While it is a major accomplishment to receive your marketing degree, remember you still have a lot to learn. You have the marketing concepts and strategies that make for a solid foundation, and now is time to see how these translate in the business world. Be sure to show a potential employer that you have a strong understanding of marketing, while showing an eagerness to collaborate, learn, observe, and grow. You do not know it all...yet.
In marketing, we always try to define a goal before we get started on building our plan. The same rings true for your career. Identify a few job titles or roles on LinkedIn that are 2-3 spots ahead of where you are in your career. Check out the work and professional experience those people have, and that will give you a perfect roadmap of the skills, jobs, and connections you need to get to your ideal career.
What is so great about starting out in marketing is that you can take learning into your own hands, even before you land that first job. How do you take control of your learning (outside of school)? You can do so through marketing certifications, online training programs and staying up on the latest trends. For example, you can dive into website analytics by pursuing the Google Analytics Individual Qualification certificate (it’s free) or take courses through the American Marketing Association Professional Certified Marketer program to dive deeper into content marketing or marketing management. These types of certificates and programs are great for your resume and show initiative. Plus, if you want to stand out as a potential job candidate and employee, stay up-to-date by reading industry publications on a daily basis, such as The Drum, AdAge, Adweek and more.
The fastest way to jumpstart your marketing career would be to make valuable connections inside your field. Network, volunteer, make friends -- whatever you need to do put your name in their brain. Make sure they know what you are doing and where you want to be next. Volunteer for projects they may have, send them relevant, well-written blogs you have created, and make sure they know where to find your online portfolio. Then, when opportunities come up, they will think of you.
As I was working to start my career shortly after graduating, I was able to secure a number of informational interviews. The connections I made through those interviews were key that job search as well as my future career. Looking back, the most impactful advice I received during that time was from an HR executive who I met with. She told me to never leave an informational interview without asking the interviewer to connect me to someone in their network who could provide advice. She reminded me that everyone I would speak to had been in my position in the past, and that it is human nature to want to help people -- some people just need a bit of a nudge. So, I took her advice, which ended up being very fruitful and led to my first job after A.S.U. Now, this is the main piece of advice I share with anyone I meet who is starting out in their career. Steve Koch, Marketing, 1996
The single most important tip that I discovered when trying to jumpstart my marketing career in Phoenix was to network. There are countless professional groups, seminars, and workshops to learn from. These events also give you the opportunity to connect with experts in the marketing field that have spent years building their careers in the Valley of the Sun. Placing yourself in rooms with the goal to network and learn something new can only benefit you in the long run. You can never have too many connections or know every detail of the “marketing rule book.” There’s always more to learn, more people to meet, and more experience that you can add to your tool belt.
Early on companies will want you to work in "hot" young-people tactics like TikToc or Facebook Ads but as you move upwards, you will be expected to know a bit of everything and take more and more ownership of multi-channel collaboration. The way to jumpstart your marketing career is to become a t-shaped marketer. Always stay abreast of your specialty but have a basic understanding of all the main marketing tactics and in-depth expertise in one of two of those. This will accomplish 3 amazing things for your career: 1. Early in your career, you will be a "no-brain" hire for small agencies or brands. 2. It will always keep you in the first-to-hire, last-to-fire segment of employees. Even in a basic restructuring, they will cut expensive specialists and consults but keep in-house someone who can do a little of everything. 3. You will be first considered for management roles as you will have enough knowledge to manage tactical teams and outside specialty agencies.
“Be authentic, be true to you. The old adage to ‘Do what you love, and you’ll never work another day in your life’ is spot on. During my 25-year career, I’ve chased titles, money and power to no avail and to my detriment. “Once I was true to myself and started focusing my marketing and PR business on what I love, which is music, everything started taking off. The musical instrument industry clients have come to me and we’ve been successful ever since.”
We\'ve all heard "Fail Fast," "Fail Forward," "There\'s no such thing as failure." While certainly there is truth there, I\'m someone that is a high achiever and I have a hard time wrapping my head around embracing failure. I need to frame my efforts, and even my personal development, through the lens of experimentation. Everything\'s an experiment, the things I try in my work, and the things I\'m doing to get to the better version of myself. The reward of having this view is that every time I try it is a success, I have at least one more piece of information that improves my next experiment.
Authenticity sets each of us apart from the masses. If there is anything I\'ve learned over the years of being in business is speak to your Avatar. Be the solution to their problem. Use your style of communicating. Tell your story your way, in your style. Be specific about your messaging. Who is your ideal client? Speak to them. And if you try to speak to everyone you speak to no one.
You have likely heard that mastering communication, networking with other marketers, and specializing in one aspect of marketing are key to a successful career in marketing; however, I encourage you to be more strategic and focus on the most valuable lesson I\'ve learned from over 20 years in marketing. To jumpstart your career in marketing focus on the "why!" Go into every marketing project asking "why"? When you understand why you are focusing on a brand, why someone needs what the brand has to offer and why someone is hiring you to help them, you go into every marketing project with clarity on what true north means. This will increase your chances of success and impress all those you are working with, generating opportunities that others won\'t have.
In today\'s digital-first world, it\'s fast and easy (and fun!) to launch your own product to showcase your marketing prowess. Ever dreamt of having your own skincare line? Have a big idea for a product? Launching your own product will give you hands-on experience in everything a marketer must excel at: Product, Price, Place and Promotion.
You\'ve heard it before, but having connections will get you far. Organizations are much more likely to hire those that they know or people that have been recommended to them. Keep in touch with people you have worked or interned with as well as professors, friends, and classmates you have met along the way. Connect with them on LinkedIn, which also has an added bonus of being one of the most popular job-posting platforms. You never know who has an opportunity for you.