Eight Tips For Recent Grads Who Want To Get Jobs In Marketing

/ July 27, 2017

Re-posted from Forbes
JUL 27, 2017 @ 06:00 AM
WRITTEN BY Douglas Karr, a marketing technology entrepreneur, marketing consultant, marketing/keynote public speaker, and author.

Congratulations, college graduate! You’ve successfully completed a life goal that has provided you a foundation in marketing communications, taught you critical thinking, and provided you with the confidence you need to go out and build that career you always wanted. However, it’s imperative you realize that acquiring your degree was only the first step up the mountain to success.

Our agency works with apprentices, interns and fresh graduates, and we experience amazing talent. Unfortunately, we also witness young folks crash and burn. I’d like to provide some advice that my colleagues and I share with our young professionals. Don’t worry, it’s not about your social media activity, your tattoos or any millennial stereotype – all of which have no bearing on our employees’ success.

  1. Opportunities come through aggressive networking, not resume submissions. In the last decade of my business, I’ve placed, recommended or hired dozens of marketing graduates. And I’ve never read one of their resumes. I’ve researched them online, researched them through my network, reviewed their portfolio of work, tested them or just plain listened to them. Tap into your network – your friends, their parents and everyone else you’ve met along the way to getting your degree. The best opportunities will always come from your network.
 2. Mirror the company you’re seeking to work for, from the hours they arrive at the office, to the dress code, to the mediums they communicate on. Impress your potential employer by knowing who they are personally, what you’ve heard in the news about them, and why specifically you wish to work for them. I don’t need bodies to take up my payroll; I want to work alongside people I know care and respect the work we’re doing.
3. Write. Write in a journal. Write articles. Write online. Write long-form. Write a book. If you hate writing, do it until you love it. If you love writing, learn how to write amazing content. Every aspect of a marketer’s life requires effective communication skills, whether it’s writing a press release, a script, a project scope, a proposal, reports or even just writing an email responding to your supervisor. If you don’t love writing, choose another career path so you can pay off those student loans. You won’t have a future in marketing.
4. Listen. There’s nothing more frustrating than looking up to see an employee prepping for their next response instead of listening to what’s being said now. Marketing is all about expectations, and if you can’t listen, you can’t meet the expectations of your employer, your clients or your customers because you are relying on your assumptions rather than the facts that were discussed.
5. Pride should be the key element in every project you deliver.We live in a world where everyone tends to share on social media the happiest moments outside the office – including vacations, expensive meals and family events. While we might have amazing times and meetings at work, very seldom do we snap a photo to share the memory on Instagram or update our Facebook status with it. It’s almost as if work has a negative connotation nowadays. If you believe working 50 weeks a year is a means to happiness when you finally get two weeks off, you’re going to be a miserable person who spent 96% of your life hating your day. There’s nothing more gratifying than completing a job you’re proud of, confirming it through your employer’s thumbs-up, getting a compliment from a client, and then heading home for the day.

6. Earn the trust of your employer by exceeding the expectations of them, standing out among your peers and being concerned with how the investment in you is paying off for the company.Employees are an investment, so prove to your employer their investment is paying off.

7. Expect less than what you read online about businesses.Articles you read online about “dream companies” can lull you into an illusion of what work will be like. According to the Small Business Administration, there are 28.8 million small businesses employing 56.8 million employees. In fact, 99.7% of all businesses in the United States are small businesses. It takes time and experience to land at one of those top-rated companies; the faster you learn how to do great work, the closer you are to getting that dream job.

8. Remember that employers share their experience with employees with one another. I respect my peers enough to let them know whether they might be making a mistake with their next hire. If you hate your current job and make them help you find the door, don’t think it’s a coincidence that the next doors keep shutting in your face. Every job you take is an opportunity to leave a great impression.

Bottom line: If you can’t put as much effort into pursuing a great career as you did hunting down Pokemon, don’t set high expectations for yourself. Finding great job opportunities is hard work, being successful in your job is hard work, and the harder you work, the faster you’ll realize the potential of those seeds that your professors planted in your head that cost you thousands in school loans. Happy hunting!

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