Career opportunities in marketing are both extensive and diverse. People in marketing typically accept considerable responsibility early in their careers. For example, within six months to one year of being hired, assistant retail buyers are usually given budget authority for purchases involving hundreds of thousands of dollars. Beginning salespeople call on accounts within several weeks of being hired. Marketing research personnel develop preliminary questionnaires, determine sampling procedures, and interpret study results shortly after their employment begins. A marketing career prepares people for top management positions in all types of organizations.
A marketing background also trains people to operate their own businesses. Among the entrepreneurial opportunities available are careers as retail store owners, manufacturers' agents, wholesalers, insurance and real-estate brokers, marketing consultants, marketing researchers, and free-lance advertising illustrators or copywriters.
What are the Marketing Jobs?
Jobs in marketing are increasing at an unprecedented rate. According to projections by the U.S. Department of Labor, the number of positions in marketing and sales work supervision will increase dramatically between now and the year 2005. These two areas are expected to be among the top 12 occupations having the largest increases in numbers of jobs.
Sales
Sales is where most of the jobs in marketing exist. A sales job is the most common entry-level position in marketing.
Sales managers direct a firm's sales program. They assign sales territories and goals and establish training programs for their sales representatives. Managers advise sales represent- atives on ways to improve their sales performance. In large, multi-product firms, they oversee regional and local sales managers and their staffs. Sales managers maintain contact with dealers and distributors. They analyze sales statistics gathered by their staffs to determine sales potential, inventory requirements, and customer preferences. Such information is vital when making decisions about developing products and maximizing profits.
Retailing
Retailing is second only to personal selling in the number of job opportunities available to new college graduates. The primary areas of opportunity are in merchandising (or buying) and store management for department stores, specialty stores and discount chains.
The entry-level position for store management is typically assistant department manager, department manager, or assistant store manager, depending on the size of the store. The store manager's performance is directly measurable in terms of sales or profits. Therefore, speed of advancement into higher positions is determined primarily by the quality and quantity of results produced by the manager.
Purchasers generally buy goods or services for use by their organization and buyers buy items for resale. They determine which commodities or services are best, choose the suppliers of the product or service, negotiate the lowest price, and award contracts. Purchasers and buyers review listings in catalogs, industry periodicals, directories and trade journals. They research the reputation and history of suppliers, and advertise anticipated purchase actions to solicit bids from suppliers. Meetings, trade shows, conferences, and visits to supplier plants and distribution centers also provide opportunities for purchasers and buyers to examine products, assess the production and distribution capabilities of various suppliers, and discuss technical and business considerations related to a purchase.
Advertising
Advertising jobs are held by artistic, creative individuals with an aptitude for management, research or sales. Except in the largest firms, advertising and promotion staffs generally are small and serve as a liaison between the firm and the advertising or promotion agency to which many advertising or promotional functions are contracted out. Advertising managers oversee the account services, creative services, and media services departments. The account services department is managed by account executives, who assess the need for advertising and, in advertising agencies, maintain client accounts. The creative services department develops the subject matter and presentation of advertising. This department is supervised by a creative director, who oversees the copy chief and art director and their staffs. The media services department is supervised by the media director, who oversees planning groups that select the communication media -- for example, radio, television, newspapers, magazines, or outdoor signs -- to disseminate the advertising. Sales promotion managers supervise staffs of promotion specialists. They direct promotional programs, combining advertising with purchase incentives to increase sales of products or services.
Public Relations
Public relations is a valuable link between an organization and its various publics. Public relations people must be especially good in communications. They use the communication media to maintain the support of the specific group upon whom their organization's success depends, such as consumers, stockholders or the general public. For example, public relations managers may clarify or justify the firm's point of view on health or environmental issues to community or special interest groups. They evaluate advertising and promotion programs for compatibility with public relations efforts. Public relations managers, in effect, serve as the eyes and ears of top management. They observe social, economic and political trends that may affect the firm, and make recommendations to enhance the firm's public image in view of those trends. Public relations managers may confer with labor relations managers to produce internal company communications -- such as news about employee-management relations -- and with financial managers to produce company reports. They assist company executives in drafting speeches, arranging interviews, and other forms of public contact; oversee company archives; and respond to information requests. In addition, some public relations managers handle special events such as the sponsorship of races, parties to introduce new products, or other activities the firm supports in order to gain public attention through the press, without advertising.
Market Research
Marketing researchers are problem solvers. They assemble and analyze vast amounts of data collected from field surveys, subscription services or other secondary sources. Researchers need an aptitude for exact, analytical work. Some quantitative skills are required, particularly an understanding of statistics.
Product Management
Product or brand managers are responsible for planning and directing the entire marketing program for a given product or group of products. Early on, product managers make decisions about packaging, labeling, and other aspects of the product. Product managers are also responsible for the marketing research necessary to identify the market. They plan advertising, personal selling, and sales promotional programs for their products. Product managers are concerned with pricing, physical distribution, and legal issues relating to the product. Product managers must have good analytical skills to keep abreast of what competitors are doing and what is happening in the market. They also need to be tactful and persuasive to gain the cooperation of functional areas such as manufacturing and sales.
Physical Distribution
Physical distribution jobs frequently involve two activities. First, the product must be moved to the firm for processing or resale. Then the finished products must be distributed to the markets. These physical distribution tasks involve jobs in transportation management, warehousing and inventory control.
International Marketing
Careers in international marketing provide opportunities to travel and experience different cultures. Typically, however, companies do not hire college graduates and immediately assign them to jobs in international marketing. People are normally hired for entry-level positions in the domestic divisions of a company's operations. Then, after some years of experience with the firm, an employee may have an opportunity to move into the firm's international divisions. If you have international aspirations, begin looking for companies that have or are developing international markets. It would also be wise to study a second language and take advantage of opportunities to learn about other cultures.
What are the Salaries?
According to a National Association of Colleges and Employers survey, starting salary offers to marketing majors graduating in 1995 averaged about $25,000; for advertising majors, the salaries averaged about $22,000.
The median annual salary of marketing, advertising and public relations managers was $44,000 in 1994. Many earn bonuses equal to 10 percent or more of their salaries. Surveys show that salary levels vary substantially depending on the employer's size, location and industry, and on the level of managerial responsibility, length of service and education. For example, manufacturing firms generally pay marketing, advertising and public relations managers higher salaries than non-manufacturing firms. For sales managers, the size of their sales territory is another important factor.
Median annual earnings of purchasers and buyers were $31,700 in 1994. Merchandise managers and purchasing managers generally earned higher salaries than buyers or agents.
Purchasers and buyers usually receive a benefits package that includes vacation, sick leave, life and health insurance, and pension plans. In addition to standard benefits, retail buyers often earn cash bonuses based on their performance and may receive discounts on merchandise bought from the employer.
Career Planning and Placement
Career planning should begin early in your college education. Students with career and employment objectives can develop an effective professional development strategy to meet their objectives. They are far more likely to obtain the employment they desire. Some companies require that a candidate meet the following criteria:
Students should begin early in their college careers to meet the standards set by potential employers.
You should also discuss your career interests with a faculty advisor who can help you develop a plan to compliment your special talents. Students can participate in the university's internship program and the American Marketing Association's student chapter. Students can enhance their educational experience, and plan for a career, by regularly reading such business periodicals as The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Inc., and Advertising Age. These publications are available at the library, or students can subscribe directly to these periodicals at low student rates.