Marketing is a field that has always been in demand. And recently with new platforms to market products, services and companies, professional marketers are in high demand. During interviews for latest marketing jobs, recruiters are usually looking for certain skills. Marketing now is a very huge field and there are many different principals that a marketer needs to master.
Recruiters interviewing for jobs in marketing are mainly looking for the following skills.
- Social media savvy
- Graphic designing/print designing/production
- Creativity
- Public relations
- Marketing research
- Brand management
- Interactive media
- Copywriting
This list can go on further but these are the top skills that are usually demanded in the marketing industry. Gaining experience in all of these principals can be a hard thing to do, but there are other ways how an average marketer can gain experience in a way that would impress recruiters.
Creativity
Marketing is all about creativity. It requires an individual to be talented with different types of content, designing and it cannot be taught in school or college. Creativity comes naturally and can be polished with education. Organizations are paying heavily for their marketing campaigns and they need ideas that are fresh and capable of getting attention. You can polish your aesthetic sense by following famous marketers, effective marketing campaigns; follow new ideas and latest marketing trends etc.
If you have some time on your hand, you can take up designing classes like graphic designing, Photoshop etc. that can help you create something that is in your mind. Such skills never get wasted and can help you build a portfolio for yourself that will look good on your resume.
Experience
Marketing is all about experience. Fresh graduates can apply for entry level jobs in marketing and will have to work their way up the ladder. When you are in college or university, look for internships in marketing and PR firms where you can work with professionals in the fields. Working with professionals will give you great experience and will be able to polish your skills.
Summer jobs and co-op positions are also a great place to start. Once you choose the marketing career you need to be on your feet and not waste any time. You can also do some sample campaigns for famous products on the sidelines of internships. Such campaigns and materials can be a great way to show your creativity because a good idea can come from anywhere. Top companies try to create the perfect marketing campaigns but there still are some areas that they overlook. A person with good understanding of the business can identify those areas and make the campaigns perfect.
Use Social Media and Brand Yourself
Social media and internet is the top mediums of marketing these days. Although conventional marketing is still very high in demand but social media has its influence. Be social media active and start promoting yourself as a professional marketer. Being a creative writer I once worked with a very good marketing professional who once said to me “A good marketer’s first project should be his own image and brand. If you cannot make your own brand noticeable, you are in the wrong business.”
Recruiters are in a habit of checking out the online presence of any one they interview. When they Google your name, they should be able to see high quality results and social media presence. Start blogging if you can. Writing is a great skill for being a top professional and not everyone possess it. Brand yourself over the internet and make your presence known. Using social media to your advantage increase your network on LinkedIn, Facebook and other websites and create high quality posts for people to engage with. If possible make social media pages/profiles so that people can appreciate your work. You can see many other professionals on Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks who have such profiles/pages where they engage directly with users. Remember that in the world of today, social media can be a start of a great career and there are thousands of examples in the world who have done this.
Improve Interpersonal Skills
Marketing professionals must have very good interpersonal and communication skills. This profession requires individuals to create an understanding of the customer and their needs. You are then going to translate this data to other departments in an effective manner and create a marketing campaign around them. Good communication skills are required to convey the message to your fellow team members and other people. Communication skills are also required when you are creating surveys, talking to groups, clients etc.
Although majority of the marketers learn communication skills through college but they improve them once they join the professional life and gain experience. The best way to learn such skills is during internships and other jobs that a fresh graduate will do.
These were the basic skills that a marketer must possess. Once you have these skills, it will be very easy to get the other skills mentioned above. Turn yourself into an expert marketer before going in the interview room, all you need is to work on the above mentioned skills and it will be a “yes” for the marketing job you always wanted.