Definition of Marketing from the American Marketing Association:
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.
Definition of Sales from Jobs2U:
“Sales can be defined as ‘the holistic business system required to effectively develop, manage, enable, and execute a mutually beneficial, interpersonal exchange of goods and/or services for equitable value”
I have a degree in Broadcasting, and as much as I loved radio in college, I really loved the events I worked more. After working numerous events for Millersville, I realized that’s what I wanted to do. I didn’t just want to work them, I wanted to plan them. I wanted to execute and map out every single detail and make sure the event was a complete success.
I thought figuring out what I wanted to do with my life was the hardest part; that’s what everyone told me. I wish that advice was the truth. Finding an event/promotions position that isn’t direct sales seems to be impossible. The Internet has been helpful with all of the job sites that exist, but most of the jobs posted are misleading. A handful of jobs that I’ve applied for were sales jobs. This wouldn’t have been so frustrating if that’s what the job listings implied. Most of the “positions” that are posted don’t even exist. I’ve talked to other people that have been looking for marketing positions and they are struggling with the same thing. How do we fix this?
Spread the word. Tell people that are looking for marketing positions what phrases to avoid when looking for a job. If the description of the job discretely mentions the word sales, chances are it isn’t an actual marketing position.
The struggles of finding a job, in any field, are real. Yes, the unemployment rate has gone down, but that’s because all of these misleading jobs exist. It’s also good to note how many people work 40 hours a week but don’t have benefits because a company can get around calling them a full-time employee.
Finding a full-time job shouldn’t be easy. When people apply for positions they should really be able to sell themselves. However, that doesn’t mean it should be this impossible to find more than a few real marketing positions to even apply for.
Written
on December 14, 2012