When hiring, what are the "soft skills" you’d like to see in a marketing manager?
Posted by admin | Under soft skills Friday Nov 13, 2009Examples: problem solving, conflict management and interpersonal skills.
What are the soft skills you’d list?
To be clear, if "you’re" the hiring manager looking to hire a new marketing manager, what are the skills you’d look to find in him/her?
Also, I know what soft skills are – please see examples – my question is what particular soft skills are important for a marketing manager hire. Thanks!
1. Team Building – A Marketing Manager often times has to build consensus between diverse teams and groups, so I think it’s important that they be able to communicate the Big Picture and establish buy-in.
2. Communication Skills – Not only does a Marketing Manager have to maintain excellent communication within their own group and among his/her own vendors and suppliers, they often have to communicate plans, strategies, process and status to those outside the marketing dept.
3. Confidence- not sure if this qualifies as a soft skill or not, but a Marketing Manager usually has to juggle multiple projects. If he/she is overwhelmed by that, their group will notice it, and it will shake their confidence in the Marketing Manager as a leadership.
4. Natural Leadership – I think it’s true that leaders are born, not made. I think a good Marketing Manager exudes confidence, experience, and command of their subject.
5. Mentoring/Coaching Ability – A good manager learns what motivates their team members, and understands that not all team members are motivated by the same thing. Some team members just need a pat on the back, others are all about money and prestige. I think a good manager also has the ability to take people under their wing and "show them the ropes." This may be in terms of problem solving, working a piece of software, presenting an idea – whatever.
6. Natural Likeability – I think it’s always easier to work with people you like, and I’m a firm believer that you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. Obviously, being a manager isn’t about being everyone’s best friend, but if a person is easy to get along with, able to keep stress out of the workplace, and leaves her/his personal problems at home, I think it makes for a better work environment.
These are the skills I expect from a supervisor and the one I I look for when hiring someone.
like if he pays well and if he got good looks
References :
Possibly skills of integrity?
References :
Soft skills is a sociological term which refers to the cluster of personality traits, social graces, facility with language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that mark people to varying degrees. Soft skills complement hard skills, which are the technical requirements of a job.
References :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_skills
As a hiring manager the soft skills I would look for are:
1. communication
2. team building
3. team player
4. motivation
5. ability to develop and maintain professional relationships
Most of these fall under the large category of communication.
A marketing manager may actually use more of these than any of the hard skills I can thing of.
References :
15 years in HR having hired marketing managers and staff
1. Team Building – A Marketing Manager often times has to build consensus between diverse teams and groups, so I think it’s important that they be able to communicate the Big Picture and establish buy-in.
2. Communication Skills – Not only does a Marketing Manager have to maintain excellent communication within their own group and among his/her own vendors and suppliers, they often have to communicate plans, strategies, process and status to those outside the marketing dept.
3. Confidence- not sure if this qualifies as a soft skill or not, but a Marketing Manager usually has to juggle multiple projects. If he/she is overwhelmed by that, their group will notice it, and it will shake their confidence in the Marketing Manager as a leadership.
4. Natural Leadership – I think it’s true that leaders are born, not made. I think a good Marketing Manager exudes confidence, experience, and command of their subject.
5. Mentoring/Coaching Ability – A good manager learns what motivates their team members, and understands that not all team members are motivated by the same thing. Some team members just need a pat on the back, others are all about money and prestige. I think a good manager also has the ability to take people under their wing and "show them the ropes." This may be in terms of problem solving, working a piece of software, presenting an idea – whatever.
6. Natural Likeability – I think it’s always easier to work with people you like, and I’m a firm believer that you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. Obviously, being a manager isn’t about being everyone’s best friend, but if a person is easy to get along with, able to keep stress out of the workplace, and leaves her/his personal problems at home, I think it makes for a better work environment.
These are the skills I expect from a supervisor and the one I I look for when hiring someone.
References :