Career PathsJun 23, 20268 min read
Career Path: Marketing Executive to CMO in Mumbai
For every cmo we've placed in the last 18 months, we asked what they'd have done sooner. The list below is what they said.
Ongoing — close the credibility gap
Publish what you learn. A short write-up of one cmo project does more for credibility than a year of quiet study.
Year 1 — build the overlap
Stay in your marketing executive role, but deliberately take on work that a cmo would own. Two shipped examples beat any certificate.
Year 2–3 — rewrite the story
Rebuild your resume and LinkedIn around cmo outcomes, not marketing executive tasks. Recruiters screen on the story, not the intent.
Traps that delay the jump
- Targeting only the biggest brands, where the bar for switchers is highest.
- Collecting courses instead of shipping one real project.
- Underselling transferable experience as "unrelated".
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