How to break into marketingMarketing is a tough business to get into, as there is always a lot of competition. Most employers will require you to have at least an upper second class arts degree, plus some relevant skills and experience. However, there are lots of things that you can do to improve your chances of breaking into the business.It can help to get some relevant part time or summer work experience in a field related to marketing, for example, market research or public relations. It can also help to do an internship with a marketing firm in order to gain some real world experience. These can be found advertised on university websites and on the websites of marketing firms themselves. Doing some marketing related voluntary work with a charity can also be a good way to gain relevant experience, and this can look very good on your CV. It might be worth your while studying for a postgraduate marketing diploma while you are searching for a job, as this can be a good way to build up your knowledge and contacts base. However, who you know can be more important than what you know, so you should try to network as much as possible. Attend as many trade events and careers fairs as possible, as these will enable you to meet people who work within the industry. IT skills are also highly prized by marketing firms, so it can pay to learn the basics of some of the more popular software packages. In particular, you should acquaint yourself with Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Word, Publisher, and Excel, and Macromedia Dreamweaver. Many jobs require you to learn some basic HTML as well. To help you get an idea of what marketing firms are looking for in a potential employee, it can help to look at a web page such as the Marketing Jobs section of the Guardian Jobs website. Be sure to read some trade publications such as Campaign, Marketing, and Marketing Week as well, as these will keep you up to date with the latest trends and buzzwords in the marketing world. They also contain current job vacancies in the marketing sector and details of upcoming trade events, and can be found online, in libraries, and in specialist newsagents. |
