Marketing Careers

[cressida_pimpin]

When I finish my degree I plan to pursue a career in Marketing. For those of you who are in marketing, what does your typical day include? What are your likes and dislikes?

Thanks

[Lex350]

I think that is a tough question to answer because "marketing" encompasses such a broad area.

[cressida_pimpin]

people with the title "marketing director" "marketing manager" etc.

[R-Audi]

Still too broad...

Marketing as in sales? advertising? promotions? What industry?

[cressida_pimpin]

Marketing is not sales. Sales is sales. People that are in marketing will know what I'm talking about.

Industry doesn't matter for the input I'm seeking. Marketing deals with coordinating product, price, place and promotion for a company or line of products. It can be a consulting firm or an in house agency

[Smokem]

Originally posted by cressida_pimpin
Marketing is not sales. Sales is sales. People that are in marketing will know what I'm talking about.


And you're getting a degree in Marketing?

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=define%3Amarketing&meta=

:confused: Sales is Marketing... it is a critical component of the cycle.


To answer your question:

Anyone coming out with a Marketing degree in Alberta will USUALLY start in some sort of sales position (ie. inside or outside sales). This may be either at a retail or corporate level, and can be for anything spanning from answering phone calls at a call centre, to internet marketing to promoting a nightclub to selling phones for Telus.

Very few do get into advertising as this isn't a focal point in Calgary. There are a few companies ie. Pattison, Critical Mass, Corus Entertainment to name a few off the top of my head. Either that or they'll be in some sort of position related to O&G marketing, but that is a completely different ballgame, dealing with revenues from gas streams taken in kind for explorers/producers.

There's also sales distribution channels, logistics, product design, strategic planning, market research/analysis (Ipsos-Reid I believe?), etc. but those kinds of jobs aren't as plentiful in Calgary.

To become any sort of marketing Manager, typically you'll need previous experience doing the bottom feeder work.


I was going to be a Marketing major, got my degree in Finance instead when I realized that a group member couldn't find where company "Sales" were on an income statement. :rofl:

[Smokem]

With that said, you could pretty much go back to the question you asked about a career in sales.

From my experience and what I've noticed about entry-level Marketing jobs, is that "Marketing" is a flowery term used to describe some sort of sales work.

Here's some info to help you out:

http://www.haskayne.ucalgary.ca/programs/undergrad/bcomm/mktg/services/careercentre/bcomm_bhrm/mktg.html

[s2k_boi]

Sorry to say, but I agree with the above post, Marketing = sales. Weather your sales (inside vs. outside) or your advertising or promoting your still trying to sell a product or service weather its to the daily consumer / business (corporations) and etc.... It doesn't matter if its directly selling something or promoting or making it a appealing... in the end your trying to attract people to that paticular product / service

[cressida_pimpin]

Marketing is not selling. Plain and simple. It's developing business strategies, advertising techniques and much more. I agree that many marketing professionals may start out in sales but a marketing director will not be the one selling.

According to my definition, if you're the one selling, you talk directly to the buyer and ask for the sale.

[BrknFngrs]

i have to agree with smokem and s2k, although the way you described marketing is correct (im pretty sure the description you used is right out of the marketing 317 textbook lol) it all focuses on sales. Your correct that a marketing director doesnt do the physical selling, but his job is still pretty much focused 100% on sales (just not saying the actual words to make the sale) And id be willing to bet once ya get your marketing degree, just like what was said previously, you'll most likely be doing sales, your not gonna step into a role where you shape a companies whole marketing strategy

[s2k_boi]

But your still developing those business strategies / advertising techniques to sell / promote. (still sales) but indirect kind of way.

[cressida_pimpin]

Yes, indirectly your trying to improve sales by changing customer attitudes etc. you're not selling.

[RiCE-DaDDy]

going with what commerce people i know say, marketing isn't exactly a hot specialization.

[cressida_pimpin]

Originally posted by RiCE-DaDDy
going with what commerce people i know say, marketing isn't exactly a hot specialization.

really? how come?

[RiCE-DaDDy]

i think its simply because its not as in demand as some other specializations i.e. accounting or operations

if u really like it then who cares what ppl say just do it.

[whodiman]

I remember having this conversation many times with many of my friends in university years ago. Some of them were marketing majors. Interesting what most of the marketing majors are doing now.

[GreyFox]

I've graduated from the Marketing Major and your chances of finding a job titled "Marketing Manager" right off the bat are slim to none. I've looked around quite a bit and there are very few opening in that type of position to begin with, and experience plays a fairly huge role in employee consideration, so you're best bet is to get in with a good company (probably start in some sort of sales role) and just work your way up.

Unless you have really good connections, starting off in the position that you have in mind is fairly slim.

[cressida_pimpin]

I definitely do not plan to start as a marketing manager, thats who I wanted advice from. I would expect to start in a sales role and progress to a Jr. Marketing Coordinator or something. Greyfox, where did you go to school? what type of job did you first get with your degree?

[Ajay]

It also depends on some type of relevant experience you have.

I have friends that have graduated with General Studies degrees that have gotten Marketing Manager positions before friends that have Marketing degrees because they have past sales experience.

[Lex350]

Originally posted by cressida_pimpin
Marketing is not selling. Plain and simple. It's developing business strategies, advertising techniques and much more. I agree that many marketing professionals may start out in sales but a marketing director will not be the one selling.

According to my definition, if you're the one selling, you talk directly to the buyer and ask for the sale.



you can throw out all the definitions you like but marketing and selling go hand in hand. There are different types of marketing even at the place I work.

I work as a design director and marketing development

We also have an A & D marketing rep and just added another marketing person in environmental stewardship

Do you work on marketing plans and strategies...yes

Do we sell....yes

Get off your high horse definition or you will have a hard time in the field.

[R-Audi]

Originally posted by cressida_pimpin
Marketing is not selling. Plain and simple. It's developing business strategies, advertising techniques and much more. I agree that many marketing professionals may start out in sales but a marketing director will not be the one selling.

According to my definition, if you're the one selling, you talk directly to the buyer and ask for the sale.


For someone still in school and asking about marketing jobs.. you seem to be doing a whole lot more telling then listening. Im guessing most people replying to you have 'been there, done that' so your best bet is to listen.

As I mentioned above, it all depends on the job.. which company, which product, which industry. It could involve selling, it could not. Either way, most of it involves selling the company/idea/PRODUCT to whoever your target market is.

Typically if its hardcore marketing/advertising, you have to get out of Calgary, and hit up a place like Toronto... numerous 'Marketing Majors' I know went out there. Thats where most large Cdn companies have their head offices.

[sexualbanana]

Originally posted by R-Audi



For someone still in school and asking about marketing jobs.. you seem to be doing a whole lot more telling then listening. Im guessing most people replying to you have 'been there, done that' so your best bet is to listen.

As I mentioned above, it all depends on the job.. which company, which product, which industry. It could involve selling, it could not. Either way, most of it involves selling the company/idea/PRODUCT to whoever your target market is.

Typically if its hardcore marketing/advertising, you have to get out of Calgary, and hit up a place like Toronto... numerous 'Marketing Majors' I know went out there. Thats where most large Cdn companies have their head offices.

If you're not considering sales as a first job, then be prepared to do a lot of general shit/gofer work when you start out. The reason being that marketing is not as technical a field as finance and accounting therefore there's the general preconception that you could take any random person off the street and they'd be able to do the same kind of work a marketing grad could do. Granted the degree does give you a leg up in terms of critical thinking and analysis abilities but you won't really get a chance to use them too much in your first couple years. The kind of shit work you'll be doing is considered more of a weeding out process more than anything.

Personally, I've taken a lot of unpaid internship jobs because it's the nature of the industries I want to be in. Plus the experience goes a really long way in creating a network and credibility when selling yourself to employers..

When I graduated I refused to take an entry-level sales job because that was something I was never interested in and I couldn't rationalize doing a job that I don't like. As a result my job search was a lot more stressful than it really should have been.

[cressida_pimpin]

My orginal plan was to get into sales anyways. It sounds good to me especially since you can make a killing doing it. I don't expect to be in a position off the bat that someone with a comparable one had to work hard for ten years to get there.

[Smokem]

Originally posted by RiCE-DaDDy
going with what commerce people i know say, marketing isn't exactly a hot specialization.


Originally posted by Smokem

I was going to be a Marketing major, got my degree in Finance instead when I realized that a group member couldn't find where company "Sales" were on an income statement. :rofl:

I started off in Marketing then realized the importance of financials. If I were you I'd get strong on the fundamentals of financial statements, ratios, etc. and in Marketing, get to know what a P&L is and the associated industry metrics of your job (such as churn, ARPU for mobile telecom). Any job that is NOT sales related coming out of school will have some finance behind it.

After graduating with my Finance degree, I found that I was suprisingly considered in the same pool as Marketing candidates for the jobs I applied for, and in some cases even sought after more for the numbers sense.

[Pacman]

I've worked for 3 fairly large companies....and every single person in the marketing department started out in field sales. In fact, whenever I get the internal job postings for marketing positions, they always say "you must have spent at least 2 years as a field sales rep to be considered for this positoin".

The reality is, you need the expereince in the sales side in order to understand the marketing side of things.