Going into Marketing: How To Get The Job (read below)?

[djfavilosi]

i'm 16, planning to go to a good business college for marketing, I want to work with advertising, but i really am lost on where to start, after college, where should i go to apply? i mean i can't just go to a at&t headquarter or redbull headquarter and say i want to work for you in marketing, how can i apply and in what area, i'm all new to this and scared that i won't know where to begin my career after college

THANK YOU!

[Mechele]

Good for you that you're so goal directed at such a young age!

There are so many disciplines within the world of marketing, however if working in advertising is your goal, consider which aspects of that industry appeal to you-- the creative, dealing with clients, brainstorming with a team, working through financials. digital or social media. This is more for your own personal edification as it will narrow down your options when forming a game plan.

Once you get in the door of a place, you may surprise yourself discovering skills and interests you didn't even know you had.

So all this aside, probably good to get a scope on the main places you could possibly work in advertising. There are others, but I'd say these are your primary categories:

- boutique ad agency
- small idigital marketing company
- funded internet start-up
- mid-to-large Madison Avenu-type agency (Saatchi,etc) or specialized agency (sports marketing,etc)
- mid-to-large digital marketing firm
- advertising or marketing communications dept. of a large company like AT&T
- advertising or marketing department of a not-for-profit, education or government office

What's the best way to get in the door? That's a big question. A few suggestions in no particular order:

- internship while you're in HS and college with a small agency
- offer to work for free for 2 weeks at small agency to prove your worth (side note: I mention small agency/company twice because I think you learn more faster at a small place. Plus you'll figure out what you like to do and don't like to do faster than you would at a large company possibly saving years you'd squander at a big company )
- get on linkedin and ask people in your field to have a 20 minute phone conversation with you about their experience
- get on blogs of marketers and ask questions, start conversations. connect, connect, connect
- volunteer to help local organizations (ie. animal shelters, etc) with their marketing for free to build resume
- if you like social promotion, you can probably get a low paying job out of the gate with little effort. This is biggest area of growth right now.
- Pick up phone and call some small companies that have big name accounts, offer to work for dirt pay so you can get these client names on your resume.
- for preparation, buy yourname.com and build it up. I would do this now. Also pick up your name on Twitter, blogger, tumblr. You can even join Linkedin now. Why not? I know a 14-yr-old developer who's already establishing his reputation and getting work!
-reach out to friends, parents friends, casual contacts and ask them to pass along your name.

So that I've shotgunned these ideas, but there are some ordered steps to take:
- build your resume up with free/almost free work
- build your online reputation by getting involved in professional social sites, interacting on blogs. Keep your Facebook page clean and make it private. 95% of hiring managers will research you online.
- start off with a smaller company to figure out what you like to do faster
- start getting connected to influencers who will put in a good word for you

And of course, go through the traditional means of submitting resumes, calling, etc...and since you want to go into a creative area, get creative. Make yourself standout without doing goofy stunt-like stuff. You can google plenty of ideas for this.

A few words of warning... don't work for free for long, don't believe the old myth of starting low on non-related rung of ladder (mailroom, admin assistand,etc)-- it'll only waste your time. Employers are more than willing to take advantage of young, cheap, capable labor. Be your own advocate. Once you've put in your time and worked hard, ask for what you want. Your employer will respect you for it.

Hope this helps. I've been in marketing for 20+ years and worked my way up from a copywriter to a VP of Marketing and now run own own small agency. Feel free to contact me if you want to pick my brain. My company is http://www.repaz.com