Learn the steps marketing students can take now to build experience, create a portfolio and stand out in the job market.
Getting ahead in marketing starts before graduation. Students who choose a focus area, build a portfolio, and develop a personal brand leave school with real experience and a clearer sense of where they're headed. At ODUGlobal, online students can start building a competitive advantage in the job market right away.
Is a Marketing Degree Worth It?
A degree helps you increase your earning potential, build specialized skills with real-world projects and prepare for a field that continues to evolve alongside technology and trends. Marketing is an area of study that blends creativity and technical skills to meet the demands of a digital-first marketing environment.
If you’re thinking about completing your bachelor’s degree in marketing, here are some early steps you can take as a student to jumpstart your career.
- Use your time as a student to explore areas that interest you.
Several career paths are available to you in the field of marketing, ranging from technical roles to creative positions. Start thinking about how your passions intersect with marketing and create a strategic plan to move toward your goals. Take time to research your options and listen to active professionals talk about their work. When you uncover your interests, you’ll be able to tailor your elective courses to help you build specialized knowledge and skills for those roles.
Some specific marketing areas to consider are:
- Advertising
- Brand management
- Strategic communication
- Digital marketing
- Market research
- Product marketing
- Public relations
- Build a portfolio through your projects and assignments.
Practical courses and hands-on projects give you the chance to experiment with different marketing jobs. You can also think about coursework as an opportunity to practice valuable skills that you can demonstrate through a portfolio of completed work. Many marketing professionals keep their portfolio online and updated regularly with their most recent work, whether it’s copywriting, graphic design, ad campaigns or another area of marketing. This collection of work can be a powerful tool to help your application rise to the top in the job market.
At ODU, you can also earn graduate credits while you complete your bachelor’s in marketing. Check out the MBA Early Entry program or MPA Early Start program for details.
- Stay connected to changes and trends in marketing technology.
Marketing is changing as fast as consumers and technology are. Job applicants need to demonstrate they’re aware of how marketing is changing and how they plan to be a part of the change. Connect to a professional marketing organization or news source that can help you stay on top of how the marketing industry is evolving. Many organizations offer webinars, training sessions, articles and even conferences where you can learn and network with other professionals.
- Start applying what you learn right away, even if you’re not currently working in a marketing role.
As a marketing student at ODUGlobal, you’ll learn about consumer behavior, marketing research, policy, strategy and multi-national marketing in your core marketing courses. You’ll also have core courses in business administration that will provide a foundation in topics like accounting, analytics, financial management, legal issues, operations management and more. Students graduate with well-rounded knowledge in business administration while focusing on marketing.
Even if you’re not in a marketing role while you complete your degree, you can start applying what you learn to your current job, especially if you’re earning your degree online. This could include:
- Building stories around important data through descriptive analytics
- Offering solutions for operational issues
- Implementing planning, organizing and leadership strategies
- Researching and understanding consumer behavior related to your employer
- Improving communication with stakeholders
- Familiarizing yourself with different industry tools and applications
- Begin with your personal brand.
Take time to curate an online presence and a portfolio of materials that reflects what you uniquely bring to a role. You can showcase many of your new marketing skills in the materials you create for a job application. Marketing yourself as a candidate is a great way to start!
Earning Your Marketing Degree Online
ODU’s online Bachelor of Science in Business Administration through ODUGlobal offers a marketing major designed to prepare you for tomorrow’s dynamic marketing environment. Most courses in the online program following an accelerated eight-week format that fit your schedule—no need to pause your life or work. Whether you’re just getting started or transferring credits you’ve already earned, you can find support and options that meet you where you are at ODUGlobal.
