What's the best way to find marketing work without direct prior experience?

[Pat]

Wow I can't believe how unhelpful some of these other answers are. LoL and I'm sorry for you.

Marketing opportunities are broad and abundant in nature, but you're really looking into advertising roles. Copywriting is a very hard path to break into because it requires a strong portfolio and experience; it's your proverbial Catch 22 because you can't get a good job without the experience, and you can't get experience without experience either.

You can probably take one of two approaches. The first is to find an internship (paid or unpaid) for two to three months and build a network in the industry for yourself. Advertising positions are filled from people who know people who know people. That's probably the most important thing about it so you might try writing enticing cover emails to potential contacts and introduce yourself and your goals.

The second approach is to apply for marketing assistant positions. I've seen many that only require a bachelor's degree and minimal work experience. If you're coming right out of school or have very little work experience, that's the route to go, because you'll be able to meet people that can point you in the right direction. Working in CORPORATE marketing would certainly allow you to interact with ad agencies at some point, and these contacts would be able to get you to at least speak directly to the HR at these ad agencies - a difficult feat to accomplish otherwise.

To sum up, I think the most important thing to do is to proactively meet people and expand your network, by any means necessary. This is a field based heavily upon people and relationships, so the stronger yours are, the better chances you'll have.

Good luck!