Feeling overwhelmed as you prepare to enter the "real world" of marketing and advertising? Congrats, grad! We've all been there. Some of the young professionals at Two Rivers shared their thoughts about building a career in the industry based on their recent grad experiences — what they wish they knew starting out, what surprised them most, and more.
Check out their advice and helpful tips in this Q&A as you prepare to launch your marketing career.
Q: What is your career advice for new marketing graduates?
Noelle: Connections are huge! Make as many connections as possible and meet as many people as you can. This was the biggest help for me to break into the marketing field.
Julia: Give yourself some grace that you may not find the perfect job right away. Your first job teaches you a lot of good lessons and is a good starting point to figure out what you want out of your career. Be open-minded to different job opportunities and don’t be afraid to reach out to employees on LinkedIn who work at a company you want to work for!
Elianna: It is important to build a diverse skill set. In marketing, we're challenged to work across such disciplines as digital marketing, content strategy, social media, reporting and analytics, and more. And while it's important to specialize in a particular area, having a diverse skill set can make you more versatile and adaptable and help you stand out.
Q: What do you wish you knew when you started in marketing?
Jade: Direct experience in a past marketing job/internship definitely gives you valuable experience. But coming from a mainly retail management background, I was still able to apply other skills I'd gained along with my exposure to marketing from college to excel in my new marketing position. I also gained the direct information I may have been missing from coworkers who were more than willing to help me fill any gaps!
Jessica: I wish I had the mentality that mistakes can be a positive thing. The key to that is learning from them and making sure the next project, the results of a social campaign, or whatever piece of the marketing department you are working on gets better from a mistake made. Going into the "real world" is scary, but everyone makes mistakes. It is how you use those mistakes to grow in your career that makes the difference.
Q: What has been different than you expected about your career in marketing?
Julia: A lot of my marketing classes in college were data- and automation-based, but it doesn’t feel like it prepared me for real life. My experience working in different jobs, especially in social media, helped me get to where I am now and has been so useful in my role.
Elianna: The breadth and diversity of marketing roles and specialties have been broader than I initially imagined. From traditional marketing disciplines like public relations and account service to channel marketing, social media, and data analytics, there are numerous avenues and disciplines that people can take in the marketing field. I enjoy working in an agency environment because it allows me to collaborate across disciplines and benefit from the diverse perspectives and skill sets my fellow associates bring to the table.
Ben: There are more career opportunities in marketing than just social media. I never knew how many different roles and moving parts make up a marketing agency. I never knew how collaborative the entire process was and how much all of the different roles contribute to a marketing campaign and its success.
Q: What skill do you use the most in your marketing job?
Julia: Communication and relationship-building! It’s not a skill I would have considered that I was building throughout the years, but being able to work with clients and customers to solve their problems and keep them happy even when delivering “bad news” has been so helpful.
Ben: Learning how to effectively communicate with people to get things done will always be important no matter the role. Whether it is the 3 Be’s (be brief, be concise, and be gone) or going through a long conversation with someone to teach or to learn, communication styles vary from situation to situation and it is important to know what will work best when.
Jade: As a project manager, I regularly use time management and communication skills very heavily. Being able to prioritize various tasks and communicate with a variety of people is critical to success and efficiency in my projects.
Thanks to our talented young professionals for sharing their insights and advice. Interested in jumping into a marketing career in a collaborative, supportive environment? Check out our job openings today!
And be sure to watch for next week’s blog, where some of our seasoned industry veterans provide advice and marketing insights.
By Two Rivers Marketing
