Term Research Paper: Assessing a career in business

Business 1010: Signature assignment

Career topic: Marketing Manager

Madison Prudhomme
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When thinking about what career to research and write about, I thought of many options

which intrigued me. I initially thought about researching an attorney but I decided to go with a

marketing manager. I chose this because my mom is a marketing manager for an architectural

firm. I have grown up hearing about this career field and have even helped out around the office

here and there.

Job Description:

Someone going into the marketing field over everything else, must have strong

communication skills. They should also be well rounded in sales tactics, public

speaking/presentations, leadership skills, be creative and goal oriented, along with skills using

technology, internet and design software. A marketing managers tasks basically include

acquiring new customers for their company while working to expand into new markets and help

the company reach their goals. They are also in charge of researching trends in the market and

opening up opportunities for their firm. Daily tasks include; communicating their firms services

through social media and networking in the industry, designing eye catching advertisements

using different forms of communication such as brochures, web pages, visuals/photographs etc.

They oversee all of the general marketing activities in their firm including, planning out a

marketing budget. This career may also involve traveling a lot to different trade shows,

conventions, meetings, job fairs and more. Another main daily task for a marketing manager

involves meeting with current and potential clients to discuss their company and communicate

the best services that they have to offer.

General Career path:

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Typically, people who go into marketing are creative and can work in fast paced

environments. Before they work their way up, they must be well rounded in all aspects of

marketing such as, public speaking, communication, creating budgets, design and more. There

are a lot of ways to work your way up in marketing because of the fact that it is such a diverse

field to work in. Every type of business from the food industry to tire shops use marketing. Many

people may start by doing internships while getting an associates degree, moving from that to an

entry level job and then slowly working their way up to marketing manager as they continue

their education onto a bachelors degree and some to a masters degree.

General Education Experience:

An entry level marketing position most often requires a bachelors degree, especially in

an upper level such as business management. The type of bachelors degree which employers

look for is a marketing communications, business administration, advertising, design or even a

degree in journalism. Employers will also look for someone who has work experience as well.

They can gain work experience through internships, lower-level marketing jobs and general

administrative assistant jobs. Additional certifications may include a Masters degree along with

extensive relevant experience in the field in order for someone to become a marketing manager.

Some people may start out at a company with no degree and work their way up to marketing

management position. While this is becoming less common in the newer generation, it is still a

possibility within some firms. For example, my mother is a marketing manager at a small firm

and she has no degree. She does however have 20+ years of experience and has learned

everything on the job while working her way up.

Average Salary:
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The average annual mean salary for a marketing manager in Salt Lake City is around

$90,000 per year, as of June 28, 2017. (Salary.com, 2017). The average salary for a marketing

manager in the United States as of 2017 was $95,306 annually. The average range being

somewhere between $83,000 and $112,000. The salary may however vary depending on amount

of experience, company size, type of industry, etc.

Career Outlook:

The career outlook for marketing managers is looking pretty good. According to the

United States Department of Labor, Employment of advertising, promotions, and marketing

managers is projected to grow 9 percent from 2014 to 2024, faster than the average for all

occupations. (U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015). So, right now is a great time to be

pursuing this career if it is something that interests you. Marketing is a growing career because,

as companies wish to expand their market and gain more customers/clients, there will be a need

to keep hiring more and more creative people to fill the role of marketing manager at various

companies.

Bio of Someone in the Profession:

My mother, Jessie Robertson (Age 52) is a Marketing manager at a company called Steel

Encounters. I interviewed her using a few questions that I came up with involving the profession.

Q: When did you first take an interest in Marketing?

A: I was working at an architectural firm in accounting in my mid twenties, when our Marketing

Manager needed assistance, so I was thrown into it really.

Q: So how did you manage, without formal training in marketing at the time?

A: Well, it was really sink or swim, and I had great mentors who helped me learn what I needed

to start, and from there, through experience, I acquired training and skills to be successful
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because I knew after a short time, that I was very interested in this kind of creative path as a

career. I felt that it was a stable and upward moving career path to choose.

Q: How many years of experience do you have in the industry?

A: Now I have more than 25 years in the industry and am well respected and feel I have a secure

career locally, where I have built my network of support and clientele.

Q: If you had to give advice to someone my age on how to get into the business, what would that

advice be?

A: I would say first of all you must like a fast-paced work environment, that is always changing

and always providing new challenges. Beyond that, starting as an intern or assistant is a great

way to get your feet wet and decide if this is the career for you.

Q: What is your favorite part about being a marketing manager?

A: My favorite part about my job is that I am constantly working on new projects every few

weeks. I really enjoy getting to work with teams of people in an uplifting environment.

Q: If you could go back in time and get a marketing degree, would you?

A: I definitely feel that in your generation, a degree will get you a lot farther in a career, but I

wouldnt change the path that I took to get to where I am today. I feel like I have learned so

much more working in the industry, than I ever would have by obtaining a degree. If you want to

be a successful marketing manager in todays society however, I think at the least, a bachelors

degree would be very beneficial since more employers look for that now.

Pros and Cons:

Every career has its pros and cons. One pro is that this is a very creative and ever-

changing job. You will constantly be working to come up with things such as, new marketing

campaigns, budgeting, team goals and more. Marketing is a very people-oriented career. So, if
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you are someone who enjoys meeting/talking to new people, then this may be a career for you.

Marketing managers may be on the go, meeting with new clients, visiting trade shows and going

to meetings to discuss with groups of people what their marketing goals involve. This may also

give you a chance to travel, so this could be a major pro for someone who wants to experience

new places. There is a high earning potential with a job as a marketing manager. There is a huge

plethora of schools that offer a program to obtain a marketing degree. Another pro is that a

marketing manager can cross industries fairly easy. Every field of work which involves clients,

uses some type of marketing to succeed, so this type of career path is great for someone who

may want to try out a few different industries in their lifetime instead of only sticking to one.

Also, there really isnt a product or service out there that has become a sensation without the help

of marketing. Lastly, this is a growing industry and is predicted to grow more than most other

jobs within the year 2024.

There are of course some cons to every job whether they are tiny or big. For starters,

marketing is a competitive career field, so it may be hard to find a job straight out of college. It

may also be a job that is highly stressful (however what job isnt). There is a pressure to meet

deadlines and turn in proposals on time, which can be very stressful. Managers are in charge of

others so when their team messes up, it can mess up your work as well. Being a manager may be

tough for some people to keep control of their employees, while still being a team player.

Another con is the fact that marketing managers need to stay up to date on all of the current

technology and software out there, so that they can continue to move their company forward,

using new forms of marketing as well as the internet.

My Fit with this career:

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Overall, I feel that I am someone who would be a good candidate for a marketing

manager career. I really enjoy using my creative outlook to make things that are eye catching.

This could help me in designing brochures, pamphlets, posters, powerpoints, etc. I am also a very

talkative and outgoing person, so meeting with new people and discussing something that I am

passionate about (such as my company), would be very fun for me as well. I am a total

perfectionist which is for me, a bad and good thing. I think that this would actually benefit me in

this career because, I would work on a proposal until I felt it was the best that I could do.

One challenge I think I would have however is being in charge of others. I am a people

pleaser and I do not like letting others down or getting on their bad side. It would be a challenge

for me to tell people what to do and then expect them to follow my orders. I like to work as a

team or with a group of people, so this part of the job would be the most testing part for me

personally. I am leaning towards a degree in marketing after finishing my generals, so this

research has highly benefited me by helping me get closer to a decision about what I want my

future career to be.

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Sources

FECZKO, J. (1998). So you're thinking about a marketing career. Black Collegian, 29(1),

124. Retrieved from

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=f6h.

Florida Tech. (2017). Marketing Manager Career and Job Outlook. Retrieved from

https://www.floridatechonline.com/blog/business/marketing-manager-career-job-outlook/.

(Robertson, J. Personal Communication Interview. July 20, 2017.)

Scott, D. (2015). The New Rules of Marketing and PR. Pg 97. Retrieved from

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=gi5ECgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR19&dq=mark

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page&q=marketing%20job%20description&f=false.

Salary.com. (2017). Marketing Manager Salaries in Salt Lake City, Utah. Retrieved from

http://www1.salary.com/UT/Salt-Lake-City/Marketing-Manager-salary.html.

U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2017). Marketing Manager: Career Info and

Requirements. Retrieved from

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http://study.com/articles/Marketing_Manager_Career_Information_and_Requirements_for_Beco

ming_a_Marketing_Manager.html.

WYNER, G. (2017). Navigating a Marketing Career. Marketing News, 51(3), 24-25.

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