Apprenticeships, Internships, and Interviews – Marketing

Best route is FTSE 250, Management consultancies, or advertising agency graduate training programmes. Things to watch out for:

1. X% Bonus - a veritable minefield - how is it calculated, who decides if you get it, criteria, fairness = RED FLAG!
2. Car / Car Allowance - marketing is office based. NB Tax implications of having a company car = RED FLAG!
3. Role is freelance (note if contracted number of hours or ad hoc). If ad hoc avoid. Contracted = RED FLAG!
4. It’s a Fixed Term Contract (FTC) role – normally maternity cover role = RED FLAG! Think about your career plan
5. Marketing dept is under a Commercial Director, former Company Secretary/Chartered Secretary (lawyer), former accountant, or former HR Manager, not a Marketing Director/Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) – they’ll be condescending = RED FLAG!
6. It’s for an SME – unstable job/no career. Note their experience prior to setting up the SME, as some of the most successful were set-up by former investment bankers and management consultants at prestigious organisations who went to some of the UK’s, Europe’s or USA’s best universities. If they went to a weak university – they will lack work ethic, and will be dogmatic = RED FLAG!
7. Size of the marketing team / dept - small indicates marketing is a tick box exercise – not valued and the staff in the department will be ploddy/dull = RED FLAG!
8. Staff experience, education (recency, levels, top 20 uni., and what degree subject(s) – relevance?). Marketing/Earth Sci/Management/Sociology/Politics = RED FLAG! Marketing is a mix of Quant, Qual, Financial + ability to communicate is key.
9. Chemistry and honesty - During the interviews they should be trying to build rapport and trust i.e., common ground – if they don’t forget them, as they’re not genuine/don’t care about their staff. = RED FLAG!
10. Energy and Passion – Do you feel enthusiastic and energised by their website, blogs, strategy, after the interviews? They are marketing themselves to you, so if dull website, social media, blog, etc = boring & pedestrian – definitely avoid = RED FLAG!
11. What industry awards and recognition have the marketing team won? If none, then unless it’s a start-up or SME, be highly sceptical and wary of what they say = RED FLAG! Is there a policy for promoting people in the organisation? No = RED FLAG!
12. What development courses beyond CIM professional body are offered? Provider – BPP/ICAEW/CIMA/UAL/NCTJ/give staff £xx towards agreed training. 1st interview with HR – RED FLAG! **NOTE**: Some of the best marketers don’t have a Marketing degree but have NCTJ, Advertising Certificate from Watford College, or CIPR certificates.
13. Chat to staff at the Reception Before and After any interviews – you can often get confirmation or not about what was said in the interview – be very friendly and chatty, not pushy. Ask questions – social things the company does, their hobbies & interests. What they like about the company? NB if reception staff are open, warm & friendly? If Cold and officious, or reluctant to talk to you = RED FLAG!
14. Print off interview details i.e. invite – some interviewers are highly disorganised – wrong time, date, etc = RED FLAG!
15. Finally, how does the department compare to competitors in the sector - smaller, larger, more successful, failing, innovative, more or less prestigious, market leader, etc. If weakest = RED FLAG! Use LinkedIn, as it can give you lots of useful info. **This will be the a useful activity to do before applying, before each interview stage**

Note the universities that staff in the department went to, and indeed if they went to university, as that will give you an indication about their calibre....and the recruitment preference of the organisation.

University degrees are not an end in themselves/the end of your learning journey. University degrees are a catalyst for greater learning and evaluation of your motivation, passion for the subject. Joint degrees and professionally accredited are the best ones to study.

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 1

Kinga88

Myth buster - one of the secrets to having a marketing career is to realise that ‘marketing’ includes: logistics, account mgmt., graphic/product design, data sci, food sci, finance, sales, legal, buying, & advertising. Fewer graduates do them & they’ve a defined career path, unlike Marketing per se, which isn't. Also, lecturers would have worked in the industry and because the courses are niche they have strong links with those sectors.

For these niche areas you should target doing degrees that have accreditation from the professional bodies, or if you are not sure about university (for example taking out a gap year) do the foundation courses run by the professional bodies - shows motivation and focus. Niche degrees are offered by universities with strong links to regional businesses. Marketing and Management degrees - every UK university offers these generic degrees, so when you apply for jobs it is harder to standout from the crowd and get a job, even with good grades and work experience.

If you want to go to university then focus on Aston, City, Brunel, Strathclyde, Newcastle, Swansea, UAL (London College of Communication and London College of Fashion), Loughborough, Heriot-Watt, UCA, NTU, Sussex, De Montfort, Ravensbourne, and Reading universities.

For some industries, such as Hospitality and Tourism a degree is 'nice to have' not 'need to have' i.e. joining a management training scheme after school is a better route than a degree.

Law: Intellectual Property, litigation, Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), advertising, commercial, shipping, contract and data protection are the areas that impact on marketing.