<p>I was planning on starting my BA in marketing at the University of Iowa this next fall. After looking into careers for a marketing major I noticed one that gained my interest was a product manager.
So I was wondering if I got a double major in marketing and management, would I be more likely to get a job as a product manager? or instead should I look to get an MBA in marketing?</p>
<p>Neither. Both a second major in Management and an immediate post-grad MBA would be useless to your career. Marketing is viewed as a “soft” major. Therefore, unless you go to a top business school (as in, not just a Tier 1…I mean top 15 or better), make excellent grades, and do all the other things required to stand out, it is much more difficulty to land a decent job than with other business degrees like Accounting, Finance, Operations/Supply Chain Management, and Management Information Systems. But worse than Marketing, Management is viewed as a completely useless major. Even if you graduated from Wharton (#1 undergraduate business school) with straight As at the top of your graduating class, no one is going to hire you as a manager straight out of college. I would grill your marketing department’s alumni and the school’s career center for information on what jobs (door-door sales or real marketing positions?) marketing majors got and how they got them (family connections, already was working in the company but returned to school, or actually got them as a fresh graduate?). As for MBAs, any worthwhile (top 15-20) MBA program requires 3-5 years of work experience first.</p>
<p>P.S.
I would consider quantitative/technical coursework like Applied Statistics/Economics and Computer Science/Management Information Systems. Whether you should change your primary major when you specifically want to start in a (non-management) marketing position, I don’t know.</p>
<p>In large corporations like Google, IBM, Apple, Merck, J&J, Proctor Gamble,most true product managers have MBAs. You are not going to be a product manager with a BA degree in marketing or management.</p>
<p>To get an MBA from a top marketing school, you need 3-5 years of work experience.</p>