Congratulations on graduating! You’ve walked the boards and got that piece of paper that confirms all the hard work you’ve put in for four years and now you’re ready to get out into the world and show everyone what you are made of. The problem? You have absolutely no idea where to start! We live in a digital era, where careers in marketing and technology are evolving and developing at rapid rates. If you’ve been fortunate enough to complete a degree in your chosen marketing or IT field, you’re in for a treat. The careers available in the marketing and technology world are among the most dynamic, most exciting and most in demand out there. The upside of this is that you are green and ready to be moulded in with a new company. The downside? There’s going to be a lot of people just like you, graduated and ready to learn.
Don’t panic though; someone new who is ready to start a role at a new company is someone who is often desired by the big companies out there. You would have made connections with other businesses while you were studying, and if you’ve been clever about your time you will have interned where you could at different companies to gain some experience. If you plan to go into business for yourself, your marketing degree is going to be invaluable to you. Marketing is a broad field and covers many different methods from traditional advertising, marketing and PR to digital marketing with design and SEO. Your degree is likely to be fairly niche rather than generic, and you’ll likely be well versed in the full mix of marketing if you’ve been studying on the digital side of things. Your degree should have given you a thorough grounding across all marketing matters, meaning that while you have a broad knowledge of all things marketing, you may choose to hone in on one particular area. If you are wondering what you can do with your marketing degree, we’ve put together six different careers that are the most in demand out there for the budding marketing professional.
Marketing Manager
This is the goal for a lot of graduates, and for good reason. As a marketing manager, you are an all-rounder. Your skills are in demand and the skill set that you have is strategic and full of a deep understanding of all things marketing related. Having a really good understanding of the marketing mix makes you very highly employable and coveted by many companies. Your day can go from integrating campaigns to meeting clients and writing their marketing plans for them. The world is your oyster and you have excellent career prospects ahead of you.
Brand Marketing Manager
Every great marketing strategy has brand identity at its heart. There is an enormous amount of skill, patience, creative thinking and consumer understanding required for this role. Think about how you would spend your time; positioning and developing a brand with the recognition that big brands have achieved. You could work for an agency creatively or in house with a company as a direct brand manager. The career potential here can often feel limitless.
Copywriter
The rise of the internet means that people are consuming content at a rapid rate, both online and offline. The development of marketing copy that keeps the interest of customers and clients is a necessity, and as a copywriter you could be spending your days writing for an individual company, or freelancing across many different industries. You could write anything from blogs, to webinar scripts, to tweets – no two days are the same and it’s a role that is chock full of creativity and fun.
SEM Specialist
SEM, or search engine marketing, plays a huge role in the online marketing landscape of today. SEM is all about the increase of the company’s visibility online. Getting used to reading the impact of significant algorithm updates in Google is just one side of the job, and understanding how paid ads and analytics play a part of the role is another. PPC professionals focus on driving the web traffic of their company visitors, while SEO specialists look after driving organic traffic. Exciting analytical skills can mean a huge boost for you in terms of your ability to be employed quickly, so whichever niche you want to go down there’s a road open for you.
Social Media Marketer
If you haven’t heard of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and SnapChat, we’re inclined to think you may be living under a rock. It’s unlikely that you haven’t heard of these social media platforms though, and if you can make a living by maximising social media for a company, why wouldn’t you? Consumers interact with brands and forge deep, loyal relationships with companies simply by using online platforms to interact. You can develop excellent social media marketing strategies and move into more senior marketing roles, with social media as your entryway.
UX Designer
UX stands for ‘user experience’, and this digital world is all about the experience of the user. You can have a solid website set up, but if it isn’t optimised and running in the way that your customers can find easy, there’s no point. Quality websites that are supported by sleek designs are those that turn the casual browser into a paying customer. Your job is to make the website of your company as easy to use, pretty to look at and creative as possible. This includes optimising your website for all platforms so that people can gain access to your website wherever they are. The trends in web design will continue to evolve and change, meaning your learning won’t just stop at that degree. However, it’s a career that will never be out of fashion!
A career in marketing is not for someone who wants to sit on their laurels. The learning is constant, the trends always change and there’s always something new that is being developed. It’s up to you whether you want to chase that marketing dream, and we can’t see why you wouldn’t.
