Marketing jobs
Marketing jobs majors at the undergraduate level could perhaps expect that they would be sufficiently qualified to get a marketing job after graduation. The truth, though, is that one does not need a marketing degree to perform an entry-level marketing job, so marketing majors have to compete with college graduates of other disciplines for such positions.
In fact, with employers placing a greater emphasis on bringing on board applicants who prove they will succeed on the job through skills that include critical thinking, written and oral communication, and quantitative analysis, and less on specific marketing function knowledge, marketing majors could be no better a candidate than any other liberal arts or business majors. Arora and Stoner also discovered that employers want communication, selling, and analytic skills in their MBA recruits, more than particular marketing skills e.g., new product introduction skills. Future marketers must also be able to establish good relationships to acquire and thrive in a job in marketing.
In addition, Schaffer, Kelley, and Goutte discovered marketing students lacking in business etiquette. However, the extent to which a marketing student could be exposed to activities intended to develop these skills also depends upon the particular course section he or she enrolls in, as professors vary greatly in the employment of these strategies.
Nevertheless, it is not impossible for marketing programs to assist their students have an advantage in the workplace by learning or refining at least some of these skills. This article introduces a model for a new marketing course, Marketing Yourself in the Competitive Job Market, with an assortment of essential career-related skills ranging from resume preparation and interview skills to job search methods and networking, communication and presentation skills, and even international business etiquette.
COURSE DEVELOPMENT
Although some of the skills that the potential employers valued in the focus groups were already sufficiently addressed in other courses e.g., marketing skills, language skills, and numerous other key skills, there were identified many other significant skills that the design team believed were included more directly by the marketing faculty. Therefore, aside from the three required courses listed above, a new two-course sequence was created initially titled Marketing Tools 1 and 2 to enable marketing majors to gain or master the primary skills they would need to locate and excel in a job in their desired field.
They also need to still select two electives in any combination from all other marketing classes and, due to the diversity of students, International Marketing, marketing jobs, latest jobs updates, digital marketing jobs, affiliate marketing jobs is the favorite elective.
The second in the series, Marketing Tools 2 Quantitative Analysis in Marketing, was created to address the specific analytic capabilities desired by employers like forecasting techniques, pricing formulas, markups, etc., and is not the subject here.
The first class in the series, Marketing Tools 1 presently to be repackaged under the new designation as in the title of the article, is the subject here. The new required class treats a melange of material, initially the subject areas indicated by the employers in the focus group as particularly critical, later being further finessed from response to initial teaching sections by both students and instructor.
Teaching Methods
The students also engage in team building and listening games, mock jobs networking sessions, and business dressing fashion shows, amongst many others. The group activities establish a relaxed, non-threatening environment, where students are at liberty to pose questions and learn from one another as they enhance their business skills. Having guest speakers who are successful in the marketing profession can also be useful, particularly in discussing career-related topics such as interview skills, since students would rather learn about these matters from someone who may be employing them. All of these activities, aside from the jobs interview tapings, occur during class time, which means that students are actively involved in almost every class session.
SUGGESTIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL
From a teacher’s perspective, course preparation has numerous benefits. In the first place, since it touches on so many different subjects, and every group of students possesses varying jobs skill levels, the class is constantly refreshing. The very dynamic, student-involvement style of teaching can also be a refreshing break from lecture-heavy courses.
Lastly, and most importantly, since the students can immediately perceive the applicability of the course assignments, jobs interview, marketing jobs, latest affiliate marketing jobs, digital marketing they are more willing to engage and more thankful for the instructor’s instruction than they may be in other classes. Instructing this sort of class is not for everybody, though. Just because it touches on such a wide range of jobs subjects, including many not typically covered in conventional marketing courses, the teacher must be a jack-of-all-trades and may need to review some areas for a list of useful resources for a number of the subjects addressed in the course. Furthermore, to teach the course can be fairly time-consuming.
CONCLUSIONS
Companies are increasingly looking for employees who can think logically and strategically, convey their ideas effectively, and function well in a team. They hold such qualities in higher regard than particular functional marketing jobs business acumen, for example, knowledge of marketing principles. And, although faculty see their marketing students as generally lacking in such skills areas, most undergraduate programs emphasize conveying a fundamental understanding of marketing management principles, knowledge of consumer needs and behavior, and familiarity with marketing research questions, more than such vaguer communication and interpersonal skills.
Therefore, marketing majors are often no more ready for entry-level marketing positions than other college majors. Here is an out-of-the-box course created to assist in providing marketing undergrads with the skill set they will need to become successful in a marketing career.
By utilizing a broad range of activities, assignments, guest speakers, and class discussion, students learn more about written communication and career, and how to perform effectively in a variety of professional scenarios.
Reaction to the diverse, somewhat older student body. Students all found the course helpful and engaging, felt that they learned and enhanced their skills, and felt better prepared for their careers having taken the experience. This favorable student response, combined with the broad range of fascinating issues to address and an active, activity based instructional methodology, makes this course a highly stimulating, rewarding experience for educators as well.