In this section we describe the major marketing positions open to new employees with little or no experience. Read on and see what interests you!

There are more job opportunities, especially entry-level positions, in personal selling than in any other business area. It is also generally one of the highest paying careers right from the beginning. A college degree used to be unnecessary for selling, but that is becoming less true. Company sales forces are benefiting more and more from the business and technical skills of their salespeople.  WKU's Center for Professional Selling (one of only 16 such centers in the U.S.) creates visibility and outstanding career opportunities for our sales graduates. 

Selling positions are found in a wide variety of organizations, in both consumer and industrial goods, and they cover a variety of activities. These positions could involve calling on customers each day, putting up and maintaining displays, checking inventory levels, or taking orders for stock. Problem-solving for customers is increasingly becoming part of the sales job.

There are generally two career paths you can follow in sales. First, a salesperson may make sales a career and become a specialist in dealing with jobbers, chains, or vendors, or in selling to specialized target groups such as independent grocers, manufacturers, or hospitals, doctors, and pharmacies. The salesperson may even specialize in selling particular types of products. The second path is to become regional or district sales manager, supervising sales representatives and managers under them. This could ultimately lead to becoming national sales manager, vice president of sales, or perhaps even president. Sales is a common route to the top.

You are generally totally free of the constraints of an office job. Thus, it is almost like being your own boss. It can be very rewarding knowing that you represent your company to your customers and have the chance to develop personal relationships as well as product and customer knowledge. Some companies - IBM and Eastman Kodak, for example - view this period in the field as a necessary prerequisite to higher level management positions, and offer sales training programs for a solid introduction to personal selling.

The rewards and earnings for a sales position can be very high, depending on your effort and the compensation plan. In fact, many people, once in sales, spend their entire careers there, choosing the freedom and earning potential over the restrictions and often lower salaries of sales  management positions.

Market Research

Market researchers provide a great deal of the information businesses need to make sound decisions about the marketing of their products. This involves analyzing data on products and sales, creating surveys, conducting interviews, preparing forecasts, and making recommendations on product design, advertising, pricing, and distribution.

Most market research positions are available with either "in-house" research staffs in manufacturing and marketing firms, market research consulting firms, or advertising agencies. Government agencies and university research centers are two other possible employers.

You are more likely to be involved with the actual mechanics of research if you join a research consulting firm, but no matter for whom you work, market research involves problem-solving.

Brand or Product Management

Brand managers, or, as they are sometimes called, product managers, are responsible for planning and directing the entire marketing program for a given product or group of products in a firm. In a way, it is like running your own business. A brand manager is involved in new product ideas and research, advertising, sales promotion, packaging decisions, pricing, inventory levels, sales, and the legal aspects of marketing a product.

Companies such as Procter & Gamble, General Mills, and DuPont use product managers. The entry-level position is generally as a brand assistant. You will be given both individual and team projects within your brand group pertaining to all marketing decisions of your particular brand. If you perform well in this capacity, you will be promoted to assistant brand manager, often in a different brand group. Your responsibilities will increase, and you will help train the brand assistants below you.

After a few years of high performance as an assistant brand manager, you may be promoted to brand manager, giving you total responsibility for the marketing effort and performance of your product. From brand manager, a logical promotion progression might be to group brand manager, in charge of several brand groups, and then general manager or vice president of marketing.

Retailing

In the past, retailers just tended to hope, rather than plan, that the public would buy their merchandise. Now, since the retail industry has more than tripled in size over the past thirty years, and since some major failures have occurred (W.T. Grant, for example), careful study goes into determining customers' wants and needs. Marketing, as well as other business functions, is growing in importance in retailing, and, thus, retailers are demanding better educated and trained managers. Business-school graduates are being placed into more and more management roles, and management salaries can be high.  Retailing provides one of the quickest promotional opportunities, with the ability to be at a mid- to high-level management position within a few short years. 

Retailing offers a variety of positions, including sales, purchasing/buying, merchandising, and distribution, and staff functions such as advertising and marketing research. Entry-level jobs may involve some sales work, depending on the store and whether you have any background in retailing. The next positions may be that of assistant buyer and then buyer. In these positions, the job is like that of running your own mini-store within a store, as the buyer often has control over types of merchandise displayed, nature of promotions, and even price levels. The competition among retailers is stiff; and to be successful, you need guts, foresight, and creativity.

Another route up the retail ladder is to first manage a department, then gradually work your way up to store manager, and finally to move to upper-level management.

Advertising

Advertising has traditionally been called a glamorous profession. Those that are in it will tell you that it is also pressure filled and analytical, yet rewarding in its own way. In advertising, the product is communication, and advertising professionals must master its concepts and techniques.

Many ad agencies prefer to hire undergraduates over MBAs for several reasons. First, they can pay undergraduates less and then give them a chance to prove themselves before raising their salaries. Second, since most graduate business schools lack emphasis and course work in advertising, MBAs know little more about advertising than undergraduates, but they do have a broader background in business and, perhaps, more maturity.

Several entry-level positions exist in advertising. One can begin as a media buyer, copywriter, or, less often, as a junior or assistant account executive. The media buyer chooses the media that will carry the client's ad and arranges for buying the time and space. Those who write the words for ads or the script for commercials are called copywriters. After a year or two in one of these positions - or sometimes in a position in the agency's marketing research department - you may become a junior or assistant account executive. You will do some analytical work and have moderate contact with clients, usually with just one account. From this point on, the responsibility increases and the workload is heavy. Strategic thinking and planning, as well as implementation in a highly competitive, fast-paced environment, become very important. The next promotions are to full account executive, account supervisor, management supervisor, and then into various agency principal positions.

Some agencies offer formal training programs, while others use on-the-job training. While entry-level salaries are low, increases come quickly, and the fringe benefits and bonuses are often very good.

Public Relations

Although public relations is a part of the marketing function, the background for positions in this area is often in communications or journalism. Because the public relations department is the link between the organization and its various publics, effective communication skills are of vital importance.

Members of the public relations department must be kept fully advised of internal changes in marketing strategy, advertising, and new products. They must, at the same time, share this and information about products, labor policies, community activities, and social programs with the public. They must also deal directly with the news media and are often responsible for internal communications, including employee and management newsletters.

The entry-level position is usually as a public relations trainee, which could involve preparing press releases or working on company publications. People often specialize in certain areas within the public relations department and/or work their way up to vice president or director of public relations.

Entry-level jobs in public relations are not highly paid, and the compensation for top jobs in public relations depends largely on the firm and its industry. In the past, industrial firms have tended to pay better than consumer marketers. Working toward the goal of projecting the desired company image to the public is an important and difficult task, but a creative and rewarding one.

Marketing Training Programs

Marketing development or training programs are offered by such firms as the Bell System, Dow Chemical, General Electric, and Navistar. The details of these programs vary, but, generally, they begin with an introduction to the firm, its products, and its basic marketing functions. In some companies, this involves some time spent in sales. After a good working knowledge of the firm has been developed, you are moved to a more specific area of marketing where you want to gain some experience. This could be one of the marketing support functions such as marketing research, distribution, planning, or product management. There is usually a good deal of freedom allowed in switching back and forth between these areas. Management keeps a close eye on your development and performance in each of these areas.

Firms with these types of programs give you heavy responsibility from the beginning because they are interested in making an effective manager out of you. Thus, the pressures can be great, and the opportunities for rapid advancement can be very attractive.

Sports Marketing

One of the fastest growing areas in the Marketing profession is found in sports marketing.  Opportunities in sports marketing can be found in corporations which are using sports as a marketing outlet for its products (sponsorships, advertising at sporting events, product placement), working for and marketing sports and sporting events (professional sports teams, college athletics, and even high school athletics), or in working with the governing bodies of various sports to promote the sport itself (PGA Tour, NBA, Southeastern Conference, NCAA, NASCAR).

While entry level salaries in sports marketing are typically lower than other areas of marketing because there are so many people wanting to enter the field, the perks of the job are frequently very strong.  Attending key sporting events, working with professional athletes, and simply being a part of a major sporting organization all create pretigious opportunities.

Sports marketing also provides numerous opportunities for flexibiity in a career.  A successful career in marketing a major league baseball team, for example, can lead to opportunities with teams in other professional sports, as the marketing of sports does not differ a lot based on the sport itself.  Sports marketing also creates numerous opportunities to interact with high level decision makers in other organizations, which can frequently lead to offers of employment within their firms.