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Last Updated on 6 months by The Mintly Team
You decide to change your career path or maybe decide to step into an FMCG Career. You may or may not know about FMCG companies and how they work. So, the endless questions follow: “What”, “How”, “When”, “Why”, “Where”. You feel stranded.
The moment the world gets a hint of you considering change, everyone starts to offer you career advice. Google comes up with its own set of articles for you. Your family and friends stand rock-hard to give you unsolicited advice.
But what are the advice that can be effective and which are not?
Good career advice is easy to spot. But, bad career advice is difficult to realise.
To ease your life, we have collated a list of bad career advice (which you should ignore if you hear one) received by FMCG professionals, from time to time.
1. “FMCG Career is not for MBA holders”
Oh, Please!
We don’t know who came up with this career advice but here is the fact: With the FMCG companies’ growth driven by consumption, it is one of the sectors that is most favourable to the MBA holders.
From sales and marketing to Finance of FMCG companies, MBA holders can play a significant role. On the other hand, FMCG companies sought after management students to combat their managerial issues effectively.
Of course, having an FMCG career is not easy but it is certainly not impossible. Any career role in the FMCG sector demands dynamic, quick-to-think charm to succeed.
But is it worthwhile to take up an FMCG job after MBA? You can find your answer here.
2. “Do good work and you will be noticed by your boss!”
We are not labelling this advice as bad career advice. But it is certainly a little off point. Doing good at your job has its perks. You are considered as a reliable employee. But if you want to be noticed by your boss, you should stand out from the crowd and excel at what you are doing.
Surpass the expectation through
brilliant ideas
. Think about how you can improvise or enhance the work you are doing. Think about where you can be a catalyst for change.
For FMCG professionals, here are a few ideas to excel and be noticed:
- Find the automation tools that can ease the workflow. Or devise a plan to improve the processes.
- Technology is a need of the hour. Encourage your team to implement advanced technologies that can ease the labour.
- Boost employee morale. In the field like FMCG sales, keeping up the employee morale is highly important. If you can contribute to this, you can easily get on your boss’s radar.
- According to a study, the customers today are more interested in experiences rather than in actual products. Think about the methods to offer a positive experience to your customers.
These are a few ideas to grab the limelight on yourself and let your superiors know why you deserve a raise or promotion.
3. “Success is for those who are perfect”
An age old saying: Strive for progress, not for perfection!
No one is perfect. Everyone strives to be there but no one reaches there. Instead, if you want to succeed, analyse yourself. Find your strengths and weaknesses. Some of you may have excellent managerial skills while some of you are good at handling the end customers.
If you are not sure how to determine your strengths, here are a few questions you can ask yourself:
- Have I been recognised for my work? If yes, what sort of work was that?
- Have I been awarded for my contribution??
- What is one thing for which people look up to me?
These questions help you find out your strengths and work on your weaknesses. The moment you start overcoming your weakness, success follows you.
4. “Don’t stay in a job for less than two years”
In an ideal world, you should stay in a job for at least two years.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median number of years that workers stayed with their current employers was 4.2 years in 2016.
However, if you are feeling underpaid, under appreciated, unfulfilled, or simply not-feeling-like-staying-longer, you can change the job certainly.
The idea here is to build credibility and avoid being called a “job hopper”.
“Leaving one job in less than a year may not look bad. But if you have many job experiences that didn’t last a year, it’s certainly a black mark you need to rethink, irrespective of your reasons for resigning” says James Philip, founder and managing director of JMJ Phillip Holdings, an executive search firm.
In FMCG companies, it would take a good amount of time, dedication and determination to climb the career ladder and reach top managerial roles. But the truth prevails. If you feel the FMCG jobs are not for you or if you struggle to build an FMCG career, you can always opt out for better.
5. “You need to get a JOB!”
Nope. Not necessarily!
A job can help you pay your bills. Agreed. With increase in experience, even your remuneration can increase. But if you are not happy with your work or want to own business rather than working in a 9 to 5 job, the job is not taking you anywhere.
In other words, a job helps but not a necessity.
If you want to explore business options in the FMCG sector, click
here
6. “Only do what you are told!”
“If you are asked to give oranges, just give oranges” is an outdated thought. Maybe try giving orange squash (Disclaimer: Some may not like squash).
The whole point is, if something is being asked, give them a better version of it. Boss is an all-rounder and knows all is long gone. Of course, in the beginning, you may have to bend to the will of your manager but eventually you can show them the best of your abilities.
Your FMCG career should be about improving everyone, every process, and the company. If you are doing things outside your job descriptions, it can lead to promotion of your job titles and building of your FMCG career.
7. “You may not get a better job than this. Stay in this job!”
Have you ever got stuck up in a friendship in spite of knowing that it is not doing good for you? The answer would be mostly no.
The same applies to jobs. A job may help you in surviving but it may not be the one that is right for you. It is okay to change the job. But have the confidence that you can get a better job.
“You may not get a better job than this!” kind of bad career advice is everywhere.
In the FMCG sector, this kind of career advice keeps floating. But nevertheless, be known that FMCG is an evergreen sector which thrives on consumer consumption. If you leave one job, there is always another job opportunity opening up to build your FMCG career.
8. “The path to success is to work hard, and carve your path from bottom to top”
Not at all. Period.
You have been passed over for a promotion in spite of your stellar review and glowing performance. What happened?
In most of the organisations, promotions are governed by fuzzy, intuitive and poorly expressed feelings of senior management.
To rule out their feelings, you need to demonstrate your abilities to them while thinking strategically about moving up the FMCG career ladder.
In this modern world where technology is booming, Smart work is appreciated more than hard work. Of course, what has to be done, is to be done but at the same time, strategic thinking, self-promotion and branding yourself is important too.
In a nutshell, you hear a lot of career advice, some good and some bad. But whatever it is, consider this career advice as a drop of lemon on your meal, a bit of flavour to what you already have.
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