- I recently graduate from a business major. Now What?
- Should I continue looking jobs in Business / Marketing field?
- Is it a sales role? I don’t want to be a sales.
- If it is as easy as you describe, why my classmates in Marketing major don’t get a job yet?
- How can I become to be more competitive in business practice?
- Do you have a plan I can borrow?
- What is the next?
I recently graduate from a business major. Now What?
The first thing you should do is to know yourself. You could find it out by conducting SWOT analysis which will clearly illustrate the situation you are in
Swap Analysis for Recent Graduated Student
Basically, you are a stressful young but lack of experience professional who is looking for career opportunities. Ideally, the job should utilize your strengths and avoid touching the weakness points above. Where are the opportunities then? In the Business / Marketing field! Anytime, you type in Business Admin / Marketing Assistant / Marketing Coordinator as keywords in job searching sites, you easily find out over 1000 openings – DO LET ME KNOW IF OTHERWISE
Should I continue looking jobs in Business / Marketing field?
Yes, you should! since
It is dynamic, constantly changed!
It is for young professional.
It needs everywhere; lots of openings.
It requires experience; but it requires talent more!
It has great potential.
Who is the most powerful department in the company? the marketing department! It consumes the majority of company’s budget since it serves the purpose to recruit company’s customers.
It is part of the core structure of company’s management team. It is not a surprise that a lot of executives are actually from marketing department!
Is it a sales role? I don’t want to be a sales.
Definitely Not! There is a significant difference between sales and marketing.
Marketing activities include consumer research (to identify the needs of the customers), product development(designing innovative products to meet existing or latent needs), advertising the products to raise awareness and build the brand. The typical goal of marketing is to generate interest in the product and create leads or prospects.
On the other hand, sales activities are focused on converting prospects to actual paying customers. Sales involves directly interacting with the prospects to persuade them to purchase the product.
Am I the right candidate for such a Job?
Marketing is a field reserved for young professionals who are
- well educated in various business related majors such as Economic, Finance, Business Administration, Commerce….,
- well developed with strong communication skills in verbal and writing, and
- well trained with proper analytical skills + marketing tools.
If you are a new or recently graduated student from an university in North America, you pretty much fit in the profile. A few things you need address are SKILLS and TOOLS
If it is as easy as you describe, why my classmates in Marketing major don’t get a job yet?
It is caused by the difference between academic study and skill trainings. The knowledge from college makes the students overeducated but lack of practical skills. A student from marketing major may be equipped with tons of perfect marketing theories, various analysis model and more than enough knowledge on operating big organizations; but he cannot even
- photoshop a logo in 30 minutes,
- create a website within 3 days nor
- pull out customer information from CRM
In a word, to apply for a junior position of Marketing Coordinator, you marketing major classmates don’t have obvious advantages unless he possess practical skills.
How can I become to be more competitive in business practice?
Like previously mentioned, anytime, you type in Marketing Assistant / Marketing Coordinator as keywords in job searching sites, you easily find out over 2000 openings – DO LET ME KNOW IF OTHERWISE. The job market is hot without doubt, as a young professional, how should you prepare your readiness? Basically, you need cover the following 4 areas
You need start Resume / Interview preparation immediately; and follow the sequence above to prepare yourself in each subject areas. Try to revise your resume every time when you complete a subject area. It is not an easy job; but it is a must-do job!
Do you have a plan I can borrow?
You bet! The most effective way is to studying intensively on these 4 subject areas with the pace of 1 subject area per week. Following such a plan, you prepare your job readiness within 4 weeks; and expect to nail down an offer in another couple weeks. While your university classmates are still confusing about what kind of jobs should they apply for, you already cast off to achieve your career goal!
Knowledge Structure for Entry Level Jobs in Business Practice
What is next?
People say that practice makes thing perfect. It is not always true. Only taking the practice with industry leader will assist you on finding out a right way to your career success. During your job hunting journey, should you have any uncertainties, concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to let us know; and we will be more than happy to help on where necessary.
About Author
My name is Dayong Qu (a.k.a DQ). I was you!
I was an architect in China with a Master degree from Tongji University; and I totally changed my major to Computer Science after having another Master degree in the States. I felt the same pain you had been feeling – where to find my first job after graduation? Did the education help on getting a job? Not really! My experience told me that education was a long run investment; and knowing a certain skill or tool would result in a quick win.
There is one more important trick I would like to share with you – you need someone who really could provide you assessment on where are you? how is the progress? do you still have some defects? …. These information definitely will keep you on the right track during job hunting.
Good luck to you and hope you nail down your first offer soon.
