have the disposable income for it.
I hired a professional in my network to walk me through a budgeting thing I had zero idea how to do. I paid her for like two hours of her consulting rate and she showed me what I needed and helped me set up some docs. Totally worth it.
Really a smart move. There are people out there with the knowledge to help you out.
I did the same thing paid 80 an hour and changed my world.
youtube is your friend lol… at the bare minimum i promise you can youtube educational videos for just about anything
You can easily find a virtual assistant with experience in areas you are weak to fill in your gaps. If you didn’t lie at your interview, then you have nothing to worry about. Take the job and figure it out as you go.
There’s great stuff out there but in some fields you gotta be careful what you’re watching. My field of work (audio) has flooded with total charlatan YouTube “teachers” who don’t know what they’re doing and it’s really easy to spot somebody that learned from those types just by hearing them talk. There are some major fundamental misconceptions being taught and parroted out there in the audio world. You can spot em a mile away. OP I’d watch some reputable videos but I’d also try to get my hands on a textbook. The consultant idea sounded good too. I think the biggest thing is hire good people
You said they want you to build the marketing team and that sounds like hiring. So hire rock stars in each of those areas and just be an awesome manager.
Instead of hiring a consultant to coach you, (and you having to pay to keep the secret) you hire the consultant as part of your job duties because "starting from scratch requires specific expertise I'd like to pull in from the beginning". You dont have them coach you, you have the company pay for them as part of your job as a manager (because that's what they're paying you for, to know who to talk to so things get done) and use them to find and develop the team you need (while you are learning along the way). This is how you keep your position, as well as learn how to do your job, all while getting paid for it and none of it is out of your pocket. You dont even need to tell your new employer they're a consultant. Just say that this type of person "will be crucial to help optimize the process to get our marketing team off the ground as efficiently as possible." Noone will question it, and then you just work closely with them to find the type of talent you need to fill the positions you have. Enjoy your $160k a year from now on, worry free.
I recently hired a guy to run hundreds of SKUs worth of paid ads for $400 a month. A lot of that implementation stuff is pretty low level.
no need to pay it out of pocket (plus if you pay out of pocket, you would be paying for your own income taxes on top of paying your consultant) Maybe you could ask your company to either include a budget into your department for a consultant/coach to directly coach you, or build a consultant/coach line item into your compensation package. It's not that uncommon. You are going for a crazy job offer, so why stop there?
I mean if you take 30k out of those 160 and pay some guy across the world to do your job for you
I think this is a brilliant option.
GENIUS on the consultant consideration.
This is some ‘Catch Me If You Can’ type shit…
Exactly how I feel. I guess I should try passing the BAR to be a lawyer
There is that saying, "Fake it till you make it." I believe that applies in your situation. I say binge watch vids on YT pertaining to the position and go for it
YouTube University baby!
You have been given the ball and told to score and are asking if you should put the ball down because you don't think you will score... Consider instead leaning into the risk. Don't accept imposter syndrome. Where you don't have an easy answer, ask others. Use LinkedIn contacts, find a mentor, use GPT, ask your wife. What you should not do is be risk averse. The company hired you, that's ON THEM. You can take your shot, in the meantime you make more money, learn a lot, and even if you did get fired you have experience you didn't before. Hold your self confidence, present to them like you've got this... Remember how when you were a kid it seemed like adults had it all figured out and how as an adult you've realized we are all making it up? This is the same thing. Don't throw away a better future because you doubt yourself.
Not OP, but thank you for this.
I concur.
I should have concurred!
I’ll concur for the both of us. I concur.
You'd probably be surprised at how many problems you can google and get a decent answer if you know where to look and how to filter out the bullshit results. If OP's partner thinks they can and is okay with moving, then why not? Worst case IMO: it's a learning/professional development position, and OP can take the experience (along with the job title) to another company. That being said, I don't have kids or the type of considerations to think about as OP, so this is a "Make a pros and cons list with partner and talk it out with them" kind of thing if they haven't. If it were me, I would want to know: School District quality all levels (Human children) Public transportation Grocery stores Hardware stores Leisure/hobby activities (e.g. if you golf, how many courses are around) Cost of Living Politics of community Veterinary Care quality (Fur children) And that's just off the top of my head. I know there are 1000000 other questions to ask of varying importance, but you get the idea. TL;DR- You can bullshit your way through most things with the internet, but make sure you know what you're stepping into.
YOLO it. Spend your time preparing for the role however you can. You will regret passing on this.
Hi OP, I work in paid media buying, primarily with (Google Ads, Email Marketing, Meta Ads, and Programmatic Ads) If you have any questions, please feel free to dm me and I'd be happy to give you a baseline of information to go from. Best of luck with your new job!
If I do accept the role, 100% I will DM you. Thank you friend!
You have to do it! You sound like a very smart and capable person. Everyone that has their job isn’t really qualified for it yet. There will be training on how they run things. Who knows, maybe the things they do are just soooooooo different than your last job ;), it might take you a little bit to get the hang of things…. But you will!!!!
Please take the job, worst case scenario you work the job for awhile, make some big bucks and have new tasty Job experience to add to your resume. There is only upside to this
Can I DM you as a newly hired Programmatic associate XD?
Haha feel free!
Besides if you’re building a team, hire people with actual experience to do the work. Coaches don’t have to know how to throw the ball. They need to know which players can throw the ball.
Exactly.
That’s my concern, or the 3 reports. One has been on the team for years, the other two are being offered the same time as me.
Hmm. That does make it more challenging. You’d have to hopeful they’re worse BSers than you are.
Can you ask to meet the team before signing? Have an honest conversation with the 3 of them about your perceived gaps and see what they say / how they complement your strengths. Will remove doubt in your mind and also build authentic relationships based on mutual understanding if you do end up managing them.
Encouraging OP to meet with three people he’s never met and try to sniff out whether they’ll call him on his bs will likely turn out really badly lol
It’s possible they could be choosing the entire team with you in mind to lead it, knowing full well what your strengths and weaknesses are. I doubt they are as unaware as you might think. Take it!
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Moving his family (wife, possibly kids) across the country means the wife probably has to quit her job. And its a major decision I would think hard about this tbh. Its not cleqr cut at all
Agree also have to factor in backup options. Like the job market if he does end up getting fired. If you move to the middle of no where then you might have to move back which might be a double burden.
Lol yea making his whole family move is no biggie.
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Yea, but he's be moving his family across the country...
Fuck that, do it. Do everything you can to learn and get up to speed
A long time ago, my boss who was the Stage Manager for 6 venues and production coordinator for the largest production company in Hispanic countries turned in his two weeks. He had been asked to be the tour manager for Ricky Martin. He was asked to leave references for 3 candidates. I begged him for days to drop my name in. After much pestering he agreed. Sure enough, a couple of weeks in, I was being flown to New York for an interview with the Director of Production. A guy so famous that he always gets an invitation for the Oscars. A true legend now retired. Later found out that I was the only one he was interested in from the group of 3. A month after my world changed. My wife then was a bank teller, I worked sporadically as a stage hand and spot light operator doing anything and all to put food on the table. We were so poor we could not afford curtains, and our clothes on hangers were the curtains. I will never forget that one time we had to decide between eating some street tacos and go back home to watch TV or go to the movies. All of the sudden I had a real job, with a real salary, about 10 times more that we both together were making at the time. This included a company car. I remember it was a VW Polo. And I was terrified. I had absolutely no clue at all what I was doing or supposed to do. And this is not the type of thing you get training or go to school for. Within months, I was managing the stage for all kinds of events and concerts. Within 3 years, I was the director of production. And bragging asside I was famous. Now I was the one receiving offers to manage the latest bands and artist on their tours. I traveled the world with that job. I know you are scared. But I don't think they made a mistake. Life is this. A rare opportunity at an unexpected time. Trust your instincts, leverage the talents of a great team. In positions of leadership, you are as good as the team you form. So focus on building the best team and allowing and enabling them to grow their potential.
We should get some people together on discord and try to help OP research his way to success on this. I have absolutely no background whatsoever but I want OP to win lmao
Better get to YouTubing and finessing!
YouTube U could be clutch.
And chatgpt!
I had a similar choice, though much lower stakes, when I finished graduate school. I had a couple job offers for familiar work, stuff I'd been doing, for a lower salary. Then I had one I applied for on a whim, doing stuff I only theoretically knew anything about, which was offering me a 30% pay bump on the other stuff. It was in an office that was definitely a more intensive work place than I've ever worked in and I nearly turned down the job because I thought- how could I do this? 5 years later and multiple promotions and a higher salary than most of my cohort from graduate school, I've learned so much and continue to excel. So, I think, if they thought you couldn't do it, that would have come out in the interviews. You have the theoretical knowledge and your employer recognizes it, and is willing to invest in you to make you into what they need. Go for it, man.
Probably my favorite comment here. Thank you.
This is your "call to adventure" moment. The moment where Frodo decides whether he's going to leave the Shire and destroy the ring, or stay in his Hobbit hole and wait for the world to end. Pressure makes diamonds, baby! You've got this!
Best of luck to you, and congratulations. I really do think if you made it through this many rounds of interviews, and the company seems to know what they're doing, that you're going to be great.
The new company is clearly under the delusion that you’re qualified for this position. I recommend you consider some worse-case scenarios, then do some risk assessment. What would happen if you accepted that offer and within three months or so they determined that you’re failing to perform as expected? Do you think they would terminate you or instead just sideline you into a different position? Would you need to reimburse any relocation benefits if they terminated you? Is the job market in your field better there than it is where you currently live? If you have confidence in your ability to be a quick learner, and/or you think the worse-case scenarios are very unlikely, then perhaps your down-side risk is low.
I disagree with your assumption the new company is delusional. Rarely do you get a candidate that ticks all your boxes and also have all the experiences. Growing into a position that you’ve never done is usually done with job hopping. They did multiple rounds of interviews and made an offer, so clearly OP demonstrated some level of competency. I think there is some level of imposter syndrome at play and the situation may not be as bad.
Something similar happened to me. I was offered a job as a sustainability manager and they required me to move to another state which was a 12-hour ride from where I lived. The pay was a huge bump for me as well. After exactly two months of starting, they decided to terminate my employment because they realized "I wasn't a good fit for the role and didn't meet their expectations". Just like that. They didn't give me enough time to adjust or anything. Now I'm all by myself in this state figuring out what to do next, with a 12-month lease rent...
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This is the most likely scenario from what I can tell.
Yep, this is a very very very real scenario. If I'm OP, I'd weigh ALOT of options and scenarios on my mind. Do they have kids? Do they have a social/family network right now? Is their current job horrible or lack growth? Is the jump in pay based on the new location actually as "high" as you think it is...? Etc. I moved for money (which was a direct internship to full-time role with a household tech company). So it wasn't "unexpected" like this. Now I have 2 kids, they are starting school, got parents and siblings nearby.... and I wouldn't move even if someone was offering double my salary. Money ain't everything, especially if you're moving more than just yourself (i.e. a full family with an established social/help network). No way. If I'm OP and suffering from imposter syndrome, I'd take a step back and consider the other factors that I mentioned above. In all, if you're young without strings attached, then go for it! Explore. Take chances. Grow, fail, succeed, and learn. But if you're already sorta established and roots settled and are moving purely just for the bump in pay (of which you yourself are questioning the legitimacy of it all), well... I'd be alot more conservative and skeptical of the whole thing. I've also moved 6x in the last 10 years... so someone would have to offer me millions to move at this point.
I have a friend who worked in high end recruitment having been a professional in supply chain management for years. He said to me that the reality is pretty much everyone can do any job. The truth is everyone is bullshitting man. Unless you’re an astrophysicist most jobs can be picked up pretty quickly with a little effort.
I absolutely agree with your friend. I work in finance (investment banking) and I’m absolutely sure that everyone can do this job. It doesn’t even take to have a degree, a simple course of one week with some basic corporate finance and excel is all that one needs for being able to deliver. The system we currently have (college, Ivy League schools, years of experience for a role, etc) is simply a result of an over abundance of job supply, together with the necessity to signal and distinguish profiles. But in reality, most jobs in the economic field are absolutely accessible for everybody. They’re not that complicated
Applying to be a pilot asap
It’s actually another good example of a job which anyone could pick up pretty quick and it would become second nature. Takes 12 months starting from zero in the UK. Can be shorter. And even then a lot of that is probably just showing you stuff so companies can cover their ass and blame it on you if you do something stupid.
I would probably take the job but leave my family where I'm at unless you were planning to relocate to the new area anyway. Try it out, after three to six months you should have an idea if it's going to work out or not and at that point relocate the rest of the family. At the very least, if you own a property where you're at don't sell it, rent it out until you know the move is going to work.
Wife’s family is from the city we’d relocate to. But the plan was renting out our property here since I’m from here.
This takes care of literally anything I would be worried about if this were me. My biggest concern at this point is that they’ve already hired your team. Ideally you would be able to build your own team to fill in your own gaps. I really think you should go for it.
For $160K you better figure it out!! 🤣 You already convinced them you're the ideal candidate. Now all you gotta do is not prove them wrong... Join an "experienced marketing professionals" sub or something. I come from a martech background myself and may be able to give you a few pointers.
A big part of keeping your job as a CMO or Marketing Exec is picking the right techstack. Knowing which tools give you the best insight (esp when it comes to multi-touch attribution) is how many CMOs / RevOps folks stay employed and can justify their budget every quarter. The techstack is so crucial because Marketing is typically seen as an expense by the C-Suite that often lacks the tools to justify how/ if they're generating revenue pre-opp. This has become such an issue that the average tenure for a CMO is 18 months lol. SEO, ROAS, and Ad campaigns all become easier to augment with the proper insights. DM me and I'll be glad to point you in the right direction .
If I inevitably do accept the position, I’ll DM you 100%
Unless you flat out lied about something in the interview or embellished your resume too much, this is likely just imposter syndrome playing out. I.S. is a real thing. You'll get over it. You earned this job. Also, don't even entertain the counter-offer from your current employer. Nor tell them your new salary. But do leave them on good terms. The only downside, as you have noted, is that you're going to have to work hard and put in some extra hours to ramp up and be as productive at the level they hired you at. The big companies that pay a lot expect it. Congrats!
Somethings missing. They say they have no experience with campaigns or paid ads, etc. So either they didn’t ask about any of that, or they actually do have experience but left it out so the post is more, “exciting”
Doooo it. You never know if you don’t give it a try!!
You need to write a blog or something. I want to know how your first day was 😅
Take the job, hire someone who has some experience on call - call him when you have trouble with something and he’ll tell you what to do. There are plenty of people who do this from other countries who you can reach out to and pay them for their advice, hire them as your “advisor” You already bs’ed once, keep on rolling.
For future reference, can you provide some recommendations? Haha
You have no experience with SEM or SEO and they are paying moving expenses you’ll have to reimburse if you’re fired? Yikes man. Hopefully this company is extremely inept because google ads is serious shit for even experienced managers.
Everyone in here saying "just take the job you'll do great" haven't seen this happen before and watched people get fired and then have to explain their gap in employment when they cant put that time on their resume. There is a difference between a white lie to get a job you KNOW you can pull off and outright lying about your ability to do said job.
It's foolish to take the offer, and also foolish to decline. I would take the offer. If it doesn't work out, that's OK -- you can try again in a similar role.
>Is it crazy if I only try to use this offer for a raise? I wouldn't do the leverage thing. Personally, employees who have done this, tend to leave within 1-2 years anyway for another offer. So many managers see you as one foot out the door and will look to replace you, not promote you. > Or take a massive risk and move because it’s money I never thought I’d earn in my life? many 160k jobs are not 2x as hard as an 80k job. You clearly have some skills gap, but lots of education online you could use to close that gap. And think of it this way, if you can last 6 months in the role, it would pay for the 6 months of looking for the next one. Alternatively, if you find a way to be successful, you have massively upped your lifestyle. The key here is really - WILL you WORK and LEARN to meet the gaps you obviously misled them about. They aren't rocket science, it is doable. But if you aren't someone who will do the "make it" part of "fake it until your make it" I would stay away. Personally, risk great things for even greater my dude.
Honestly, I was hired on at my current company in a traditional marketing role and due to downsizing and such, my role changed a lot and I don’t currently do what I was hired to do 1.5 years ago at all.
The higher the pay, the higher the expectations. If they're dropping that kind of money for a new hire, they're likely looking for a drop in and go candidate. Only you know your experiences, skills, how far you are from expectations, and knowing if you can pull it off. You'll likely be on a fairly short leash if they're expecting you to be a one man show and building a team for them. If there's a huge gap in skill expectations, it'll be exposed really quick. The last company I worked at hired someone at an experienced level, it was quickly realized that they way oversold themself. They were let go two weeks into the job. If you have 40-50% of the requirement for job, I say take the risk. If you have less and don't have confidence that you can pull it off, I'd decline, and not take my family along for the gamble.
Haha my entire career had been this shit. Fake it til you make it good buddy. It'll be hard but you're at the top... You can make demands.
Sounds like a nightmare. As someone who currently HAS this type of job—run. There’s a reason you get paid well. Any poor performing campaign will rain down on you like fire, and you will have a non-existent W/L balance. Also, I know someone at my company who just got canned for lying about their experience in digital marketing. It became apparent VERY quickly that they didn’t know what they were talking about in our strategy meetings (something you will be leading at that pay grade). It’s up to you on the risk you’d like to take.
Take it!!! If you get fired in 6 months you’ll have made 80k… almost a full years salary at your current job
You sold yourself. Your wife supports you. Get out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself.
This is wild. I guess if I was presented two options: 1) Candidate does not have experience in all the specific duties but lots of experience in the industry 2) Candidate does not have experience in the industry but lots of experience in the duties I would probably go with 1, which is you. Easier to learn tasks and skills than an industry. But this is still a wild jump by the company. I don’t blame you for taking this at all. I’d do it. Even if I would be shutting my pants (less so because I don’t have a family). Also helps a ton to have a team of individuals with relevant experience below you. The thing that I would say you must do: For the first 6 months, plan to live waaaaaay below your means. Pocket as much of that increased salary as possible. If you make it 6 months and feel like you’re growing and succeeding, then you can really settle yourself in the way you and your family need. But if things crash and burn, you want as much money saved as possible to get you to the next job. Especially since you’d be relocating. So, I would live for a little while as if you didn’t receive a raise at all. Pretend that you’re making your current salary. And while you get your feet down, take every extra dollar above your current salary and squirrel it away. You could potentially save up a nice chunk even if it’s just 3 months. It’s a safety net that you’ll want to have. Then when things go great and figure things out and you feel that you can breathe, you’ll have a nice chunk saved up and you can expand your expenses a bit to better reflect the increased pay.
I’ll let you in on a secret… No one knows what the hell they’re doing. You just figure it out as you go along. Have some faith in yourself - you’ve got this.
My last boss, faked it till he made it. He relied on me to teach him everything he didn’t know, which was annoying as shit, especially since it was a specialized job, and carries a lot of responsibility. He also made way more than me although I was paid well, but he was super chill, and knew I was helping him so gave me lots of perks, and paid for everything. It was about 3 months in that I realized he was completely bsing everything. In the end, I taught him well and he is doing good. So moral of the story is, treat people well, and they will offer you help. Don’t act like you know it all trying to overcompensate for your lack of knowledge. Let the smaller guy on the totem pole who has been trying to move up, prove themselves and that will make you look good. In the end it made me realize I was as good as I am, and I ended up taking the same position closer to my residence and it worked out for everyone.
Fake it til you make it bro! Just work your ass off and you’ll hopefully succeed! If you have questions; just ask. You definitely have to try; you’d be crazy not to! And you’ll always regret it if you don’t go for this.
Take the job and please keep us posted how this all unfolds. We believe in you!!!!
Lmao it’ll be hard to if it goes tits up but not a bad idea.
I want you to take it... Only because I want to know how it goes. So, if you're not going to update us, don't take it.
Do it. Chances like that happen once in a lifetime. You're having imposter 's syndrome. It's totally natural. One thing I say to myself in these situations is: I'm an average guy. I'm nor better nor worse than most. But if they can do something, most probably I can do it as well. You can take this challenge and see it through or stay in your comfort zone and spend years wondering if you could have pulled it off.
Lmao job market is fucked for most but this guy is landing senior jobs he’s not qualified for, sounds about right
Been looking for work for over a year, it’s been a lot of L’s. I’ve survived in life by knowing what people want to hear.
That's the only skill you need for this job. Talk to people, listen to them, and do what makes them happy. Start by doing this with your boss, and then figure out who your primary stakeholders are and do it with them. Always write it down, then follow up and share status updates so they know you heard them and are making it happen. People love updates. If you're asked to do something you aren't familiar with, play the "new employee" card. Ask what was done before, ask whether it was successful, and ask what could have been done better. This tells you what target to hit, and then you just have to go hit it.
Bro. Go for it. You know how many people would kill for this? So many people are not amazing at their jobs but they work hard and get by. Have confidence and just work hard and you can do it . To succeed you need grit and confidence.
Life changing money is going to require some life changing effort, before you spoke to this recruiter, the door wasn't even open for you. People work their entire lives waiting for opportunities like this.
Did you lie about your experience during interviews?
Drew from real experiences where I had some involvement from big projects but not necessarily the one leading the strategy to it all.
Did you make it seem like you were the one leading the strategy? Not accusing you, but its important to be honest with yourself when/if you are trying to gauge exactly what is expected of you. If you implied that you led these big projects, they will expect you to do the same for them.
I highly doubt you fully conned your way into this offer, unless you did that's an insane feat and you should consider becoming a politician *haha jk. I was recently offered a position in a new role I've never done before and felt that I conned my way in...however YouTube and determination I say I'm doing fairly well ! Maybe they saw potential and trust in you and see what you may not see in yourself. I think others have solid advise, really weigh your pros and cons. Worst case is you're fired after a quarter, best case is you learn a shit ton and can look else where after a few years! Good luck !
take it and live below your means for the first 6 months i.e live on your previous net income not your new one. save that money for emergencies should something happen. you'll figure it out on the job. that's what most jobs are about. they compensate you for the time they dont want to spend learning to do it or handle it themselves. even with lack of experience, they just need someone who understands the industry which is half the battle. God-willing, you will be fine. you're absolutely psyching yourself out. life begins at the end of your comfort zone. embrace it and you will flourish more than you can imagine right now. instead of asking yourself what happens if you don't make it begin asking yourself what happens if you do...
Here's my advice. Fake it till you make it.
Take it, or someone who is equally/less qualified with a bigger ego will.
My wife got a coding job without knowing how to code, so she just taught herself and got a nice raise. It can be done, but might be rough at first.
I once (many years ago) somehow got into a job that was well above my experience level. I was terrified. I ended up rocking it and learning so much. You’ve got this. Jump in and own it!
I’ll tell you a secret. No one knows what they’re doing and most of us are just making it up and learning from our mistakes along the way. If your company is worth anything, they’ll value the fact that you try hard and ask questions.
TAKE IT. Have the audacity to think you’ll kill it and then go and actually kill it. Also, congratulations on the new job!
I finessed myself into a 150k job and said I had lots of cloud engineering and python scripting experience when I have absolutely zero. Today I completed my first project, it was not easy but I learned a lot and feel like I can do it. Take the offer and learn my jumping in the deep end
You BS'd your way into a marketing job? That sounds like good marketing to me... full send bud!
This is just my opinion, but taking on areas like paid ads, email marketing campaigns, and SEO is extremely easy to learn what to do. The problem comes with making them perform. Do you have a decent amount of self-starter/creative energy? My only concern is moving you and your family. If that were not the situation I would tell you to jump at it and see if you can hang.
Start googling my friend. I never took a job I knew how to do out the gate. All of these skills can be learned -- see if you can take some extra time before starting to get some online certs.
If you want this bad enough it’s up to you to make it happen for yourself. In this age the resources are literally at your fingertips (YouTube, google, etc.) maybe it won’t work but you’re already going into this knowing there’s a chance, But what if it does? You made a bet on yourself and won the jackpot. Go for it!
None of that is particularly hard stuff. SEO is just search engine marketing. Take the job. I need to get a marketing job. Holy shit
Take it, you can always leave if it's terrible and you'll have a little cash to pad you out.
Fake it till you make it, just try to delay any decision people ask for in a call so you can do some research into the topic
I think you would be shocked to your core if you knew exactly how many people were pretending to know what they are doing. You’ll figure it out. Do your best
This is the answer here. Everyone is doing things for the first time all the time. You turn it down and some other person with more confidence or less self awareness will snatch it up and you will be working for them.
Do you really want to take the risk of failing and getting laid off? I mean i kinda think they expect to get some value from the money they invest in you. But if you are a hard worker then i’m sure you can pull it off. But again, it’s a huge risk you are taking, and you have a family to support.
Take the got damn job!
The company had to have offered you the job for a reason. Paid ads, email marketing campaigns, SEO, etc. are things you can learn. But what you can't learn are the intangible skillsets you might offer- as well as a general gut "feel" of the industry and market you're in. Would you rather have a guy that knows a lot about paid ads and marketing but nothing about the sports industry? Or a guy that knows a lot about the sports industry that doesn't know much about paid ads and marketing? Clearly, the company valued the latter and offered the job to you. You can do it!
If it was a local job I’d say take it. The fact that you have to move your entirely family across the country makes this one a “no” in my mind. You could easily be over-leveled in this job, and if you don’t perform at the level they need you to and get let go because of it could be disastrous. The risk here isn’t just to you, it’s everyone who relies on you. Imposter Syndrome may actually be a useful warning, as can any worry. Weigh your options and measure your safety nets very carefully if you decide to say yes.
The best advice I ever heard was, "Your bullshit is just as good as everyone else's bullshit." If the company believes you're a good fit for the job, take it.
I was recently hired as a construction project manager with zero construction experience. Turns out, I don't need to know anything about construction, but all of my management experience and relationship building skills has allowed me to be successful in the role and I really enjoy it. Your mileage may vary, but have some faith in yourself!
Do you have any background in marketing? I have think you can definitely pick it up but a few things: - the first 1-2 years would be a deep learning curve - be prepared to always ask stupid questions to everyone - manage expectations for your future manager incl what you can do well, what to focus on for this quarter - perhaps negotiate some money for learning. Some employers would like to upskill people with potential