Almost 32 years old and feeling stuck. Been in advertising at creative agencies my entire career and wanting to make the pivot to client side marketing but am feeling very under skilled in certain aspects - project management, account management, digital marketing/CRM, data science. Seriously considering going for an MBA to fill those gaps and open doors. Anyone do something similar? Good idea or unnecessary? Am I too old?

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You are definitely NOT too old. And don’t sell yourself short on what you know. All the skills you list are easy to learn. Let’s face it... marketing is not a field that requires “genius” level anything. (Pointing finger at me.)

MBA... do it if you want to spend the $$, it will help check-the-box for client side qualifications (MBA is usually preferred, but not mandatory), but an MBA won’t do much to actually help you with the skills you listed.

Just get out there and apply. Speak well, show enthusiasm, ask good questions and you’ll be better than 90% of the other candidates. Good luck.

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I’m having the same trouble. I’ve been in various agencies for 15 years and now my diverse background seems to be working against me.
I just got rejected for a job today which I thought would work out so I’m super bummed and feeling pretty lost.

We like hiring agency people because they're used to leveling up as the A team and getting performance based results. That other stuff can be learned on the job pretty easily. consider what you bring uniquely to the table with agency experience that corporate marketers don't have.

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Not old. Don’t think you need an MBA either. Just a job where you can practice one of these skills you feel you need. Big 4 now for example hire agency people for their creative and other agency type of skills. So do other businesses. Look for a position that advertises to your strengths but where you know you will need to stretch into these other roles.

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Well, considering I'm 46 and just now getting my BFA, I'd say you're never too old. There may be other educational avenues you can explore, though. Do you freelance? Do you volunteer for organizations? Both are excellent opportunities for expanding your skill set and contact base.

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Have you spoken with any of your clients who are doing the job you want? The easiest way to make the leap is to speak to one of your clients and transition across (obviously assuming any poaching clauses don't kick in), that's what I did.

Either way having a discussion 'off the record' might help with networking and getting your name out there. RE MBA, it's a lot of cash and time with no guarantee, as a client side hiring manager, I don't see what that would add vs finding a route in now.

You're definitely not too old either!

Good luck 👊

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I am 32 too! And completed my MBA in 2018. From my personal experience I can tell you, an MBA is (at most places) just a check box to be ticked. And ROI is pretty low atleast in short term. And as most of the people mentioned, nowadays many companies are focusing on skills rather than degree. So, for the MBA part, I would recommend you to re-think. And your career pivot is also not that drastic like from tech to finance (MBA does help in that).

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I wouldn't go back for MBA unless you really want one. There are many tech companies that look for individuals with agency experience so their client facing roles. I would think about if you want to be more customer focused or technical and pursue roles accordingly.

I think you can try to focus on selling your unique experience and asset that you can bring, and try to find the position where that unique experience will be valued more, rather than randomly applying. I work at somewhat similar to what you described on client side, and in my case it’s the additional unique experience that was valued. good luck!

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