HubSpot Careers Blog

It's 2008. I've landed my dream job. A couple of successful alumni from my university saw a spark in me and hired me into their firm; very best in the city. Everyone said so. Four months later, I’m out of a job.

The great recession has hit. Markets are in turmoil. Banks are seized up. Lending has come to a stop. And there isn’t any work for me to do in my dream job or industry.

So much for a good start right out of university. There are literally zero jobs in my industry of choice. What do I do?

I've heard that CEOs all start their careers in sales, and like any self-respecting millennial, I know right then that's my destiny. So, I take the plunge and get a Sales gig.

2018 was a year of awareness, of change, of recognition, and of belonging as individuals. We’ve made progress as a society to make the world a more equitable place for everyone, especially women. Iceland became the first country to enforce equal pay laws. Spain’s Prime Minister appointed the country’s first majority-female cabinet. Women in Saudi Arabia were given the right to drive. And women of color in the US broke records in the midterm elections. (Shoutout to Massachusetts’ first black woman elected to Congress, Ayanna Pressley, who came to speak at HubSpot during her campaign!)

When you think about the “typical” career path, the steps always look pretty similar: individual contributor, manager, senior manager, VP, CEO. Because we’ve seen this same career ladder our entire lives, we automatically default to thinking that advancing in our careers means moving up into these management roles. And when I started my career, that’s exactly what I thought. “Managers run everything! Individual contributors don’t have much sway or influence. Why would I want to get stuck there?”

English majors and other liberal arts students have higher chances of getting a good job than occupational majors, such as students studying business or biology, according to new research.

The underemployment rate is the lowest it's been in half a century (at 3.7 percent),  but college students still worry about finding adequate work upon graduating — especially as student loans skyrocket. In fact, more Americans are burdened with student loan debt than ever before, with millennials, in particular, owing a staggering sum of over $1.48 trillion, according to 2018 estimates. And 43 percent of college graduates are underemployed in their first job, meaning that they aren't employed in jobs that require bachelor degrees, according to Burning Glass data.

“How do I get into product marketing?”

That’s a question I see almost every single week, and it’s no surprise. According to a survey by Robert Half, product marketing is one of the top 3 marketing roles growing in 2018.

And yet, even though there is a lot written about the importance of product marketing, it still remains a mystery to many looking to make the transition into a product marketing role. While the responsibilities of a product marketing role can vary by company and industry, often you will find this role in many B2B companies that are in a competitive market with a sales team. Product marketing is a prevalent role throughout technology companies, but also exists across other industries as well.

 A couple summers ago, I took an improv comedy class with a colleague using HubSpot’s tuition reimbursement. (Yes, HubSpot actually paid for me to laugh in a class.) But, beyond learning to laugh at life, I also learned another important skill -- public speaking.

Before every improv class, I’d get sweaty palms and have to pep talk myself into even showing up because I was so nervous. Most of my jokes that landed a laugh or giggle were stories about my new (cute) terror of a puppy pottying on my kitchen floor.

GALVANIZE 2018, a summit hosted by Fairygodboss on Oct. 15-16 in New York City, convened hundreds of executives and leaders of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) with the goal of making women’s resource groups powerful. 

It can be difficult to turn a general mission like “empowerment” into actionable steps, but two of the GALVANIZE panels — ”What I Wish My ERG Knew” and “How to Deploy Your ERG to Make Lasting Impact” —  tackled on the question of how, exactly, to make ERGs effective and inclusive. 

When I was an individual contributor, I often thought there were easy solutions to seemingly obvious questions my leadership team was facing. “If we added this one step to the sales process, it would make for a better prospect and customer experience.” Digging into this you realize, the solution isn't as easy as it seems. For example, adding more layers to the sales process slows it down and has an exponential effect on a company's bottom line.

How does this relate to hiring gay? Hang on, I’m getting there.

When I ask most people if they’ve considered a career in sales, they’re all too quick to reject the idea.

• “Sales reps are always so pushy, I don’t want to be asking for money all day.”
• “I’m not a people person, I’d hate talking to strangers all day!”
• “I’ve never sold anything before, I can’t break into that career.”
• “Sales culture seems really toxic, I won’t fit in.”

I get this reaction from many people because when they think of sales reps, they think of dishonest and pushy people portrayed in movies populating used car lots and mall kiosks, inflating the stereotypes they’ve seen on TV. For many people, the only interaction they have with sales reps is limited to a time when they’ve been interrupted by the rep to be sold products they may not even need.