Getting a Marketing Job After College

Here are just a few of the reasons why any marketing jobs are difficult to come by:

1. In a down economy, companies need revenue and cash flow quickly so they tend to turn to sales representatives to fill the quick need.  Marketing is more of a long-term investment and, as the economy gets better more and more firms become willing to supplement their sales force with marketing professionals.

2. Many interns and young marketing professionals work for free or close to it.  Since the demand for marketing positions is so high, the amount that an employer has to pay for a marketing professional that is entry-level is very little.

While this is not always the best idea, the idea that free marketing professionals is more advantageous is out there.

3. Consistent changes in the online marketing world.  Right now, companies are moving to cope with recent search engine changes that can prove highly threatening to their existence.

Many of these industries often hire marketing professionals full time (ex: some media firms are going through major changes), but now they are looking to hire sales representatives instead.

What You Can Do About This

To just about every problem, there is a remedy and, in this case the ways to overcome the above headwinds are as follows:

a. Learn as much as possible about what you don’t know in marketing.  Companies want to hire marketing professionals who can do it all.  The economy just isn’t good enough to support 5 marketing hires within any firm.

Therefore, companies want a big ROI in any hire and the best way to provide that ROI is to have a multitude of skills.

b. Focus on a few industries.  Don’t simply apply to any marketing job.  When applying to any position, typically less is more.  Use the time to do the research on the firms which you are submitting your resume to.

A job at a bad firm is not all that much better than being unemployed because the latter is just around the corner if you take that position.

c. Try sales for a bit.  Before you knock sales and get discouraged, I made cold-calls out of an apartment smaller than the offices of the people whom I was calling.  Sales may be your best way in and, once there you can show off some of your marketing skills.

The two are relatively related.

In the End

Like I said above, to every problem there is a solution.  If you’re not finding that entry-level marketing position you’re looking for, the above information should provide some assistance.