Marketing Career Brief
- Overview
- Degree Requirements
- Other Preparation
- Career Opportunities
- Salaries
- Recruitment Opportunities
- For More Information
Overview
Marketing is a set of interacting business activities designed to plan, price, promote, and distribute goods and services. The American Marketing Association defines marketing as "the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives." Students in marketing explore buyer behavior; marketing research; market segmentation; the development of products and services; pricing strategies; distribution systems; advertising and promotion; and the creation of strategies to meet consumer needs and organizational goals.
For more information, view Department of Marketing website.
Degree Requirements
Includes foundation courses required for Professional Admission*, general education requirements, professional core courses, free electives, and a set of specific marketing courses.
Sample marketing courses:
- Marketing Research
- Buyer Behavior
- Advertising & Promotion
- Services Marketing
- Management of Sales Operations
- Management of Distribution Systems
- International Marketing
- Product Management
- Retail Management
- Marketing Policies and Operations
*Students must achieve Professional Admission (a competitive and selective application process) to move from the pre-professional phase to the professional phase.
**Check the Degree/Academic Progress Report (APRR's) for your specific academic program requirements per your catalog at http://catalog.arizona.edu.
Other Preparation
To develop skills and gain work experience, these activities are recommended:
Work Experience and Internships
Part-time and summer jobs and internships can provide valuable work experience and training that employers and graduate schools will value. Academic credit is not required to receive an internship nor do internship credits count toward major electives.
Clubs and Organizations
The college has a wide variety of professional fraternities, honoraries and student clubs. Student organizations offer: career information; networking opportunities with alumni and corporate representatives; social activities with fellow marketing students, and leadership and skill building opportunities.
Student organizations for Marketing majors include:
- The American Marketing Association (AMA) one of the largest professional business organizations on the UA campus
- The University of Arizona Advertising Federation
- The Sports Marketing Association
- Students Consulting for Non-Profit Organizations
Visit the FESO - Federation of Eller Student Organizations website for more information.
Career Opportunities
Career choices in marketing are many and varied, since virtually every type of enterprise or organization interacts with customers or constituents. Both businesses and nonprofit organizations employ marketing graduates in activities such as:
- Product (goods and services) and brand management
- Marketing research
- Public relations
- Retail management
- Merchandising
- Advertising and promotion
- Sales and sales management
- International marketing
- Distribution and logistics
- Customer service
Types of Employers
Potential employers include all types of businesses and nonprofit organizations (including educational institutions and government). Examples include:
- Advertising/public relations firms
- Consulting firms
- Market research firms
- Consumer product manufacturers
- Health-care organizations
- Equipment manufacturers
- Pharmaceutical/chemical companies
- Retailers and wholesalers
- Financial services - banks, investments, insurance
- Ttravel/transportation services
- Exporters and importers
- Colleges and universities
- Media and publications
Salaries
Starting Salaries vary by size and type of employer, location, and experience. In addition, marketing positions often include bonuses and commissions.
- UA graduate average offer: $41,000 (UA Career Services 2008).
- National average salary offer: $43,334 (NACE Salary Survey/Fall 2008)
Recruitment Opportunities
Marketing graduates obtain jobs through various avenues, leading to placements with a wide range of firms and organizations.
Recruitment opportunities include the annual "Career Days", sponsored each fall by UA Career Services. And the spring "Career Showcase" coordinated by Eller College Student Council and Delta Sigma Pi.
Click here to view curernt business economic related internships and jobs!
A sample of employers that recruited Eller College Marketing majors for both placement and career-related experience in the 2007-2008 school year through the Career Services office:
| A T & T ABF Freight Systems Accenture Acxiom Inc. AdvancePCS AMS (American Management Systems) Asarco Balboa Capital Bank One Corporation Black & Decker Boston Beer Company Cap Gemini Ernst & Young US LLC CED (Consolidated Electrical Distributors) Cigna Healthcare Cintas Corporation Consolidated Graphics Deloitte & Touche DMA (DuCharme, McMillen & Associates) Eaton/Cutler-Hammer Electronic Warfare Associates Enterprise Rent-A-Car Evergreen Devco Inc. FactSet Research Systems FDIC (Federal Depository Insurance Corp.) Federal Express Corp. Ferguson Enterprises Gap, Inc. General Electric General Mills Golden Eagle Distrutors Haas Publishing Hormel Foods Corporation Humanscale IBM Corporation Intel Corporation JCPenney John Deere John Hancock Financial Services Jules & Associates KMart Corporation Los Alamos National Laboratory |
Macy's West March of Dimes Marketing Intelligence Mervyn's California Mutual of Omaha National Bank of Arizona NCS Learn Center NDC Research & Consulting Neiman Marcus New England Financial New Times Publications Newell/Rubbermaid Nordstrom North Star Resource Group OLDE Discount Corp. Onsite Companies Osco Drugs/Sav-On Drugs/Albertsons Pacific Atlantic Systems Leasing Pacific Gold Beef Jerky Perrier Group of America Philip Morris USA Phoenix Home Life Power Mail Qwest Rainbird Raytheon Company Robinsons-May Sherwin Williams Solomon, Smith & Barney Spartacom Technologies Inc. Square D Company Stryker Endoscopy Target Stores Teksystems Toys R Us Trane Company Tucker Alan Inc. UNUM USG Corporation Walgreens Wallace WalMart Xerox Corporation |
For More Information
- Undergraduate Programs Office
Eller College of Management
McClelland Hall 204
P. O. Box 210108
Tucson, AZ 85721-0108
520-621-2505
http://ugrad.eller.arizona.edu/
- UA Career Services
Student Union, Suite 411
520-621-2588
www.career.arizona.edu
- Department of Marketing
Eller College of Management
McClelland Hall 320
520-621-7479
http://marketing.eller.arizona.edu
- Major and Career Advisor
Stefanie Goldman
schristopher@eller.arizona.edu
Professional Associations
- Advertising Council - Distributes and promotes public service campaigns on behalf of non-profit organizations and government agencies.
- American Management Association– Provides management development and educational services regarding business know-how and insight.
- American Marketing Association– Student chapter on campus, includes articles, industry and company reports, career information, best practices, salary survey information and free webcasts.
- Direct Marketing Association– Information by industry, on-line library, and ethics about direct marketing.
- International Advertising Association– Inclusive of all the disciplines of brand building, such as advertising, media, direct marketing, etc.
- Marketing Research Association– Expanding marketing research and business-related skills for professionals of the opinion and market research industry.
- National Association of Sales Professionals – Professional sales certification available.
- Pi Sigma Epsilon – National Professional Fraternity in Marketing, Sales Management and Selling.
- Public Relations Society of America– Largest professional organization for public relations practitioners.
- Sales and Marketing Executives International – Marketing library, certification information, and resources for Marketing and Sales Management.
Print and Online Publications
Career Websites
- www.workinsports.com
- www.sportscareers.com
- www.appareljobboard.com
- www.salesjobs.com
- www.nationjob.com
- www.marketingjobs.com
- www.fabjob.com
- www.online-pr.com/prjobs.htm
- www.knowthis.com
For additional information, please contact us.
