Basic Marketing: A Global Managerial Approach

Perreault−McCarthy: Basic

Marketing: A

Global−Managerial

Approach, 14/e

Back Matter Appendix C: Career

Planning Marketing

© The McGraw−Hill

Companies, 2002

682 Appendix C

One of the hardest jobs facing most college students is the choice of a career. Of

course, no one can make this decision for you. You must be the judge of your own

objectives, interests, and abilities. Only you can decide what career youshould pur-

sue. However, you owe it to yourself to at least consider the possibility of a career

in marketing.

We’re happy to tell you that many opportunities are available in marketing.

There’s a place in marketing for everyone—from a service provider in a fast-food

restaurant to a vice president of marketing in a large company such as Microsoft or

Procter & Gamble. The opportunities range widely—so it will help to be more spe-

cific. In the following pages, we’ll discuss (1) the typical pay for different marketing

jobs, (2) setting your own objectives and evaluating your interests and abilities, and

(3) the kinds of jobs available in marketing. We’ll also provide some ideas about

how to use the Internet to get more information and perhaps even to apply for a

job or post your own information; this material is in the special box with the title

“Getting Wired for a Career in Marketing.”

There are many interesting and challenging jobs for those with marketing train-

ing. You may not know it, but 60 percent of graduating college students take their

initial job in a sales, marketing, or customer service position regardless of their stated

major. So you’ll have a head start because you’ve been studying marketing, and com-

panies are always looking for people who already have skills in place. In terms of

upward mobility, more CEOs have come from the sales and marketing side than all

other fields combined. The sky is the limit for those who enter the sales and

marketing profession prepared for the future!

Further, marketing jobs open to college-level students do pay well. At the time

this went to press, marketing undergraduates were being offered starting salaries

around $30,000—with a range from about $18,000 to $40,000 a year. Students with

a master’s in marketing averaged about $45,000; those with an MBA averaged about

$55,000. Starting salaries can vary considerably—depending on your background,

experience, and location.

Starting salaries in marketing compare favorably with many other fields. They

are lower than those in such fields as computer science and electrical engineering

where college graduates are currently in demand. But there is even better opportu-

nity for personal growth, variety, and income in many marketing positions. The

American Almanac of Jobs and Salariesranks the median income of marketers num-

ber 10 in a list of 125 professions. Marketing also supplies about 50 percent of the

people who achieve senior management ranks.

How far and fast your career and income rise above the starting level, however,

depends on many factors—including your willingness to work, how well you get

along with people, and your individual abilities. But most of all, it depends on getting

results—individually and through other people. And this is where many marketing

jobs offer the newcomer great opportunities. It is possible to show initiative, abil-

ity, creativity, and judgment in marketing jobs. And some young people move up

There’s a Place in Marketing for You

There Are Many Marketing Jobs, and They Can Pay Well