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Internships in Marketing and Sales: Solving the “Experience Required” Problem
By Erika Edwards Decaster
erika.decaster@hqpublications.com
Business-Programs Columnist
Sales and Marketing Jobs: A Puzzling Problem
If you are considering pursuing a career in marketing and sales, or you are already in the process of applying for sales and marketing jobs, you may encounter a puzzling problem: Most sales and marketing jobs require that you have previous experience. But how can you get experience in marketing and sales if you can't get a job? It seems impossible!
Internships: Building Marketing and Sales Experience
So, how can you gain the experience necessary to be competitive for sales and marketing jobs? The answer is simple: earn a degree, and then find an internship. A marketing and sales company, or the marketing and sales department of an organization, takes you on as a temporary employee. The great thing is that they do not expect you to have previous experience, but many require a degree.
Once you begin your marketing and sales internship, the internship provider will pair you up with a sales and marketing professional, or team of professionals. You will learn the ropes from them and gain valuable experience in a real-world setting, as well as improve your marketing and sales techniques and skills.
Getting your foot in the door: Benefits of a Marketing and Sales Internship
Internships in marketing and sales will benefit both you and your internship provider. Most organizations view their interns as potential employees. So, if you perform well, you essentially have your foot in the door.
You may be hired as a permanent employee by your internship provider, or you may choose to look elsewhere – or even go on to complete an other internship.
Whatever you choose, you will have some solid experience to add to your resume and make you a more competitive applicant for those impossible "experience required" sales and marketing jobs. Now, all you need to think about is getting a sales or marketing degree.
About the Author
Erika Edwards Decaster has most recently worked as an internship coordinator for Brigham Young University. Her previous experience includes publishing, curriculum development, museum administration and as a teacher of English as a second language. She has also worked as a full-time humanitarian aid volunteer in Portugal and as an employment specialist in the Dominican Republic. |
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