What are the best things intermediate level employees can do to increase their earning potential? Gain certificates? Prove value through KPIs/sales? Take on new responsibilities? I'd love to hear your thoughts. If you are a manager/business owner/president of any kind, I'd like to hear your input.
I'm a content specialist for a great, forward thinking company and am not too far away from hitting the 40K/year mark for the first time at 27 years old. I feel that I can speed this up a little bit, and am just doing some information gathering.
Thanks!!
Be wary of certificates. If it's a platform certification (e.g. Marketo, HubSpot, Google Ads) it has some value as it demonstrates knowledge of key tools that many departments lack. These are usually free and
delivered by the company, not a third party. If it's a more general (and often paid) certification (e.g. Strategic Marketing), it's likely a ripoff. Hiring managers won't say "OMG that guy/gal strategic!" and offer you more money. But, they will say "that person understands HubSpot and can help us utilize our investment."
My advice: If you're a top performer, go into consulting. Almost every business has a customer acquisition cost problem. If you can fix it, you'll be paid well and won't have dead weight stealing the monetary value you create. Source: I do this.
My other advice: If you take my advice, do NOT hire a "digital marketing business coach." They make snake oil look like a good investment.