“More than ever before, skills drive our economies and they transform people’s lives, but more education doesn’t automatically translate into better skills and better lives.” – Andreas Schleicher (Deputy Director for Education at the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development)
If you ask most young Marketing professionals whether the work they did at university is at all relatable to the work they currently do in the office on a day-to-day basis, they will probably tell you that it vastly differs.
This is because most young Marketing professionals come from an academic background where the work they did at university was largely based on theoretical work and not on practical demonstration. Degrees generally receive more praise than diplomas in the business world, but they lack greatly in terms of applied skills. Degrees lay the foundation for long-term success, but they do not prepare young Marketing professionals for the practical work that they require in order to perform their duties.
This subsequently leads to the common place of on-the-job-training. However, since employers do not want to spend all their time training new staff, they are more likely to hire employees who have acquired experience already. This unfortunately means that graduates who lack experience are left to their own device in terms of gaining a skill-set that is needed for Marketing.
But how do you acquire skills without a job?
The internet. Do as much research on Marketing as you can! Think of it as the more research you do, the more attractive you become to your prospective employers. You can pretty much teach yourself ANYTHING with the help of online tutorials. Although, there are probably a few careers that you might want to stay away from, in terms of self-study such as… brain surgery, perhaps.
Computer languages you should know as a Marketer:
- HTML – Hypertext Markup Language (Programming language which defines the structure and layout of a web document by using a variety of tags and attributes.)
- CSS – Cascade Style Sheets (Style sheets define how different elements, such as headers and links, appear in a website. )
Both of the above languages are great for web design and coding newsletters. If you know the basics your Marketing world will become a whole lot bigger!
Software you should be familiar with as a Marketer:
- Photoshop – Photo editing software
- InDesign – Layout and design software
- Dreamweaver – HTML and CSS software (code and design)
- WordPress – Content Management System
Websites you might find helpful:
It might seem like a lot to learn at first, but once you get started, you will catch on quickly and you will hopefully want to learn even more. A good starting point is to check out current jobs available in Marketing and see what skills they require you to have, then go out and launch your Marketing career!
