Graduate Marketing Jobs

Many graduates look to the rather broad field of marketing once they finish with University and despite the number of jobs that seem to come up, it can be quite competitive to find a foothold in it. There are many different kinds of marketing, both online and offline and an equally diverse set of skills needed in order to find suitable and gainful employment. 

Tips for Getting a Graduate Marketing Job

As this is something that can be quite difficult to achieve while you have little real-world experience, we have put together a list of tips that can help you to get your foot in the door and win your first graduate marketing job.

Maximise the Impact of your CV 

It is important to understand how best to present your CV to potential employers and we have put together a guide with the best hints and tips to assist you in navigating this process. It is important that you keep your CV as brief and to the point as possible and ensure that it has been specially tailored to what the position you are applying for is looking for. 

We are not suggesting for a moment that you should lie on your CV but take the time to think about which of your qualities you should be highlighting to match the expectations of each employer that you apply to. How well does what you say fit with the perceived ethos of the company? Do some research and try to figure out how to make the best impression. 

You should also keep your CV up to date as there is nothing worse than having to update a very out of date CV as you may as well be starting from scratch if a lot of your most recent experience and demonstrable skills aren’t yet included. 

Write a Stand-Out Cover Letter

While a CV can be an important tool to let an employer know about your skills, a covering letter can give a better flavour of your own personality. Make sure that you give yourself the best chance to use this to gain an advantage by following our series of cover letter writing tips. 

Nobody will get a cover letter right the first time so it is worth going back to and refining every time you apply for a new job. While it isn’t much fun at the time, this will be a learning experience, helping you to understand how to write with a particular company in mind. Becoming well-practised in writing cover letters will stand you in good stead moving forward. 

Consider Freelance Work to Gain Experience

If you feel that you are struggling to find work in marketing after graduation and you believe it is down to not having enough experience in your chosen field, it is possible to develop both your skills and your contacts by freelancing for a while. This will allow you to establish your reputation and gain some money from your work while you look for something more permanent. 

There are many freelancer websites such as People Per Hour and Upwork which can act as the “matchmaker” between you and prospective clients. Be aware that they both take a fee but this subsides as you do more work regularly with the same clients. 

Try not to sell yourself too short even though you are new as your work has value and it can be easy to get caught in a race to the bottom in terms of price if you are not very careful. Once you have accepted a few jobs at a lower price, it can be hard to begin to raise your prices again and there is always the fear that if you do, you may not secure as much work. 

Make the most of the contacts that you make from freelance work and be sure to add them to your LinkedIn profile so that you can keep in contact should they need more work from you in the future. You can also ask them to give a recommendation on your profile or even a reference to use when applying for permanent work. 

Attend Jobs Fairs

Many universities and colleges run careers fairs for their students and graduates and these are excellent places to meet representatives from marketing companies that you may want to work with. Take the time to attend and make connections with the companies that interest you. Be sure to swap contact details with the senior people who are at the fair and show genuine curiosity in their business and the opportunities that they have that are open for graduates. We have a guide on how to be successful at careers fairs. 

Take your time at the careers fair and take a slow walk around the room, taking everything in and settling your nerves before taking the plunge and talking to anyone. It can be daunting at first but nobody is there to trip you up or to ask you difficult questions. They are looking for keenly interested and talented people in their field and they will be aware that some of the most talented graduates don’t necessarily correlate to those with the best people skills. 

Above all, be yourself and show curiosity about their company. Every company wants to be able to tell the graduates at careers fairs what they do, and this can be a way to make some good contacts as well as a good impression. They may not be able to offer you something in the short-term but keep in touch with them afterward, connect with them on LinkedIn etc and it is entirely possible that the connection will pay off in the end. 

Next Steps

The Institute of Student Employers notes in a report that there are over 20% more graduate job vacancies across the board now than there were in 2019 before the start of the pandemic. This is bound to increase your chances of securing one of them, so it seems to be a relatively good time to be a graduate in search of a job. Take a look at our graduate jobs portal and find out if there is anything there that is suitable for your skillset. Feel free to contact us and ask us any questions that you may have or to join the Developing a Student newsletter.