Breaking into the Marketing Industry

Why would I want

to work in marketing?
Marketing is one of the most popular career destinations for
newly qualified graduates. And it is easy to see why.
Marketers are the people who make us Just do it, entice us
to get the London look and Turn it to 30°.
Marketing is concerned with identifying consumer demand relative to
a product or service and developing ways in which consumers can
purchase these in the optimum amounts to make your company
profitable. This involves analysing market research, distribution,
design of the product, place (i.e. where to sell it), pricing and
promotion – also known as the 4 ‘Ps’.
By tapping into your market’s buying habits, your job is to develop
new products, design the packaging to make your product stand
apart from its competition, public relations, develop advertising
strategies such for TV or newspapers and various other media, and
after-sales service.
Of course one of the biggest reasons why so many people are
drawn into the marketing industry each year is the prestige that is
often associated with working on some of the biggest, most
recognisable brands, such as Coca-Cola, Virgin or L’Oreal. But it’s
not all glitz and glamour.
There is marketing that attempts to persuade people to buy car
insurance, eat more greens or use less energy. Then there’s
 www.monster.co.uk

business-to-business marketing promoting industrial and office

equipment, direct marketing via telephone or mail, websites and TV.
One of the beauties of working in marketing is the innumerable
opportunities to specialise in certain areas such as market research
and direct marketing or diversify into other related disciplines such
as public relations and advertising.
New entrants into the industry will typically start their career as a
Marketing Executive but, in a world where branding and re-branding
is commonplace this job is sometimes known as Product Manager or
Assistant Brand Manager. Another popular entry level position is that
of Market Researcher.
Further up the career ladder Marketing Manager’s and Director’s
occupy the top positions within an industry that currently employs
around 1m workers.
The industry is fast paced and can never be called pedestrian, it’s at
times glamorous, but always hard work – this is not a 9 to 5 job and
the hours can be long. Employment is predominantly permanent.
And as the choice of media becomes increasingly diverse combined
with our somewhat insatiable appetite for consumerism, demand for
skilled and creative marketers will continue – so too will the rewards.
Why? Because you’re worth it.

Salary Calculator
Take a look at what you could or should be earning to
help with your next salary negotiation.
Find out what you’re worth.

‘Grass is Greener’ eBooks

Breaking into the Marketing Industry

What are the common

marketing career paths?
If you have never worked in marketing-related position
before now or are fresh out of university looking for your first
job you will want to know what sort of roles to be looking out
for in the situations vacant pages of your local newspaper or
online job site. So here are a few ideas to help you narrow
your job search.
Most people start their marketing career as a Marketing Executive
regardless of whether they have taken the graduate or non-graduate
entry route. Sometimes described as Assistant Brand
Managers/Product Managers/Marketing Coordinators, the precise
responsibilities of the Marketing Executive varies from company to
company and are largely determined by the size of the organisation
by which you are employed and the importance of marketing within
the company.
For the most part your role will see you involved in all aspects of
marketing, from researching and analysing your core target market
to developing the product’s packaging, point-of-sale, advertising,
public relations and sales promotion.

Further Reading
- How can I choose the right company?
- What are my transferrable skills?
- Should I work part-time, temporary or permanent?
 www.monster.co.uk

After two or three year’s promotion to Senior Marketing Executive

will see you taking on greater responsibility in a post which will set
you in good stead for moving into a Marketing Manager after a
further two or three years, and then to Marketing Director.
As with many industries, further professional qualifications, such as
those offered by the Chartered Institute of Marketing, are
increasingly becoming a pre-requisite to facilitate progression into
more senior marketing positions.
Just about every conceivable type of organisation has marketing as
a core element of its overall function. From charities and other non-
profit organisations to public sector bodies, such as local
government, private sector organisations, such as insurance
companies, and FMCG’s – fast moving consumer goods (washing
powder, cars, toiletries and so on).
All of which means that you may find yourself launching a new
beauty of pet care product for the likes of Proctor & Gamble, creating
awareness for a charity such as Save the Children, or working for a
marketing agency such as WWAV Rapp Collins which handles the
marketing of an innumerate portfolio of international brands.

Job Searches
want, in the area you want to work. Narrow your search by
occupation, industry, location and career level to get the results
that are right for you.

Start your search now.

‘Grass is Greener’ eBooks

Breaking into the Marketing Industry

Where can I find out about

marketing employers?
It is said that looking for a job is a job in itself. You can
spend hours trawling through the job pages of your local
newspaper and scanning the internet to find the job that you
really want. But once you spot a position that is right for you,
how do you know if the company itself is right for you?
Searching for a new job isn’t simply a case of finding a job you quite
fancy and sending off you application. There is much more to it than
that. You need to ensure that the company you are applying to can
meet your expectations in terms of the type of working environment
you wish to work, what career opportunities are available, or whether
its values are in sync with your own – these are snippets of
information that you won’t find in any job advert.

The first port of call is to tap into your existing network of contacts. If
you have recently graduated from university you will have a ready-
made bank of people who you can ask for information. Your
university or college tutors will invariably have worked in the
marketing sector prior to embarking upon their careers in teaching
and it is likely that they will have contacts with various organisations.

Tap them for information on certain employers that you are

considering applying to and even if they have little knowledge about
your chosen targets, they many know someone who does who they
can refer you to.
 www.monster.co.uk

Without these ready-made contacts, non-graduates will need to take

a more proactive approach. Ask friends and family if they know of
anyone who works in marketing who they can introduce you to and
when you finally make contact, ask them questions about how they
started out: What constructive advice and tips they can give? More
importantly, are there any jobs going where they work?

University careers and general recruitment are another prime source

of information gathering on certain companies. With innumerate
exhibitors attempting to lure would-be employees this is a golden
opportunity to network with some key personnel who will be more
than happy to divulge information on what it’s really like to work for
their organisations. Where else will you get the opportunity to meet
so many recruiters at the same time under the same roof!

Regardless of what stage you are at in your job search, professional

associations, trade and business press are great resources for fining
out information on certain employers. Luckily the marketing industry
has a number of key trade magazines that give an insight into your
chosen sector and who the key players are.

Industry Associations
There are many associations in the UK covering almost every
job role and sector. To find out if there are any relevant for your
occupation, take a look at:

- Wikipedia: British Professional Bodies

- Trade Associations and regulatory Bodies

‘Grass is Greener’ eBooks

Breaking into the Marketing Industry

What qualifications are

important in marketing?
Now that you have identified marketing as the career for you,
all you need to do now is ensure that you have the right
requirements that employers are looking for.
Entry level qualifications for marketing executives vary from
company to company. However, large employers will typically prefer
candidates with a Higher National Diploma (HND) or Degree –
especially those operating graduate training schemes.
Some employers will accept entrants from any degree discipline,
most will favour business studies or marketing subjects whilst
industrial companies, for instance, may prefer science-based
degrees for their marketing positions. Whereas some smaller
employers will place more emphasis on candidates who possess a
professional diploma such as one awarded by the Chartered Institute
of Marketing (CIM).
But a career in marketing is not exclusive to those with an academic
background, many entrants have spent their careers to date working
in the related fields of sales or advertising – areas in which academic
attainment is secondary to experience and industry knowledge.
Besides, training is predominantly on the job with some employers
happy to send you on external training courses as and when
appropriate, though some large-scale employers may run their own
in-house courses. So not having a specific degree or diploma is not
necessarily a bar to entry.
 www.monster.co.uk

However, once you are established in your new position it will soon
become clear that the attainment of professional qualifications will
mean the difference between staying in your existing role for some
time and climbing the proverbial career ladder.
For many employers, accredited professional qualifications from the
likes of the CIM are a must for anyone who is serious about moving
their career forward into a Senior Marketing Executive, Marketing
Manager or Marketing Director role. These qualifications signify that
you are up to date with developments in the industry and that you
are committed to best practice as a marketing professional.
The CIM alone has four levels of qualification which are determined
by your academic qualifications and experience, along with courses
operated by the Institute of Direct Marketing (IDM), The Institute of
Export and the Communication Advertising & Marketing Education
Foundation (CAM).
Most employers will cover the costs of these courses which may be
studied on a part-time or full-time basis around your existing
commitments.
Previous work experience in any commercial environment will give
you a good insight into how organisations operate. Approach
employers directly and volunteer for an unpaid work placement by
making speculative applications to companies with large marketing
departments. And who knows, if you impress your boss this could
end up in a job offer.

Find Courses
- UCAS
- The Open University

‘Grass is Greener’ eBooks

Breaking into the Marketing Industry

What skills are marketing

employers looking for?
Looking for a job is an exercise in marketing whereby the
product (i.e. you) must match the requirements that the
buyer (i.e. employer) is looking for. In other words, what can
you do for their business and what key skills and attributes
that you can bring to the table that will be of interest to an
employer?
Although you may never have worked in a marketing role before,
employers will be looking for certain qualities that will give an
indication of your potential and help them decide if you are worth
taking a punt on or not. So what skills are employers looking for?
Essentially you will need a broad mix of skills to be successful in this
industry and potential candidates need to show evidence of the
following:
- interpersonal skills
- good oral and written communication skills
- numeracy and analytical ability
- creativity and imagination
- influencing and negotiation skills
- teamwork
- organisational ability
- IT skills
- business and commercial acumen
- drive and ambition
 www.monster.co.uk

The key is to demonstrate that you have most if not all of these key
skills so as to get your foot in the door.
Remember, some of these skills you will have gained through non-
work related activities, so don’t get hung up in the fact that you
haven’t had the opportunity to use them in a work situation – you are
selling your ‘potential’ not necessarily your ‘proven’ ability!
Of course there are some specialist marketing roles that will require
specific skills in addition to those listed above.
Market researchers who are working in the pharmaceuticals or
automotive industries, for example, may need a degree that is
relevant to the field in which they are working. Similarly, those
wanting to work in direct marketing may find that a statistical
background will be beneficial.
And if you are entering the industry from an entirely unrelated sector,
you may find that by undertaking a professional qualification
accredited by the CIM, for instance, will make the transition much
easier as this will inevitably boost your application and demonstrates
your willingness to learn new skill specific to marketing.

Further Reading
- What are my transferrable skills?
- How can I improve my skills on my own initiative?
- Should I become a specialist or a generalist?

‘Grass is Greener’ eBooks

Breaking into the Marketing Industry

What makes a
good marketing CV?
The first glimpse of your marketing potential that an
employer will see of you is in your CV. The way that you
market and sell yourself as the ideal candidate for the job in
hand will mean the difference between your CV making its
way to the top of the pile or languishing somewhere near the
bottom.
As with all successful marketing campaigns, your CV needs to
match your features and benefits with the requirements of the job
being advertised.
The job advert itself will give you a clue but, in true marketing
fashion this only scratches the surface. Get a copy of the full job
description from the company’s human resources department or
recruitment consultant so that you identify the key requirements of
the role and tailor your CV so that your skills and abilities match
what the employer is looking for.
With employers spending as little as 20 or 30 seconds considering
your application you need to use active language that jumps out
from the page and adds meaning to what you are saying. Start your
sentences with a descriptive verb rather than a noun.

Further Reading
- How can I tailor my CV to an audience?
- What are my unique selling points?
- What are the classic CV mistakes to avoid?
 www.monster.co.uk

For example, stating that you are ‘Creative’ or ‘Analytical’ will make
your CV read more like a dictionary rather than a document that is
designed to sell your experience and achievements.
Being ‘creative’ may mean that you may have “assisted in
developing a new re-branding campaign for a large high street
bank.” And being ‘analytical’ has enabled you to “spot a gap in the
market that enabled your company to penetrate and gain a 45%
market-share.”
The key to writing a successful marketing CV is to always link your
achievements with the requirements of the job you are applying for
and demonstrate how you have used these skills in your career to
date - or during your university days - and to what effect.
But don’t overdo it; keep to no more than six or seven examples.
Finally, consider who will be reading your application. Avoid using
abbreviations, technical jargon or job titles that may be confusing to
someone reading your CV who has little or no knowledge of the
sector you are coming from.
Remember that CVs are often read at great speed so make sure it is
clear and concise for the reader.

Free CV Templates
We’ve put together a range of free CV templates that will help
you start your document off in the right way.
Find and download them for free now.

‘Grass is Greener’ eBooks

Breaking into the Marketing Industry

What does the job interview

process consist of?
So far, all has gone well. Your CV has done its job and the
fruits of your labour have earned you the interview that
brings you one step closer to your first job marketing. Now
the real selling begins.
Interviews can take a number of different formats and you need to
find out which one will be used before the day itself. Large
employers will typically run an assessment centre at the company’s
head office where you will be put through your paces in a series of
practical problem solving tasks both in groups and individually,
psychometric tests and presentations – some of which you may
have been expected to prepare in advance.
Other employers, especially those will a lower intake of new recruits,
will invariably cut out the assessment centre process and may start
the selection process with an initial telephone interview that works to
sound-out if you like the sound of the job and if the employer likes
the sound of you before moving into the more traditional interview
format.

Take part in a Virtual Job Interview to find out if your

answers are what employers want to hear.

Click here when you’re ready to begin.

 www.monster.co.uk

Interviews are structured in a way that give the employer an insight

into your potential, personality and your understanding of the
organisation and industry in which it operates. Having broken the ice
with a few gentle pleasantries (“Tell us about your current job”), the
questions will gradually start to become tougher as the interviewer
probes more and more into your background (“What achievements
are you most proud of?“) and your motivations for applying for the
job.
Some questions come straight from the Interviewer’s Handbook that
are focussed on personality traits (“What are your strengths and
weaknesses?“), whilst others will be designed to check your
understanding (“What interests you about this job?”) and potential
(“What should we hire you?) to do the job you are applying for.
Providing you do your research beforehand, you’ll be able to
anticipate what will be asked of you at interview and have great
answers to respond with.
The secret to pre-empting likely topics of discussion lies in the job
advert itself. So make sure you keep a copy of it and highlight the
key points it mentions. Employers want more than a candidate with
the right skills and experience – they want someone who has a
genuine desire to want to work for their organisation. So do your
background research and ensure that you can talk confidently about
them.

Further Reading
- How do I make a good first impression?
- What should I wear to my job interview?
- How can I calm my job interview nerves?

‘Grass is Greener’ eBooks

Breaking into the Marketing Industry

What career goals should

I set myself?
Congratulations! You have knocked your competition into
touch and landed your first job in marketing - given that
marketing is one of the most fiercely fought for career
choices you have every right be to be pleased with yourself.
However, after a while your initial enthusiasm inevitably begins to
wane as the honeymoon period turns into one of regular routine.
Now your attention has started to focus on what your next step up
the career ladder could be.

But like all things you need to walk in your career before you can
run, and that means taking the time to learn everything you can
about the company, your duties and what is expected of you in the
role you are doing now but also identifying those that will be
expected of you to perform your next role successfully.

And the best way of doing this is to associate yourself with the
people who are visibly doing a good job – they will know what it
takes to make your mark in the organisation and then you can plot
your course accordingly.

Discover Job Profiles

Monster’s Career Snapshots show you the skills you

need in order to take your career to the next level:
 www.monster.co.uk

Career progression within the advertising and public relations

sectors is relatively quick, with many executives moving swiftly
through the ranks into senior positions within four or five years.
However, the pace in marketing is somewhat slower. Marketing
Executives will typically spend around two or three years in their role
before moving up into a Senior Marketing Executive position then
Marketing Manager after a further three to five years depending on
the size of the organisation.

That said if you have a proven track record of success within your
existing role and can demonstrate your commitment to continued
professional development by studying for your CIM, for instance, you
will probably find that promotion opportunities may come sooner
than they would for those without such qualifications, when career
progression can be sluggish at best.

One of the great things about marketing is the variety of the work on
offer and the opportunities to diversify into a number of related areas
such as direct marketing, sales, advertising or public relations. As
with all jobs there are good and bad things about marketing so even
if you find that being a Marketing Executive or Market Researcher
isn’t right for you, there are innumerable options available to you
where the transition from one role to another can be made smoothly.

What Next?

If you’re still looking for advice on finding the right job, creating a
great CV or tips on job interview, career-advice.monster.co.uk
contains everything you ever wanted to know, and more!

If you’re ready to apply for jobs, upload you CV to Monster and

then take a look through the latest roles.

‘Grass is Greener’ eBooks

 Breaking into the Marketing Industry

They say that the grass isn’t greener on the other side, but
often it is. Our series of eBooks brings together expert advice
to help you secure the job you want and build a successful
career.

For more career tools, visit career-advice.monster.co.uk.