Emily Morris explores how we can keep our skills base and network lively in uncertain times.

Matthew Gardner explores the hiring trends and skills in demand for marketing and business development teams in the professions.

If you’re considering changing roles this year, you’ll need a well-thought-out job-search strategy, a winning CV and polished interview skills. James Rosenthal shows you how.

Firm-wide leaders’ expectations have shifted during the nine months of the pandemic. Leor Franks believes that regular communication is required to ensure the right resources are in place.

“So, tell us about yourself?” Beverly Landais has some tips on how to best answer this question.

Professional services have weathered the last six months well. But what lies ahead for marketers and business development teams? Alastair Beddow discusses how the pandemic will shape the future.

In this webinar Joanna Milne, Jeremy Ford and Sadie Baron provide practical advice on the skills which may be in demand in the coming months and years, and how you can leverage your current experience in the new market.

Rebecca Ellis reports on latest trends in recruitment, likely developments, and how business development and marketing functions are planning for the future.

In this webinar, Steven Pearce shares insights from his interviews for his timely new book Optimise – how to survive and thrive in professional life, and will identify the five critical 'mindset hacks' which will bolster the resilience of anyone in professional life.

Jacqueline Burns explains how it’s hard to demonstrate leadership potential without soft skills.

Kim Tasso investigates emerging marketing and business development roles and asks: how can we take responsibility for improving our recruitability?

In this webinar, Nicky Denegri looks at the key components of social style and versatility to help drive high performance and success.

Which is best: portfolio career or Jack-Of-All-Trades? A leading expert or one trick pony? Christine Baltas looks at both sides.

Lydia Lyons explores the value of studying for and completing the CIM qualification.

The world is changing fast and marketers need to change with it. Charles Britten believes this is particularly true in professional services.

From Linda Hill.

This article’s title quotes Arthur Schopenhauer and comes across as parasitic, but, says Tamara McCombe, it highlights the importance of professional networks in executing jobs optimally.

In an increasingly competitive advisory market, it’s not just the lawyers and accountants that need to develop new skills.

BD and marketing teams in professional services firms today are larger, more sophisticated and frequently global.

Ryan Hubley looks at how to increase your visibility as a new BD kid at school.

Emma Shorrock debates when in your career to strengthen your grip, climb the ladder or enjoy the view.

Most people do the best work they can, most of the time, but sometimes things can go wrong.

Joanna Milne explores the skills and training marketers need to stand out from the crowd.

Contracting pays big! Ok, now that I have your attention, this is not project-by-project contracting.

Mandip Dulay discusses a redefined position for the CMO.

Weighing up the benefits of experience and expertise often occurs when, according to Elinor Gilles, we examine our current position and future ambitions.

Why is returning to work after a baby so daunting?

Whether pitching to a potential client or trying to win the support of an internal stakeholder, Deborah Ogden knows that effective communication skills are paramount to making an impact.

Jo Emerson explains how you don’t need to be really confident at something in order to be able to do it.

Sarah Lam lists her top five tips for those starting off a career in professional services.

Joanna Milne explores how marketers can progress their career to senior management and beyond.

Big teams vs Single streams? Joy Douglas compares the two.

Do you recognise the role emotions play in daily office life? Jan Hills believes the more we understand our emotions, the more we can control them.

David Bittiner discusses Green Tomato Ketchup and how to avoid being a brand failure.

Ruth Moody discusses how firms need to develop a culture of emotional awareness and creativity.

Liz Chappell looks at how you can enhance your career within BD and marketing in unpredictable times.

Beverly Landais suggests ten tips to build personal resilience.

Stephanie Hughes provides ideas and approaches for captivating a room in a presentation or meeting.

2016 was certainly an interesting year when it came to hiring within the areas of BD, marketing and commus and this year has started in a similar fashion.

424 marketers based worldwide participated in this year’s PM Forum salary survey. A key finding is that UK marketing salaries fell by 2.2%.

We’re now in an era where four generations occupy the same workplace. But, Tim Drake asks, what do we know about them?

If you want to be in demand, says Mark Harris, then you need to show your worth

In these uncertain times for ‘support’ staff, Shobha Bentley believes that we need to be supporting eachother.

What might the future be like if marketers were in the driving seat of the professional firm? David Brady gives his opinion.

Paul Richmond explains how marketers can contribute more in the boardroom.

Adam Sumner looks at building career value in recovering markets.

David Daly believes that mentoring is one of the most cost effective ways of setting the factors for success in your business life.

In an extract from his latest book, Tim Prizeman discusses how thought leadership can be used to create a successful career.

Congratulations! You’ve been promoted and now you have a team to manage. Scary! But Jo Emerson has some sound advice for any new manager.

With revenue in many professional services firms having increased since the end of the recession, Frosso Miltiadou asks why marketers are not benefiting.

The role played by client development professionals has fundamentally and irrecoverably changed in the ten years in which Clifton Harrison has worked within professional services.

Nicky Purnell looks at mentoring and empowering… the socialist way.

Although for most of us retirement is a long way off, Tim Musgrave suggests there are still plans we can make now to improve our ‘twighlight years’.

Everyone deserves to be valued by their employer. But, asks Mark Harris, what happens when you’re not?

As we build out of the recession and are busy making plans for growth, now is the time to reflect on your overall energy levels and just what capacity you have to achieve your personal and professional ambitions.

Nicky Acuna Ocana looks at the value of mentoring in the professions.

Jane Downes looks at what a leader can do to ensure high performers continue to be motivated.

Emotional Intelligence, or EQ, is the latest buzzword in professional psychology. Jo Emerson looks at why you need it and how to get it.

How can firms safeguard their staff now the market is moving? Simone Timcke and Frosso Miltiadou have some ideas.

How can firms save money? By keeping their marketing team happy so that they don’t need to be replaced. Simon Lewis has some ideas on how this can be achieved.

Having landed that promotion, how can you make a smooth transition from executive to manager, or manager to director? Jo Emerson has some ideas.

The professional services world is increasingly looking to expand their global footprint. But what do marketers need to know about working in other regions? Andrea Williams gives some advice.

How are the professions coping with having to do more with less and just how much longer is this state of flux likely to last? Sarah Garrathy set out to understand the challenges.

To celebrate pm’s 20th anniversary Nadia Cristina tracked down some of the key players in PSF marketing in 1993, who were also involved in getting the magazine off the ground. Based on their wealth of experience, she asked them to answer two questions:
•  What was the best piece of advice you received in your  
    career?
•  What advice would you give the new generation of
    marketers in the professions?

Over the past few years, we have noticed a significant rise in the number of women in top professional firms, both fee earners and support staff, approaching us for specific advice on career progression.

Is a disconnect between managing partner and marketing limiting professional services growth? Bev Burgess gives her view.

Joy Forrester, marketing manager and soon to be CIM graduate, talks about her experiences of taking on the challenge of managing both professional development and career progression simultaneously, and shares some tips for those about to embark on a similar journey. 

Bruce Marcus discusses what fee-earners should know about marketing but don’t.

Positively influencing and directing those ‘above you’, often referred to as ‘managing up’, is a challenge all too familiar to marketing managers and directors.

What does it mean to be a professional marketer? When faced with the task of justifying marketing spend and skills development, it’s important to be clear about the role of marketing and its benefit to the firm. Tracy Holotuk, of KPMG, explains.

This was the question explored by Emily Buist, associate director of SPA (Steven Pearce Associates), who presented the findings of their latest research report to the Forum in Bristol.

Margaret Mannell of Morrison & Foerster discussed with the Forum in London how marketing and business development professionals can illustrate their value to the firms they work for and progress to management level.

The Forum’s 2011 annual survey on where marketers add value attracted responses from well over 200 MPs, marketing leaders and team members. Richard Chaplin reports that generally there was little change from 2010.

Louise Robinson and Daryll Cahill suggest how marketers can better position themselves so decision-makers are convinced of the value and relevance of the marketing function.

Carolyn Pickin from Motiv8 Development gave an insightful session on personality style profiling (PSP) to the East Midlands members of the Forum.

Researchers at Nottingham Business School are conducting a longitudinal study into the careers of women in marketing.

Invariably in professional services you come across an individual who stands out from the crowd. They are usually distinctive in their chosen profession and highly attractive to clients and work referrers. But are these individuals born or made? John Timperley set about finding out.

James Chaplin looks at what types of marketing roles are being hired for and what these trends indicate.

A panel of experts shared their insights with members in London.

Simmons Patrick looks at game-changing Chief Marketing and Chief Business Development Officer competencies.

Having worked in an international law firm, national law firm and now a regional law firm, Vikki Whittemore compares and contrast the challenges for marketers in each of these environments?

Career coach Louise Field shares ideas and techniques from the coach’s toolkit, focussing on the skills at the very heart of coaching – questioning and listening.

As professionals in the field of marketing, do we practice what we preach?

PM Forum Pressure Index shows ‘double dip’ as more marketers look for new jobs.

Surviving and thriving in today's competitive markets.

Regular communication, working together and flexibility are essential qualities to demonstrating what value you add to the business.

What can you do to build your individual brand and give yourself greater exposure within your organisation and within your industry? The Forum in London heard more to help them with their careers.

Steven Pearce offers some tips on how to increase your impact at work and build a highly successful personal brand.

According to Amy Kilbane, smart marketers are not sherman tanks but fearless chameleons, knowing when to advance and when to hold back.They need to see themselves as intellectually equal to the partners surrounding them and not wait for others to direct them.

She was one of the first marketers at a UK law firm back in 1989 and has consulted for hundreds of firms. Kim Tasso gives her view on the future challenges for marketing careers in the professions.

What is the difference? Terence McGuire gives his view on how the two disciplines should be defined.

Claire Taylor discusses the skills that marketers need now and those that will become even more important over the next few years.

Sue Bramall looks at the best way to go about starting your own marketing consultancy – and what you need to know if you are going to 'fly solo'.

How different can it be? Bruce Segall describes the ups and downs of moving from a large company to a smaller one.

Anyone can perform at their best, when they know how: Ideas from the coach’s toolkit.

Linda Stevens believes that this could be the dawning of a golden age for professional services marketing, as long as it is positioned correctly.

Why isn’t my firm using my services the way that it should, and what can I do about it?

Ruth Ashford explains the key areas marketers need to consider in ensuring that they survive in such a tough environment.

Steven Pearce on the importance of personal impact.

The December 2008 PM Forum survey focused on the impact of the downturn on marketing departments and on individual marketers. 186 members responded.

The PM Forum conducted its annual salary survey of marketers in the professions worldwide with 682 responces – a 43% increase on 2007.

Professional marketers, particularly those with modest budgets and small teams, if you are going to survive, you have to be able to manage expectations.

Marketers are often unsure how transferable their skills are when considering a move outside of professional services – or even if the skills acquired in one professional services arena are transferable to another. Pamela Cone gives her opinion.

What should a marketer consider when making the switch from one size of firm to another? Can skills and experience gained in a large, global environment be of value in a small boutique firm and vice versa?

Jo Miners discusses the glut of career opportunities at all levels in professional services marketing.

Demand is high for marketers who can think strategically, deliver tangible results and grow the business. Job openings are taking marketers from industry to industry and nation to nation.

What is the difference between specialists in big firms and generalists in small firms? And at what point in your career do you have to make this decision and how easy is it to then change path? Victoria Capsey gives her view.

Tim Skipper of First Counsel offers some tips for business support managers coming to the negotiating table.

All too often people miss out on their dream job because they don’t prepare properly. Julius Reeves, a recruitment consultant at Spada Drake, explains how it should be done.

Alex Gordon Shute gives guidance on moving between financial and professional services marketing.

What’s your interviewing style? Do you aggressively interrogate potential hires, to see how they react under pressure? Are you deadpan, poker faced and reticent? Do you go for the chummy approach? Most methods are undertaken for good reasons with the aim

Giles Taylor gives some career advice.

How many interviews have you been to in the last few years? I’m sorry, you are too senior now to have interviews, you have ‘meetings’. But is that how the person on the other side views it?

So what on earth happened to make a previously sane 42-year-old marketing director jeopardise a carefully structured 20 year career?

The Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing is the highest qualification awarded by The Chartered Institute of Marketing. It is a brand new qualification to be launched in July and replaces the current Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing.

We all remember the last boom, with its demand for the highest quality individuals and the insatiable drive towards creating bigger and better practices within the professions. Individuals moved jobs far more readily than before, but for all the job offer

What are the trends and themes in law firm marketing and business development? What is the market doing in terms of structures and skill bases? Here are our top 10.

Tony Bond, Managing Consultant with Career Transitions International invited the Forum members in Dublin to picture their retirement party.

When you’re looking to enhance your career prospects, there is a vast array of opportunities. Professional qualifications, MBAs, MScs and MAs; full-time, part-time, distance learning. For a marketing or PR professional it can be a tough choice.

A full house consisting mainly of marketing managers, at which this event was directed, turned up to hear Tim Dixon-Phillip share his secrets to selling professional services successfully with the Forum in Leeds.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going but everyone at some point needs a helping hand, and that’s when bringing in a specialist freelancer/interim can make all the difference to a busy marketing department.

What is the role of marketing departments and how can they best be positioned to add more value? Bob Empson contributes to this debate.

Giovanna Battiston looks at studying while in full-time employment.

Tim Dixon-Phillip looks at selling and stuff he wishes he had known when he started.

Review of Patrick Forsyth's book.

The spectre of losing your job has become far more common for marketers in the past year. Richard Chaplin provides guidance on what to do if you are a victim.

It might be thought that the mass redundancy of some 90% of its UK marketers by stricken accountancy giant Andersen would result in an overhang of candidates in an already soft market. Richard Chaplin reports on current trends.

Contracting is a way of life in some sectors such as IT. Richard Chaplin explores whether professional services marketing is likely to follow suit.

To achieve results for your firm, and to have a successful career, you need to learn how to influence senior management. Why?

Is the grass always greener? Staying with your current firm might be the best strategy. Richard Chaplin explains.

The UK has the largest pool of marketers with experience of working in professional firms outside North America. As a result, firms in France, Germany, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere are eager to attract those with UK experience.

Marketing budgets are under close scrutiny. As one marketing director commented to me the other day: 'My team is expected to increase our firm's revenues by 10%, with a budget of only 80% of last year's.'

When markets are soft, agencies are less likely to court you than when jobs are plentiful. Richard Chaplin explains how to make the most of relationships.

The Edinburgh meeting heard from Anne Tryggeset, Head of Marketing Communications at fund managers, Baillie Gifford. After six years marketing law firms in Bristol and Scotland, Anne joined the financial services sector a year ago.

Pointers from the past few months suggest that economic storm clouds are swirling: The FTSE 100 is close to its lowest level for two years; telecom companies are struggling with massive debts; and confidence is plummeting in the US in the aftermath of the

There is no such thing as a perfect CV. Everyone has different views on style and content. But, as Richard Chaplin explains, there are a few golden rules to observe.

Career counselling often results in a recommendation to stay with the same firm. Richard Chaplin explains.

Whether you are serious over a move or just putting your toes in the water, it is inevitable that you will be asked to attend an interview with a potential employer and possibly their retained agency. Preparation is the key to getting the best out of an i

When looking at career choices, the idea of joining a marketing consultancy or even starting your own consultancy business is usually on the list.

Two questions that I am frequently asked when career counselling are how marketing skills and experience vary for those holding equivalent positions across different sectors, and whether it is true that FMCG people are always unhappy in our sector and vic

In recent years, the Chartered Institute of Marketing ('CIM') and other bodies have sought to raise the standard of marketing in the UK through promoting the value to a company of hiring a qualified marketer.

Recruitment agencies come in all sizes and shapes. At one extreme, a large generalist agency may include a division for marketers. At the other, a specialist agency may place marketing people at a particular level into a specific sector. Both have advanta

Juggler, acrobat, chorus and bit-player -Samantha Phillips gives an insight into how to survive in a mid sized firm.

Most partners perceive marketing as being a non-technical subject. So they reckon they know everything about it. We asked a group of professional services marketers how they had coped with a boss whose knowledge of marketing was limited.

In 1998, we published the findings from the first SMC/PM Forum salary survey. Three years on, readers wanted to know how things have changed and whether salaries now reflect the level of skills required to be an effective marketer. Richard Chaplin, of rec

Next time you need a new senior marketing person, think again. Because the labour market is so tight that you might not find one.

In June 1999, Elizabeth Rantzen left her role as director of business development at Denton Hall to become the first chambers director at 2 Temple Gardens, a 50-strong civil and commercial set of barristers chambers.

Increasingly, marketers with an FMCG background are joining professional firms and bringing their diverse skills to the marketing mix. But what is the fundamental difference in the styles of marketing? One ex-FMCG marketer thinks he knows.

The way in which marketers and marketing departments in professional services firms are perceived has changed over the last five years.

Legal marketers must develop stronger strategic skills and a greater understanding of the e-world to play a central role in meeting their firms' future challenges. They must also work with HR and other key support functions to ensure their firms hire, ret

Should marketers start moonlighting, job-sharing and fee earning? For once, everyone seems to be in agreement.

We all have goals. However, all too often months rush by without serious attention being given to career goals. Richard Chaplin provides a framework for marketers to use during those few precious minutes of reflection.

Matching the marketing skills and work experience of a marketer against their responsibilities is a good first step in determining effectiveness but is unlikely to be sufficient. Other dimensions are also important, in particular economy, efficiency, rela

Christine Berry spoke to the Forum on the career of marketers in the professions.

Working as a marketer in a professional services firm is always demanding and occasionally murderous. What can bosses do to encourage their staff to put up with it?

Marketing and HR - only together we can make a difference. That is the view of Kevin Green. But how can the two disciplines develop a better working relationship and why should they? Kevin looks at these areas and gives a practical guide to working togeth

Kevin Wheeler discusses the findings of Marketing the Advisers II, the second study in a research series looking at the marketing practices of the UK's leading business advisory firms.

A recent item in the News section of pm highlighted the concept of an outsourced or off site marketing director being used in PSFs and asked if this was the way of the future. Christine Berry gives her views on why the use of contract marketers is a fast

As the number of marketers employed in the sector grows, we increasingly come across people who are unsure whether they are in the right position.

Approaches to building the long term career success that you would like.

The 1998 SMC/PM Forum salary survey provides an important benchmark for professional firms and for marketers in assessing appropriate salary levels for marketing specialists in the range £15,000 to £75,000. It can be used for both recruitment and interna

How do you build your own image as a marketer?

As professional services marketers watch the growing number of fee earners setting up virtual offices, many have made the move to do likewise.

Paul Rhodes spoke to the Forum in Nottingham on his expectations of a marketing team.

You may often have wondered why it is that you spend so much of your time marketing marketing. You are in good company as this is not a dilemma peculiar to the professions.

The marketing director has become an integral part of the senior management of most law firms. This is not merely a fad but a reflection of the fact that firms realise that the best marketing can produce real improved business performance.

Knowledge of your firm's products, services, market sector emphasis, regional world strength can put you in a prime position.

Action-oriented career development strategies revealed by award-winning accounting marketers.

In Richard Chaplin's experience, the lynchpin to marketing structure lies in the culture of the firm, in particular the preferred management style of the managing partner or chief executive.

Marketing directors have long been islands alone. Most readers of this very journal look to pm primarily as a source of information, support and feedback from other marketers in a similar situation. However, Hilary Bruggen comments, marketers who need m

Adam Quarry, marketing director of venture capital firm 3i, gives it to us straight - well, straightish.

A job specification is like a marketing plan. The process of preparation is as important as the finished document. Richard Chaplin gives guidance on how a professional service firm should approach a job specification for a marketing specialist.

For most partners, 'the marketing team' conjures up a vision of planners, PR luvvies and event organisers working in an untidy, open plan office surrounded by drawing boards, maps, survey reports, brochures and assorted marketing paraphernalia

Accountancy firms have traditionally acted as a training groung for marketers in the professions. But how difficult is it, once familiar with the marketing of one professional firm, to move from one sector to another? Richard Chaplin spoke to a marketin

Marketing specialists working in professional services firms frequently complain of the lack of a long-term career path. Clem Cook reports.

Professional firms are well versed in recruiting fee earners and support staff such as finance and personnel people. Most firms have a specialist on the payroll whose role is partly to recruit, partly to retain existing people. However, when it comes to