Advice for Graduate

Muzzy

I'm just looking for a few tips/advice/pointers/whatever

I have finished a BBS Marketing Degree in Galway and I achieved a 1.1 and I am now in entering the "Real World"

Problem is, can't find a job........., well in Galway anyway(kinda knew that wouldn't happen) so I have expanded my search to Dublin & Limereck.

Any advice for a Marketing graduate for getting a job? What did ye do, where did ye look etc.

stepbar

What graduate schemes have you applied to so far / or did you apply to in your last year of college?

You might want to consider doing a masters, just a thought generally you are more employable when you have one. I finished my IT degree in May 05, back then there was no suitable jobs except crappy tech support ones :mad: Went back to DIT and done a master in stategic management, now have a job with Bank of Ireland (Business banking grad scheme).

How does your CV look? have you much extra curricular activities on it? Cause they do make the difference. How good are you are writing up Cover Letters? My point here is that is could be something to do with your CV as opposed to the qualifications you have, high marks aint the be all and end all. That could be why your not having luck on the jobs front so far.

Sonnenblumen

Hi Muzzy,
congrats on the good results, must be a bit of a bummer not finding suitable employment. But you know, marketing begins on your own doorstep, keep trying and avoid the silly traps unless its life and death stuff.

If you have the resources, a Masters is good addition to CV and will broaden your appeal to potential employers.

Have you tried enquiring via IBEC/ISME or the local CEBs?


Good Luck

tickledpinkfair

i was in the same boat as you for months. It is a hard industry to break into and I dont have my masters i decided i will do that after a while in the real world.

Anyway some words of advice, be careful when applying for marketing jobs, there are some companies out there that say their marketing but in reality u end up walking the streets with a suitcase trying to flog merchandise, research every company, dont waste your time with these i know from experience.

for the moment try getting temp work if you have no real office / admin jobs on your cv, to show you can work in a professional environment.

make sure your cover letter is enthusiastic and try be different so many out there with the same qualifications.

Why dont you just send your cv to all the big companies in Galway. i lucky found somehting in the advertiser its a start up and a lot of work but it'll look good on my cv in future.

I know its tough but hang in there you will eventually get a break and keep tryin the local newspapers as well.

and no offence guys but a masters isnt the key a friend of mine has done hers n has been unemployed longer than i was, its a lot to do with your personality as well as your qualifications. Employers need to know that you will settle in their company, contribute to it and also be happy in it

growler

It's a tough one, there are a lot of candidates out there for every marketig role advertised and a degree alone isn't going to be the deciding factor for an employer.

Finding a role in Ireland is that much harder as there are a lot fewer marketing roles (which is why I fecked off to london years ago).

The key differentiators will be:
your CV and cover letter, have them looked at by someone in a real world marketing role for pointers. Cover letters are important but not as much as a CV, I find people applying for marketing roles end up spouting too much verbose BS in an effort to impress. Rewrite your cover letter and CV for every role you apply for, keep your cover letter short and to the point, make sure that you "tick all the boxes" that the job description listed, even if you have to make it up, the objective is to get to interview stage. Personally, when reviewing CV's I couldn't care less about hobbies, interests etc. but if there is some achievement that might highlight your intellectual ability / commercial awareness etc. then highlight it in the cover letter. Don't be afraid to go wild with your cover letter, again the objective is to stand out and get noticed, the usual blah blah team work blah hard working blah blah enthusiastic stuff doesn't get noticed in a crowded market. Hell, i've had CV's delivered by DHL in a box, large red envelopes etc.

Experience: this will be the main factor, hopefully you will have done some relevant work experience during your degree. If you don't have any you do have a problem. A friend of mine had a similar problem recently so he targetted a few compnaies that he really wanted to work for, found out the marketing director name, called him up and offered to work for 2 month free of charge with a view to (a) getting the experience and (b) being hired at the end of it. There isn't a marketing dept. in the world that doesn't need some help, it's worth a shot if you can afford it. Maybe look at advertising agencies where you might get exposed to more clients / channels / media.

Again, I'm not bothered about the Masters, i'd prefer real world experience over academic achievement any day, if there are practical courses that you can do on things like internet marketing I would suggest they will servie you better in getting your first job. Save the masters for when you're in your 40's.

leftofcentre

My advice is to buy a load of marketing books of amazon. Read them, then set yourself up as a marketing consultant.

Thats what i done, worked for me

To be fair, that was back in the dot com days when anything went.

Experience is overrated, get your own experience. Work for small companies, and build things up gradually.

Or if you are the type that wants the security of a job, your only option is to go to Dublin.

I would consider moving to london or some other city, see the world

antoinolachtnai

You should definitely do some marketing! Even if you don't get paid for it. For example, you could do some work for someone like Digital Rights Ireland (http://digitalrights.ie/).

Also, you should consider the possibility that you don't do a good interview. Don't feel bad about it. One of the best employees I ever recruited, who had a fabulous academic record did possibly the worst interview I have ever seen.

Think about it anyway.

growler

leftofcentre wrote:

My advice is to buy a load of marketing books of amazon. Read them, then set yourself up as a marketing consultant.

Thats what i done, worked for me

and from your own website:

"Effective business consultancy is best given by someone that has been through it and not someone that’s just read the book."

sorry, couldn't resist.

leftofcentre

growler wrote:

and from your own website:

"Effective business consultancy is best given by someone that has been through it and not someone that’s just read the book."

sorry, couldn't resist.

True, but I was talking about when i started 7 years ago.

Since then I have done dozens of ad campaigns.

My point was people get to hung up on experience, what you really need is confidence and the ability to sound like you have a clue what your own about.

You make your own luck in life, just get out there and grab it.

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