What career paths are out there and how can you build work experience for a career in Marketing and Communications? In part 2 of the blog series, our Employer Engagement Advisor Kalina Zlatkova brings industry insights to students and grads interested in a career in this diverse and exciting sector.
Marketing and Comms is a rising job category
In LinkedIn’s latest analysis of rising job categories in the UK (based on growth and size of demand), digital marketing, digital content and social media marketing have been placed among the top 15 of 2021. Ranking below e-commerce and healthcare support staff, digital content freelancing came in at number 3, growing 118% in 2020 due to the number of UK workers turning to freelancing throughout the coronavirus outbreak. This includes skills such as podcasting, blogging and video editing, with the most common job title being Content Co-ordinator. Meanwhile, social media and digital marketing were placed at number nine in the list, in the wake of an increase in online usage by consumers.
What are these jobs all about?
Elements of marketing, advertising and communications exist in most businesses and across all sectors. Employees help clients to connect with their audiences, promoting brands, products and sending messages using a range of techniques. The industry is broadly divided into those who work in-house for an organisation and those who work for an agency.
Although traditional roles in Account or Brand Management, Customer Support, Copywriting, Media Planning, Market Research as well as Communications and Public Relations will still be sought after, there will also be a further rise in roles within digital platforms and data: roles for these include Content Marketing, Data Analytics, Mobile Marketing, SEM, SEO & PPC, Social Media Management and Web Design and Development – and even more so, roles that are different combination hybrids of the above.
King’s students are invited to attend our exciting virtual career festival, the Graduate Jobs Festival, between 15 – 26 February. Encompassing a range of career options, you’ll be able to take part in engaging virtual activities, interact with industry professionals and learn what knowledge, attributes, skills and experiences you want to develop to build success in your career journey.
Seeking for graduate opportunities?
Many employers like Diageo, EE, LEGO, Pepsi, GSK, L’Oréal, Morrisons, Lidl, Nestlé, P&G, Sky and Unilever offer graduate-level opportunities. Other organisations, including charities, may have vacancies that aren’t specifically targeted at graduates, but which are still entry-level and require no previous experience. Additionally, many well-known digital marketing, advertising and communications agencies like AMV BBDO, Saatchi & Saatchi, LEWIS, APCO, VCCP, the Brunswick Group, Wasserman, W2O can offer short term internships and/or work experience opportunities for students and graduates.
Besides looking on King’s CareerConnect or other recruitment platforms, creating and maintaining a profile on LinkedIn is another way to find employers and potential work. Many companies and agencies advertise graduate opportunities on social media, through their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram profiles directly and do not advertise anywhere else. Building up a network of contacts is also important, as smaller businesses may use informal recruitment practices to find candidates.
What skills are related to roles in Marketing & Comms?
When selecting the ideal candidate for a marketing or communications role, recruiters and employers will often look for skills such as the ones below.
- A good understanding of digital marketing techniques
- Analytical and numerical skills
- Diagonal thinking
- Commercial awareness and understanding of both virtual and physical market channels
- A good understanding of the latest online tech trends and device innovation
- Knowledge of social media platforms
- Communication, interpersonal and teamworking skills
- Innovation, initiative, and imagination
- Customer service skills
- Flexibility, adaptability, and inquisitiveness
- Negotiation and Organizational skills
- The ability to motivate oneself and others
- The ability to work under pressure
- The confidence to pitch, present and justify ideas
- Creative Soft & Tech-Skills
Top tips to building experience for a marketing career
If you can’t find any traditional marketing internships, placement or volunteering opportunities, don’t worry – there are still many ways to improve your prospects:
- Update your Social Media presence and start building your Personal Brand across all channels relevant to the organizations you’d like to work with after you’ve done your research and have obtained a good understanding of their chosen platforms and those used in the industry.
- If you’re specifically looking to get a career in Media, you’ll need to demonstrate strong visual communication skills, ideally through a digital platform – such as Behance or Weebly, to showcase your Online Portfolio.
- If you’re a budding content creator or editor, Blogging is an effective way to work on your tone of voice, writing style and redacting skills. To monitor your performance, you could look into SEO and Google Analytics, to discover what your audience is searching for and how to make sure your posts are being seen.
- With a Vlog, your viewers are seeking more condensed, vibrant content, as opposed to blog readers whose priority is informative, good-quality writing. By starting out as a vlogger, you’ll sharpen your video editing and public speaking skills, while demonstrating your ability to identify what your viewers are looking for and present it in the most engaging way.
- Creating a Showreel of your content in line with agency campaigns should effectively highlight your best work in around 2 minutes. You’ll need to grab the viewer’s attention from the outset and keep it entertaining, fast-paced and engaging. Don’t repeat any clips and try to create a compelling opening scene.
We encourage anyone with any questions or comments about this blog content to add it to the Graduate Jobs Festival’s Padlet, at the bottom of the festival KEATS page.
