Digital Branding Consultant Amanjeet shares her career story

I am Amanjeet Khurana, co-founder of a company called DesignTrunk, that primarily focuses on creating contemporary designs and digital experiences for multiple brands. Apart from that am a digital brand consultant who help create a brand’s story board across digital media platforms. Having an interest in content writing and art, I maintain the blog section of the website that aims to create and continue an ongoing conversation about art, culture and design.

Who is a Marketing Consultant?

A person who can add value to a brand’s current public profile in order to achieve the brand’s vision.

What motivated you to become a Marketing Consultant?

Before I completed my MBA in finance and marketing, I was offered a PPO (Pre Placement Offer) by Deutsche Bank. About 11 months into the corporate routine and feeling trapped in the process, I decided to switch jobs and experiment within the Marketing field.

I consulted with multiple companies and gained experience in the field of Digital Marketing. I liked how this work made me more inquisitive everyday, thus increasing my learning. Frankly saying, I am stuck to this field and now have been working in the same industry for almost 7 years.

What is your typical day like?

My typical day includes going through emails, working through the calendar with a strong cup of coffee. My work includes a lot of brand research, strategy formulation and defining design guidelines.

For instance, if a restaurant approaches me to create a digital strategy for them, I research the brand, set their content tone, design guidelines. Then we research the competitors and try understanding their strategy which is followed by creating creative campaigns for the restaurant clients for their digital platform.

What steps did you take to land in your present job?

No specific steps were involved. Just kept looking for opportunities and added value to anything and everything that I could.

How is the actual career different from what you initially thought about it?

Ever since my graduation I always wanted to be a banker and to land in a job with a well-known foreign bank was a dream come true. Very soon in my first job I realised that because of my everyday work I will soon succumb to my monotonous routine. Finally, I gave up the dream that i was working for since graduation, to find a new one.

I believe change is constant and the quicker you adapt, the better it is.

What things would you do differently in preparing for this career? Do you have any advice to your younger self?

It’s a process that got me here. I would not do anything different to be where I am. A small piece of advice I would give my younger self is be inquisitive and keep learning.

What do you love about your current role?

The fact that I get to interact with so many people and learn so much with their knowledge makes me to be part of this job role.

What are the challenges you face in your career?

One of the main challenges is that, there is no work life balance at times.

How do you like to spend your free time?

I spend majority of my free time reading business books and learning more about my work.

What type of Marketing Professionals will be high in demand in the near future?

Marketing professionals who can blend their thoughts with the clients/ brand vision will always be in high demand and successful in their field.

Can you please summarise your career journey?

+2 – Commerce with Math
Graduation – BBA
Post Graduation – MBA in marketing and finance
Job 1 – Advantage Banking Associate, Deutsche Bank
Job 2 – Digital Brand Consultant + Content writer to more than 40+ brand to date.

What sort of experiences helped prepare you most?

Finding mentors who could guide me in the process helped me prepare for my field.

What are the skills required to be a Marketing Professional?

Communication skill is very critical to be a marketing professional.

What are some alternate career options for a Marketing Professional?

Social Media Manager
Brand Consultant
Brand Strategist
Digital Marketer
Digital Content Writer, etc.

What do you think potential recruiters look for in a fresh Marketing Professional ?

Recruiters look for creative thinking and the ability to execute thoughts to action.

How do I know if a career in Marketing is for me?

There is no better way to know what works for you unless you try it out.

On the job learning is very different from what the books teach us. Education is important, but learning is inevitable for success. Register yourself for internships, find mentors who can guide you and be a part of teams that foster learning.

Any recommended resources students who are interested in Marketing?

garyvaynerchuk

What should one do during his college days, especially those who want to be in Marketing?

Education will provide you the base to start your career in the field of marketing. Your institute/college will provide you multiple opportunities in terms of extra curricular activities which will provide a snippet of the real on-the-job training. Be a part of those and experiment enough to know your interest and forte.