Having a degree in marketing gives you plenty of career options. There are always employers looking to employ the services of those who have the ability to understand and reach their target market.
Depending on your interests and career ambitions, you could end up working in almost any industry conceivable, from entertainment, to public service, to non-profit. After all, marketing is a crucial function of every part of the economy.
What You Can Do With a Marketing Degree
The skills and knowledge a marketing degree can teach you, will qualify you for jobs that you may not have even know existed. Some jobs you may qualify for right after your undergrad degree. Other jobs will require further education and training, particularly those that demand a greater level of expertise in a certain area.
Fortunately, as a marketing graduate, you’re in a good position to pursue graduate studies in marketing and other areas of business, or in other fields such as law, or public administration, among many others.
So, if you want to know more about where a degree in marketing can take you, read on below. This guide contains detailed occupational information on career paths relevant to this degree. Included are job descriptions, expected salaries, educational requirements and other pertinent information related to these careers.
What Marketing Programs Can Teach You
Marketing is concerned with the identification and assessment of consumer and commercial market needs, and the development of effective marketing programs to satisfy those needs.
Studies in this field allow you to become familiar with contemporary marketing theories and methodologies, in order to help you to become successful in the professional world of marketing.
To provide you with a fundamental understanding of traditional business functions and their related processes, marketing degree programs typically involve introductory study in courses such as accounting, management, economics and law. They also typically use multiple teaching methods, such as in-class lectures, case studies, simulations and internship programs.
The diverse learning methods of marketing degree programs enable you to gain both theoretical as well as practical knowledge in many aspects of the marketing process, such as product management, advertising and communications, market research and consumer behaviour.
Careers Directly Related to a Marketing Degree
The knowledge and skills you can gain by studying marketing at the post-secondary level serve as an excellent foundation for a variety of careers.
Below, we’ve chosen careers that we feel relate to an education in this field, either because the subject matter of these programs in general relate to the occupational field, or because the skills you’ll need to be an effective employee can be gained in a marketing degree program. Please note, this is not an inclusive list:
• Advertising Account Executive
• Blogger
• Business Development Officer
• Customer Service Representative
• Film Distribution Coordinator
• International Advertising Executive
• Lobbyist
• Online Marketing Coordinator
• Realtor
• Sales and Marketing Director
• Software Sales Representative
Please Note: Some of the above listed careers require additional education, training and/or experience. Click on careers that are of interest to you to find out more about the qualifications you’ll need.
Employable Skills of Graduates
Marketing degree programs are designed to help prepare you to innovate and lead in your field when you enter the workforce, by equipping you with a unique set of employable skills. These skills are highly valued by employers in every industry.
• Ability to analyze customer needs and wants
• Ability to develop and maintain customer relationships
• Knowledge of how to identify, study and understand the competition
• Ability to develop a strategic marketing plan and execute it properly
• Ability to thoroughly analyze and interpret marketing data
• Ability to develop innovative marketing strategies
• Knowledge of contemporary marketing issues, technologies and methodologies
• Strong communication and presentation skills
• Able to create a strategic marketing plan
• Able to develop pricing strategies
Who Employs Marketing Grads?
Employers are always looking for competent professionals who posses an excellent understanding and grasp of contemporary marketing issues. As a marketing graduate, you could potentially find work with employers in every imaginable industry. Some examples include:
• Retail
• Manufacturing
• Financial services
• Public services
• Staffing
• Travel, leisure and tourism
• Consumer packaged goods
• Fashion
• Music
• Electronics
• Entertainment
• Sports
• Non-profit
• Education
Typical Graduate Salary Level
The salary you could earn as a marketing graduate first entering the workforce can vary drastically, and is heavily dependent on the following factors (not an inclusive list):
• Your level of education (i.e. undergraduate vs. graduate degree, etc.)
• Whether or not you end up working in international business
• The industry in which you find work (such as oil & gas, entertainment, etc.)
• The type of job you have, and your level of responsibility
• The size and type of your employer
• The region in which you work
• If you have an area of specialty (such as market research)
• Other skills you may have
Graduate Salary - Ontario: According to a study in 2011 conducted by the Ontario Council of Universities, $52,276 CAD* is the average salary earned by Business and Commerce graduates, 2 years after graduating from Ontario universities in 2010.
*This figure is a composite of all graduates who earned a Bachelor’s degree in the Business and Commerce, not specifically for Marketing graduates. Unfortunately, similar statistics for graduates from other Canadian provinces and the United States cannot be found from reputable sources.
Marketing Scholarships
If you’re a marketing major looking for help in paying for school, then you’re in luck; our scholarships database has Canadian and American scholarships that are specific to marketing, as well as scholarships that are open to any field of study!
Success Tip: Be sure to apply for any and all scholarships for which you qualify, as there are millions of dollars of scholarships in Canada and the United States that go unused every year due to a lack of applicants.
Professional Associations for Relevant Careers
To find out more about careers directly related to your degree, consult the following professional association websites. They offer career-related information, and many have opportunities for student membership, as well as job placement and mentoring opportunities.
Canada
Canadian Internet Marketing Association
Canadian Marketing Association
Marketing Research and Intelligence Association
United States
American Advertising Federation
American Marketing Association
Marketing Research Association
