Marketing as a Career
A career in marketing is spontaneous and an enjoyable one. Most people who work in the field of marketing will tell you it provides them with the challenge they have always wanted. Marketing is sporadic and always changing; there are always new and unique techniques to learn, cases to study, and strategies to research. Most companies have been successful with the help of great marketing people. Due to the fact that marketing involves coming up with an idea and realizing it, this is evident in every business.
It will take determination and persistence, but it can be done. You will find that a start in marketing will normally put you in an entry position as a market research assistant, print buyer, general management trainee, or you can enter a program as a graduate trainee. A career in marketing will give you broad horizons to explore. This is the reason why marketing major is considered a jack-of-all-trades because of the reason that a marketing person is not limited by his academic performance but complemented by his innate creativity and innovative aspirations.
Advertising, for most of its part, is the core of how marketing people do their jobs in a spontaneous yet creative manner. Unlike management which uses Management by Objectives (MBO) which is quite mandatory, marketing is very subjective in nature, which will give you the chance to speak your mind and materialize your ideas. A marketing person should be able to do the fundamental requisites of marketing which is to have an idea on how to build a SWOT analysis for a company. A SWOT analysis involves creating and scrutinizing ideas for the company’s progress. Each aspect of it is crucial for the growth of the company. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses opportunities, threats analysis.
Here are some pointers for you to find out if you are a marketing person at heart:
- Are you able to recognize problems and devise an appropriate plan of action to resolve that problem?
- Can you organize and interpret complex data?
- Are you good at generating new ideas? Can you then take and organize those ideas and communicate them verbally?
If you possess the qualities above then you could be a good candidate for entering and being successful in the career of marketing. Marketing offers various career opportunities, so it’s easy to choose one that reflects your interest, values, and personal style. As a marketing major you can gain experience in your chosen career by participating in an internship or volunteering in service learning and community projects (Laura Lake, marketing.about.com/cs/marketingjobs). Samples of potential experiences include:
- Conducting Market Research for a Fortune 500 Company.
- Promoting products through development of Point-of-Purchase displays.
- Spending time reviewing potential cost, price, and market research for service programs.
- Learning how to research customer base potential using available data.
- Designing an advertising or promotional campaign to promote new services.
- Developing a marketing plan for a global business.
References
- (Laura Lake, marketing.about.com/cs/marketing)
