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How did you start your career in marketing?

I am a middle school student and I took a quiz in class that told me marketing would be a good career choice for me. #school #student #graduate-school #high-school-classes #college #marketing

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Jessica’s Answer

I really started my marketing career during my freshman year of college at the University of Dayton when I declared my majoring - marketing! From there, I took many intro to marketing classes (advertising, marketing 101, marketing analytics, etc.) and decided which direction I wanted to take my career and which internships I wanted to apply to while in college. I've since worked in events marketing, digital marketing, social media marketing, website management, sales, and more.

There are so many directions you can take a marketing career. I'd recommend putting some time into learning about all the different types of marketing, figuring out how to get formal education in that field (i.e. a marketing degree, certifications, courses, etc.), and working toward some kind of work experience through internships or shadowing someone in the field. Good luck!
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Jin’s Answer

I came from a STEM background and found my first job in a marketing firm. You'll find people working in marketing come from all kinds of background as it doesn't require any specific set of skills other than passion and willingness to learn. I did research extensively and network with people in marketing to get an idea if this is a right move for me. I would suggest apply for an internship with a marketing firm, even just for a short period of time first.
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Sandra’s Answer

I went to the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign and applied to our College of Media where I wanted to declare the Advertising major and applied for a Public Relations certificate. I was also interning on campus and in New York City in the summers at companies that are related to public relations (Rogers & Cowan). Before I graduated college, my classmate, who was a year older than me, mentioned the company that she worked at had an entry level job opening as an assistant paid media planner. After a year, I moved to a bigger company (Edelman) as a Media Planner because the client work was more aligned with my goals (i.e. I wanted to work on bigger clients across multiple verticals that had more access to tools and resources). Eventually, I noticed my strengths were in managing partner relationships with platforms like Facebook and Twitter and I enjoyed training and educating the network outside of my team about Paid Media. Because of this strength, I transitioned into a Global Digital Operations team where my job is to make sure that we are building out our digital offerings and educating our network and clients what we do.

If there's anything you can takeaway from my experience, it is to leverage the contacts that you make in school and at work (whether it's colleagues or partners), to help get you the job that you want!
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David’s Answer

If you are curious about about why people make decisions on buying products/services then marketing would be a great fit for you. I realized I was interested in marketing after college, but didn't have the experience and so I decided to get an MBA to bolster my credibility. I highly recommend this. It gave me an opportunity to work on real-world projects (e.g. develop an e-commerce strategy for Toyota, lead a team to develop a business plan to secure $1M in funding for a small business) that I could put on my resume and talk about during interviews that led to my first job in marketing.

Marketing careers can tap into individuals who are creative, analytical and strategic.

Good luck!
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Clara’s Answer

To start, it's always important to learn more about what it is. Read a few articles online. Find marketers who are family, parents of other people at school, on this site, or on LinkedIn and ask if you can have a phone call with them to learn about their job. That can be scary, but I'm 26 and I'm still calling people I find on LinkedIn to ask about their jobs!

After that, it's always think it a good idea to start trying it! Is there an event at school coming up? If that group needs to get the word out and let people know, that's marketing. Are you doing something cool, and want people to know about it? That's marketing too! Marketing, in it's most basic form, is telling people about something and getting them excited about it. I encourage you to find ways that you can try that.

After that, maybe when you get to high school (or now if you're ambitious!) I would recommend taking a class on SkillShare, Udemy, LinkedIn learning, or another online learning site so you can see if you like it. Many of these have free trials.
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Ulku’s Answer

Hi Donovan,

Marketing can be a very satisfying career if it is the right one for you!

I personally realized I was interested in marketing when I was in college.

I would start researching online. There are many opportunities under marketing (market research, creative, marketing analytics etc) to see which part of marketing makes it a good fit for your personality and interests. Afterwards, I would start reaching out to people who can talk to you about their experience, what do they do on a day to day to see if these fit your strengths and if it sounds like something you would want to do! Taking an introductory class (LinkedIn learning, https://online-learning.harvard.edu/catalog/free, General Assembly) could be a fun way to understand more about marketing and learning the basics for it to help you in the future!

Good luck!
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Yelena’s Answer

The main principles of marketing are not tied to the tools you use, so think creatively. Can you get someone to want something without them even realizing it. I recommend shadowing someone at their workplace if possible or volunteering at a school committee, and testing your ideas out. The technology changes every day so I wouldn't worry about FB, IG or Tictoc specific tools. Use your imagination, and leverage your interests. Marketing is about persuasion. I'd recommend taking sociology and communication arts in HS if you can.
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Michael’s Answer

As a high schooler, I had a love for TV commercials. Yes, most people skip them now, and streaming platforms have changed commercials forever, but back in the 1990's, I was fascinated by the creativity of commercials. As I applied for colleges, I ensured that the one I ultimately selected had a Marketing and Advertising major. Although I love the creativity of advertising, I'm not a creative person (I have no artistic talent!). Thus, I looked deeper into how marketing and ad agencies were set up -- the different functions and roles I could play. I decided that managing the accounts and financials was my sweet spot. In college, that led me to take finance, marketing, business, and advertising classes to become well-rounded.

I recommend taking a broad approach at first to learn the industry - use Google, LinkedIn, and LinkedIn Learning. From there, you can find the areas of marketing that interest you the most. There is nothing wrong with being undeclared in college while you figure things out. Jobs in marketing vary greatly and I'm sure you can find something that interests you. Stay positive and believe in yourself! Good luck!
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