Manassas Park Community Matters Blog Post - Choosing a Marketing Degree – By Jenn Deuterman

My  little sister is about to go to college to start her degree in Marketing. When trying to figure out what she wanted to do she came to me and asked me what I liked about what I did and how did I choose marketing as my degree. I first told her that it is so hard to figure out what you want to do for your career, especially being so young in college. People tend to just pick what sounds cool, or what they wanted to be when they were younger. You have to find out what your passion is. You can always change your mind too, which is fine, this is the time to do it.

I explained to her that when I first went to school I went to be a nurse. Growing up, I was always around my grandpa who was a double amputee. I wanted nothing more than to be a geriatric nurse. I loved helping people and making them feel better. After my first semester at Radford, my nursing classes were tough and my grades were suffering. I figured that maybe I wasn’t meant to have this degree and sat down to think of what other things that I liked to do. I love being creative. So teaching was my second option, then someone had mentioned media studies with a concentration in advertising. I thought to myself, “that sounds like it could be fun!” I could be creative all the time! So that is where I started my venture in marketing, and it was the best decision I ever made. I love what I do!

For those of you, like my sister who are taking marketing as your degree in college, you may be thinking to yourself, what can you do with a marketing degree?

Well, having marketing degree can give you the skills and knowledge necessary to be able to work in any industry that exists today. If you think about it. EVERYONE needs marketing. It is an important part of every business.  Advertising, market research, public relations, and more areas of business around all take the holders of marketing degrees.

With that being said, there are many jobs you can get with a marketing degree. Some people may enter their marketing degree through sales in some capacity.  Some other positions can be a marketing manager, product manager, sales manager, advertising manager, or public relations. There are so many options for marketing. Not sure of what these positions are and what they entail? Here are some definitions of the positions and how they work within a company:

Marketing Manager: This is what I do. This position for an individual who manages a number of other departments and has them working together in order to maximize profit by understanding the market demand and adjusting operations appropriately.

Product Manager: This job is something like a marketing manager, but a product manager is focused on one specific product, as opposed to a large-scale, widespread marketing strategy.

Sales Manager: This position is the supervisers for sales teams. Sales managers make sure that the territories are clearly split up among the sales team members, and makes sure that the members are fulfilling their quotas. Sales managers hire and train new sales team members, and manage incentives programs for the sales team.

Advertising Manager: This position is individuals who either apply their marketing knowledge to work in the field of account management, which is more business focused, or the creative side of advertising, where they create ads or ad campaigns.

Account Executive: This position is one that is held in an advertising agency. An Account Executive manages accounts (clients) within the agency. You prepare a budget for your client and make sure that all of their marketing needs are met. For entry level positions you may enter at a Junior Account Executive position, which is still a great position because you learn along with the Account Executive and shadow them.

Whatever position you choose in the marketing field, be prepared for it to be a fast paced job. Your days are never the same – which is nice! I have had the opportunity to work both agency side and client side, so I have experience as a Junior Account Executive, Account Executive, Senior Account Executive and now a Marketing Manager. If you, like my sister, have any questions about marketing degrees, please feel free to contact me! I will be more than happy to help you find your passion like I found mine!

Jenn

Jennifer Deuterman is the Marketing Manager for the Department of Parks and Recreation. She can be reached at 703.335.8872 x2143 or via email at j.deuterman@manassasparkva.gov