The job I selected to review for this assignment is the position of the Manager of Consumer Insights at the Disney+ Marketing team. As a part of the Disney streaming services company, this role requires high standards of knowledge, extensive professional expertise, and experience in the working field. The candidate needs to be proficient in e-commerce and customer service to execute the employment duties like understanding product alterations, clients’ perception of them, and evaluation of the organization’s branding, as well as brand development.
The position is aimed at providing insight into clients’ opinions about the company and translating this information to viable goals. Therefore, I will examine the job placement from the standpoint of applying for it after five years of starting my professional career. This paper will analyze specific skills, knowledge, qualifications, experience, education, abilities, and other personal characteristics that are needed to be successfully hired and work efficiently in the selected role.
Knowledge
One of the most crucial aspects of Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Other characteristics (KSAO) for the particular job of the Insights Manager is the knowledge of product marketing, customer insight, and data analytics. As the study was done by Rahimi, Rostami, Shad, and Vafaei (2018) suggests, educated and well-informed management is a vital part of innovation. As a student of a Business and Economics major, I will be proficient enough in some of the areas mentioned above. For instance, while obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Business and Economics, I will have an understanding of what branding and data analytics entails.
However, this knowledge might be too broad to apply to the entertainment industry and its marketing sector. Therefore, to acquire more relevant experience in the entertainment market, I need to find applicable employment and gather an understanding of the target market to qualify for the post. Additionally, the work of the Insights Manager involves cooperating with the data analytics team to ensure that research and behavioral information are used to shape business strategies. Thus, I need to deepen my knowledge in the data analytics sphere to communicate with that sector constructively.
Skills
Secondly, as it concerns the compulsory skillset for the Insights Manager job position, it presupposes some group work and leadership skills, as well as the specific abilities to conduct quantitative marketing research. For example, I will have some academic experience with both quantitative and qualitative business research methods upon graduation since I will take corresponding classes and will work on my thesis in one of these frameworks. While I assume that college education will give me fundamental qualifications and competency to gather, evaluate, process, and then find applications for the data, this theoretical knowledge will be limited to the academic environment. To fit the specific skillset demand of the job, I need to have the relevant working experience to understand how research is administered in a real-life situation, not stimulated scholarly setting. Perhaps, knowing that quantitative analysis is obligatory for the preferable job position, I will choose that approach for my final thesis project to have additional practice.
Furthermore, the role of the Insights Manager requires setting actionable goals for future cooperation and communicate them effectively with the team. In terms of conceptual thinking and planning for the department and a group overall, I tend to focus on short-term goals, which lacks the focus on the future and the bigger scale of the issue. To qualify for this aspect of the position, developing leadership conceptual skills via hands-on experience of following a group in research and strategic planning is compulsory.
Abilities
Thirdly, the position of the Insights Manager requisites an applicant to have an ability to efficiently manage cross-sectional work, and administrate the cooperation of different departments. According to Jones-Morales and Konrad (2018), “Findings indicated that in youth, proactivity plus talent recognition and mentoring by adults enhanced access to early developmental and career opportunities” (p. 246). Fortunately, I have experience with mentoring in the leadership field. As the role is a management level one and involves cross-group and sector work, I will operate with fundamental leadership and group work abilities.
Over the course of getting a degree, I noticed that my organization and administration skills enhanced significantly, adding to an intrinsic value of a leader. I value interpersonal approach to all team members to successfully achieve a common goal. The individualistic interactions with each follower will help to create meaningful connections between employees, even if they work in different departments. As I will have an opportunity to refine my relational and managerial skills in my future jobs prior to applying to the Disney+, I will meet the criteria.
Other Characteristics
In addition to specific skills, knowledge, and abilities, the Manager of Consumer Insights requires other characteristics like sociability and people-oriented, yet rational personality. Firstly, as the name of the position implies, the hired applicant is supposed to investigate unique and accurate customers’ perception of the Disney brand and services. The data-driven person is supposed to have the ability to see the product through clients’ eyes, operate with information to support that, and organize people’s opinions into actionable goals for the company to get better.
Consequently, the applicant is supposed to view the customer’s desires and thoughts through the prism of research and scientific analysis. Moreover, managerial duties imply working and coordinating big groups of people. Thus, a specific logical yet affable personality will fit this work post the best.
Interest in the entertainment or e-commerce business is another characteristic preferable for an applicant. Since the clients of the Disney streaming service have specific desires and vision of their ideal products and service, the Manager of Customer Insights needs to be both aware and engaged in that sphere. Findings of a study on career development and satisfaction discovered that “generation X are more likely to exchange high career development satisfaction for higher levels of organisational commitment in the field of interest” (Benson, Brown, Glennie, O’Donnell, & O’Keefep, 2018, p. 524). Understanding the competitors’ market and the selling points of the product is also an advantage.
Education
As it concerns education, there are no specified college degree criteria. However, skills, knowledge, and particular expertise mentioned indicate that the applicant needs to graduate with a major in Business Administration or Marketing. A viable applicant for an Insights Manager is obligated to operate with a deep understanding of target markets, information analysis, and must be able to communicate their ideas clearly and understandably in the written form. In addition, Jackson and Wilton (2016) suggested that for the hiring process of recent graduates, education, personality, and work management are equally essential. Therefore, a Business-related college degree and additional courses in marketing are recommended for this job.
Personal Development
As per personal development, the Disney streaming service seeks a capable professional with a self-starting initiative and a positive personality who is able to navigate white space comfortably. Since the position is at the managerial level, many leadership activities are implied in the task’s requirements. Therefore, interpersonal communication and the ability to motivate the group are vital.
According to Chen, Hussain, and Low (2020), already existing leadership attainment is a key factor for being employed at managerial roles. Furthermore, the role prompts the worker to assess data and draw strategies for future work. The ability to start from scratch and build accurate and viable action plans for generating profit and increasing the target market are crucial. While professional competency plays a role in strategy creation, personal dedication and the capability to stay mentally focused are the integral parts of the internal development of the manager.
Work Experience
Lastly, to successfully execute Insights Manager’s tasks and duties, a particular work background is listed as a necessary part of an application. To be more specific, five or more years of related working experience are required. However, the Disney Streaming service employers seek not only proficient managers but also people with some hand-on involvement in the field of e-commerce or direct customer service.
That criteria also suggests the importance of certain personal characteristics like empathy and ability to comprehend other people’s preferences. Jackson and Wilton (2016) discovered that “certain career management competencies influenced perceptions, in addition to work experience and individual characteristics” (p 747). I already have customer support experience, which might help understand the front-line employees that possibly need to be managed, as well as have the comprehension of the customer’s desires.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the position of Manager of Consumer Insights at Disney+ marketing team within Disney streaming services is a desired job that I aim to apply for approximately five years after graduating. The analysis of KSAO and personal, educational, and professional background showed that while I have a foundation for developing the obligatory qualifications to be hired, they need to be further enhanced through real-life marketing experience. The areas I will focus on in terms of skills and abilities are increasing my writing skills, strategic thinking, as well as quantitative research. In terms of knowledge, I need to enhance my understanding of data analytics for successful cooperation.
References
- Benson, J., Brown, M., Glennie, M., Odonnell, M., & Okeefe, P. (2018). The generational “exchange” rate: How generations convert career development satisfaction into organisational commitment or neglect of work. Human Resource Management Journal, 28(4), 524–539. Web.
- Chen, R.Y.S., Hussain, K. and Low, C.K.L. (2020). Perception and preferences of hiring managers. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 12(2), 165-174. Web.
- Jackson, D., & Wilton, N. (2016). Perceived employability among undergraduates and the importance of career self-management, work experience and individual characteristics. Higher Education Research & Development, 36(4), 747–762. Web.
- Jones-Morales, J., & Konrad, A. M. (2018). Attaining elite leadership: career development and childhood socioeconomic status. Career Development International, 23(3), 246–260. Web.
- Rahimi, E., Rostami, N. A., Shad, F. S., & Vafaei, V. (2017). The importance of knowledge management on innovation. Applied Mathematics in Engineering, Management and Technology, 5(1), 68–73.