Question

Topic: Career/Training

Homegrown Marketer Or Formal Education?

Posted by Anonymous on 3/28/2008 at 11:52 PM ET 250 Points
The company I'm with now, I started as a part-time curriculum and lesson plan writer for their community involvement project (the company is a private weather forecasting and technology firm). At the time, I was finishing a Bachelor's in Physical Education. Because of exceptionally poor teacher salaries, I accepted their offer to come on full time as an educational writer and general editor. I chose to continue my education in hopes that I could advance myself into a better gig, all the while taking on more work with my company. I've now completed a Master's in Industrial Technology, focusing on Graphic Communications, and am listed as Editor, Graphic Designer, and Assistant Marketing Director at my company.

Unfortunately, all of my "marketing" knowledge is coming through "home schooling" by myself. The company refuses to pay for training or formal education (they paid for two other peoples' education and then the employees left to higher paying jobs upon graduation). I cannot afford to take any more student loans, I'm married and have a daughter.

What suggestions would anyone have for the homegrown marketer? Or, is formal education the only way to advance in this arena? For what it's worth, I think I'm managed to read about a quarter of the content on this site (premium member), I'm a registered member of the AMA, and I try to take in as much info from anywhere I can... Any help or ideas?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 3/29/2008 at 8:34 AM Accepted
    If you want to learn more formally, audit classes at your local college. Some universities make their class notes available for free download, etc.

    However, if you're really aiming at a degree, then consider what an interviewer cares about: results, skills, and personality. Given a choice to hire a new grad or someone experienced, I would choose the experienced person (all other things being equal). Most companies will have a "this is the way we do things around here" internal learning process anyways. Continue to grow your skills on-the-job, and you'll be a highly valuable potential hire in the future.
  • Posted on 3/29/2008 at 5:35 PM Accepted
    Perhaps the one thing you can do to maximize your value as a marketer is understand business (generally) and how all the components fit together. Too many marketers are so into marketing that they forget how it relates to product development, manufacturing, operations, finance, etc.

    That is one reason that a lot of companies look for an MBA before they hire a marketing person. It's not because the MBA teaches them marketing. It's because it at least suggests they understand business.

    If you've been around the track enough times and have a reasonable grounding in both marketing and business, you probably don't need another degree. But you will have to demonstrate that you have a strong track record of performance and understanding in the absence of the degree.

    Don't forget, too, that the marketing mix includes things like Product and Pricing. A lot of marketers stop at Promotion and Place, and forget the other aspects. What many companies want is a well-rounded marketer who will fit in with their current culture.
  • Posted on 4/2/2008 at 3:11 AM Author
    Some great things so far, and I'd just like to say thank you.

    Also, any suggestions on how to approach potentially other companies for hiring on in a marketing capacity? Almost everyone I look into requires that piece of paper...
  • Posted on 4/5/2008 at 9:52 AM Author
    I'd like to thank everyone that provided some feedback and advice. It's a rather tenuous thing, the experience/education mix that seems to be required for employers now days, and perhaps I'm living in an overly conservative and non-risk taking section of the United States as they seem to have a horrible time hiring someone that doesn't have the "appropriate" degree to support their employment position.

    Juliet, thank you very much for your comments, but most especially about the Charter Teacher information. I had never even contemplated the idea of teaching oversees in a European location. I had looked at going to Korea, Taiwan, and Japan to teach ESL before.

    Karen, the idea of not listing the degree emphasis had never occurred to me before. I figured employers wanted every bit of information they could get about you to make their decisions, so I didn't dare leave anything off. I am making some changes to my resume and getting ready to go after some other job options later today.

    Again, thank you, all!
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