Full-Time Marketing Positions

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I am actually still a junior at my university, but as soon as the summer is over, it is time to job hunt. I kind of wanted to know, how do you think a marketing student could break through the clutter?</p>

<p>First off, what do you think of my candidacy? </p>

<p>I go to a top 50 school (nothing special).
My GPA is not worth listing (it will be just below a 3.0 or at a 3.0 by the time the fall semester begins).</p>

<p>However I do have:</p>

<p>-3 quality marketing internships, two of which were at very large, recognizable companies. (Unfortunately, one I would like to continue working at told me at the beginning that there is going to be little to no chance for a full time position in my field when my internship is completed).</p>

<p>-3 leadership offices held, including State President, Marketing Director, and VP of Marketing.</p>

<p>-2 Distinguished leadership/academic business certificates (awarded for community/campus involvement, GPA in a business curriculum; both are given out to less than 15 students a year).</p>

<p>Internship experience with:
-Professional written communication through many executive levels.
-3 Major events planned (All represented my university with more than 300 guests each, two of which, I was nearly solely in charge of.)
-Experience correcting/writing a communication/marketing plan.
-Personal selling.
-Social media A/B testing/advertising data analysis & recommendations.
-Giving executive-level presentations with PowerPoint/excel.</p>

<p>To me, I feel as though my experience has covered MOST of the basics that are being sought out by employers. Do you guys have any recommendations on something I could do to further boost my chances (other than my GPA, which I will do all that I can my last two semesters to raise)?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>I’m not terribly familiar with the marketing market (pun intended), but given what you’ve stated, your work ethic and accomplishments are the two things you want to highlight. To get over having a mediocre GPA (it’s not bad but also not great), you will need to have a tremendous resume and a good cover letter. Highlight your experience planning events and developing marketing strategy; if those leadership offices were more than just a title, talk about what you actually did. What is the purpose of the business certificates? Do they demonstrate that you have portable skills? </p>

<p>Think about what you did in your three internships; pick the one(s) that developed your skills the most and include them in your resume. If you did pretty much the same thing in two internships, I’d save the space and only talk about one of them (you can make reference to the other in a cover letter or during interviews). If one internship didn’t really teach you much or if one or two internships taught you WAY more than other internships, obviously include the ones that were more useful to you. If they were useful to you in skills development, they will be useful when finding a job.</p>

<p>Aside from that, the most effective method of applications I’ve found is the shotgun approach - apply early and don’t stop applying to places until you have accepted an offer. I would start your search over the summer and then start applying as soon as applications open up (likely in September).</p>