Know-How Exchange : Career/Training

Certifications? School of hard knocks. Proclaiming victory as you stride out onto the field of battle. Connecting with and commenting on the material of branding people via social media. Reading about what's really going on in the world of branding right now. Figuring out what's real and true and what's smoke and mirrors. Getting out there and making your opinions known. Start with these, then, read the top five best selling books on real world branding. Take notes. Read those books again. Take more notes. Distill those notes into a new narrative, one your make your own. Then, claim your status as an authority.

It isn't going to be so easy to switch. You may have to start over because it doesn't appear that Brand/Strategic Management was your initial comfort zone, and you are competing with folks who have been passionate about Brand Management from the outset.

As for certifications, I'm not aware of any. You prove yourself by doing great work, and demonstrating your aptitude for analytics and smart marketing/strategic thinking. Perhaps there is a small company that will hire you for that, or a not-for-profit organization for which you can volunteer your services.

If you feel you need education (for the knowledge, not the certification), then go get it. But getting a certification so you can add it to your resume/CV isn't going to do much, unfortunately.

Going to be a hard transition. Almost impossible if you do both a roll change and industry/company change at the same time, But to make it easier, see if you can do a partial change. You want to change rolls - so see if you can do it in your current industry/at your current company. Ask if you can take on some marketing projects at your current job. They know you, so are more likely to give you a chance than someone from outside your company.

An alternate would be to do some work on the side, often volunteer work. You can get marketing experience by helping non-profits/NGOs, churches, or other clubs/groups with their marketing.

This sort of a career change sounds to me a bit like changing the tires on a moving car.

I agree with Peter: start small and part-time. Maybe you could do some small projects tracking the ROI of various marketing campaigns, if this would not compete with your current employer or violate your employment agreement.

My personal idea certification: a 10 year successful track record. And so if you start now, you'll be qualified in 2026. Don't quit your day job.

Start by looking at job postings for companies you might consider working for, to learn what qualifications they seek. If you can, schedule informational interviews with some people who are doing what you're seeking to learn more specifically if this is what you really want to do, and how they select candidates. There's no one right way to proceed, but if you're passionate about your change of direction, get started sooner.