Part 2 of 2
Choose your first marketing & communications job wisely
In part two of this series, we will discuss about the various entry level jobs available for marketing & mass communications graduates, the job functions, challenges and traits required for each position. In part one, we discussed about how we should prepare ourselves for our first job. Once we have a clear direction and strategy in place, it is time to study and evaluate the various types of position that are more suitable for you.
These are 10 positions available in the market for fresh marketing and mass communications graduates to consider:
Marketing Executive.
This is a typical position for business and marketing graduates. You will be part of the marketing arm of an organization, whether MNC or SME, and will be in charge of planning and executing marketing activities. Depending on the trade, the marketing activities will vary. Fashion marketing is done very differently as compared to consumer electronics marketing. By and large, there are two types of marketing positions – marketing & marketing communications. In marketing, you look at the entire process and explore pricing, distribution, products and promotional issues. In Marcom, the scope is mainly on utilizing the A&P budget and how to more effectively plan an integrated marketing communications plan for the services or products for your company.
You need to be creative, resourceful and be able to handle stress. Most marketing people are extremely outgoing and able to relate very well with people. You need to have strong communications and presentation skills as well.
Account Servicing Executive
Do not misunderstand the term account servicing with accounting. In the advertising world, account servicing, a.k.a suits, are people who manage client’s advertising portfolio. They are people who bring in the bread & butter for their advertising agencies. Account Servicing executive look into client’s advertising needs and work with creative team to develop the creative concepts, strategy and plan. The executive is also required to work closely with media planners, buyers, traffic executive in the course of his/her work.
This position is a stressful one as it is extremely fast paced and demanding. However, ff you enjoy a less bureaucratic environment, agency life could be fun & enlightening as you are surrounded by people who are creative, light minded and free spirited. In advertising, you need to have good PR skills when it comes to managing the expectations of your clients, creative team and also suppliers.
Public Relations Executive
As a public relations executive, the buzzword is publicity, publicity, publicity. On the broader level, you look at public relations initiatives to build corporate reputation, employee relations, government relations, crisis communications and media relations, etc. If you apply for a position in a public relations agency, you will be exposed to different industries and the plus is that it forces you to be a broad based PR practitioner as you learn about the multi-faceted issues faced by different industries. Your exposure will increase since you are on the ground working with stakeholders like media, government, NGOs, corporations etc.
Some companies hire in-house PR executives to manage their public relations activities. However do clarify with the HR representative about the roles expected of you. Your expectations might not be met if all the company wants from you is to maintain the company’s corporate website and newsletter.
As a PR executive, you’ll be expected to find platforms to get publicity for your company. The publicity tools are largely press releases, media kits, corporate video, website, newsletter, etc. In addition, you’ll need to have a flair for writing and a nose for the news.
Journalist
As a mass communications graduate, working in the media will be an exciting and challenging task. As a journalist, you will be expected to meet deadlines and to cover news assigned by the news editor. A good journalist needs to be objective, conscientious, resourceful yet critical in his or her work. There are many types of journalists – print, broadcast, internet, radio – all of which have different work demands and newsroom style. If you are keen to take on this career, you need to have a thorough understanding of current affairs and news. Other traits include a nose and eye for a story, legal knowledge, an aspiration to accuracy, impartiality and the passion to always search for the truth.
Assistant /Producer
In the entertainment world, the work of the producer is always a challenging one. The primary role of a television producer is to control all aspects of production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking. It is often the producer who is responsible for the show's overall quality and survivability, though the roles depend on the particular show or organization.
For a start, fresh graduates will always take on the assistant producer role. The learning curve is steep if you are suddenly thrown into the dead sea and expected to perform. The entertainment industry moves in very fast pace and desired traits of an effective producer include time and resources management skills and the ability to work with multiple stakeholders.
Event Executive
As an event executive, you will help your clients plan for their company’s events. Depending on the type of event company you joined, the events could vary from company’s dinner and dance, family day to high level events like forums, exhibitions, road shows.
As an event person, you need to be able to work with partners like performers, lighting and sound people, advertising agencies, contractors, etc. Your basic task is to ensure that the event is running well and minimize hiccups as much as possible. Multi-tasking is hence a desired trait since you might need to be at several locations making sure things fall in place and are well executed.
Customer Support Executive
As the name implies, customer service staff are supposed to provide front-line customer support particularly on feedback and complaints received. Different companies have different customer service quality standards and processes to follow. By and large, as a customer service support executive, you will need to follow a standard operating procedure on how customers’ feedback and complaints are channeled, resolved and taken into consideration for further improvement.
As a customer service person, the mantra adopted should be ‘Customers is always king’ and more often than not, this is an area that is most disputed and discussed upon.
Market Research Executive
Market Research executives collect, analyse, interpret and present information in order to explore the potential market for a product or service. This may involve organizing surveys or opinion polls, analyzing statistics and/or negotiating with clients. Typical research on behalf of a company manufacturing consumer goods might include assessing national purchasing trends, the performance of major competitors or the effectiveness of current advertising methods.
As a market research executive, you'll need excellent organisational skills in order to budget, plan, research, analyse and interpret market research information. You should be resilient, self-motivated, and prepared to liaise with others in the decision making process. Strong report writing and presentation skills are desirable, as you will be presenting the findings to both managers and clients.
Social Media expert
This industry is still new and grounds are not entirely tested and ventured. There is however a few social media companies that provide internet related services to help clients better manage their online marketing strategies. Search engine marketing, search engine optimization, google marketing, facebook and twitter marketing are new areas used by corporations to market their services and products. If you have a strong interest in social media, joining a young start up social media company will be a wise and refreshing choice.
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is a person who has possession of a new enterprise, venture or idea and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome. If you are prepared to take risk, start your own business, perhaps providing marketing related services to professionals in this industry. The risk is high, but what you will learn is a never say die attitude, the passion for work and values of perseverance and determination.
Article by Dennis Toh, a publicist with Flaunt PR & Communications, a public relations agency that provides communication services to help business owners boost their sales, create public awareness and build credibility with media publicity.
Dennis Toh is also a full time lecturer.
For details, email FlauntPRdennis@gmail.com
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