Marketing Overview & Recruiting Ramp-Up

Branding

Marketers identify consumer demand, create, deliver and

communicate value, lifestyle or experience to customers, and

manage customer relationships. Think through the 4 Ps.

Price• Competitive strategy

• Profitability

Place• Distribution strategy

Product• Development

• Package design

• Differentiation

Promotion• Public relations

• Advertising

• After sales service

Overview

4 Ps

Overview | Put Simply

• Marketing is where the action is

• Marketing is actively promoting a product or service. It’s a

push tactic – “buy our product because it’s better than

theirs” (or cooler, or because this celebrity likes it, etc.)

• Marketing unearths and activates buyers. Branding makes

loyal customers, advocates out of those who buy.

Marketing Jobs

• Marketing Director: top gun. look after the company’s image,

brand and also its standing within the market place.

• Brand Manager: the quarterback. Work with people in

marketing, advertising, research to make sure your brand stays

consistent to true to itself.

• Marketing Manager or Assistant Brand Manager: match the

company’s business needs with customer needs in the most

profitable way.

Helpful analogy: brands are like businesses within the company, and brand

managers are essentially small business owners.

Marketing Jobs

• Direct Marketing: be promoting products, services and brands

to increase sales. Constantly have to find new ways to reach your

target audience.

• Market Research: collect and analyze trends and patterns for

producers to make projections.

• Communications: ensure that the message is seen and heard by

the target audience.

Entry Level Marketing Jobs

Entry level positions can be called:

• Marketing Executive

• Product Manager

• Marketing Analyst

• Marketing Specialist

• Market Researcher

• Marketing Coordinator

Recruiting Process

Info SessionsInformational

Interviews

Resumes and application process

Interviews

Company Examples

Brand Management

• CPG

• Hospitality

• Food & Beverage

• Beauty

• Financial Services

• Consulting

• Retail

Data Analytics

• Leo Burnett

• Ogilvy

• Nielsen

• Digitas

• Straight North

• ClickX

• Prophet

• Dunnhumby

Communications

• Abelson Taylor

• FCB

• Edelman

• Starcom

• 3rd Coast PR

• Weber Shandwick

• Arc Worldwide

The Recruiting Process

Preparation

Exploration

Networking

Application Materials

Cover Letter

Resume

Fit Interviews

Experience

Skills

Career Plans

Personality Fit

General Strategy | Info Sessions

• Every point of contact leaves an impression

• Emails

• Phone calls

• In-person conversations

• Recruiting maintains feedback on all candidates

• Secure an interview from many touchpoints with positive, feedback

• It’s best if they know your name prior to the application even being submitted!

Info Sessions

• Attend and check in to every info session held by

alumni

• Arrive early / stay late

• Come prepared with questions

• Listen to their advice and follow it

• Be professional; make a good impression

• Follow up with a thank you note within 24 hours

Stay in Contact• After you walk away, write something that you talked about

on the back of the business card

• Follow up within 12-24 hours

• Stay in contact

• Interesting article

• Additional questions

• Follow through with your word

Informational Interviews

• A meeting in which job seeker seeks advice on

someone’s career, industry, corporate culture, etc.

• Way to network

• The employer learns about the job seeker and judges

your professional potential

Who

UChicago Alum

Peers

Neighbors

Teammates

Strangers

Career Advancement

Family

Informational Interviews• Prepare the “Big 3”

• Be prepared to LEAD the conversation

• Tie questions back to your research – this makes you look prepared

• Interview begins the moment that you make a connection; take notes & be enthusiastic

• Build the relationship before you have to ask for something

• Acknowledge how grateful you are and follow up with a thank you email

Questions

• Prepare for small talk (e.g.- how is your day going? What are you working on? What

path did you follow to join your employer?)

• How do they interview?

• What types of projects do they typically encounter?

• Remember the TIARA Method (from the 2 Hour Job Search by Steve Dalton)

• Trends: what trends are impacting your business right now?

• Insights: what’s your most valuable experience at your employer so far?

• Advice: what can I be doing right now to prepare myself for a career in this field?

• Resources: what resources should I look into next?

• Assignments: what projects are most important to your work?

Watch Outs

• Don’t ask for a job; ask for advice

• Quality over quantity

• Don’t dismiss anyone as irrelevant

• Don’t take NO personally

• Don’t gossip or talk controversial topics

• Wait to send your resume until you’re asked

• Be cognizant of working hours

The Recruiting Process

Preparation

Exploration

Networking

Application Materials

Cover Letter

Resume

Fit Interviews

Experience

Skills

Career Plans

Personality Fit

Make Your Resume Stand Out

• Attention to detail is crucial

• 3-4 of your strongest experiences (work & leadership)

• Highlight experience you have that correlate with the

“marketing skillset”

• Focus on results & recognition

• Use UChicago resume template

• Be specific: big projects, length of time, specific sections

you worked on, what you contributed

Make Your Resume Stand Out

Start bullet points with ACTION VERBS (found on BCS SharePoint site)

Describe your actions, not the tasks that you did

Better bullet points = WHAT you did + HOW you performed your duties + the IMPACT or RESULT of the task within the organization

Basic bullet: Directed actors in productions

Better bullet: Directed 5-10 student actors and managed technical team in both short and full-length productions attracting audiences of 100+

Skillset

• Interpersonal skills

• Oral and written

communication skills

• Analytical ability

• Creativity and imagination

• Persuasion and negotiation

skills

• Teamwork

• Organizational ability

• Business and commercial

acumen

• Drive, ambition and

enthusiasm

These are skills you will have gained through work and non-

work related activities. Sell your potential!

The Recruiting Process

Preparation

Exploration

Networking

Application Materials

Cover Letter

Resume

Fit Interviews

Experience

Skills

Career Plans

Personality Fit

What to Bring

• Clean pad of paper

• Pen or pencil

• Copies of your resume

• Notes on the company

What They’re Looking For

• Structured Thinking: think in a clear and organized way

– Look at a situation, identify and analyze its problematic aspects and propose

solutions in a structured way

• Personal Impact: you need to demonstrate that you can impact other people.

Communicate well, persuade others and make people act on your recommendations

• Leadership: teamwork, show that you can contribute and lead

• Drive and Motivation: know what you like and go for it. Long hours with challenging

assignments

• Written Communication: presentations, documents, memos, and emails to clients

Send the Right Signals

The success of an engagement often lies on the working partnership (aka

– you and the interviewer)

• Approach the interview as an audition and a relationship building

opportunity.

• Maintain consistent eye contact

• Express your ideas in ways that speak directly to the interviewer’s

concerns and objectives

• Demonstrate your passion for learning, commitment to results,

ability to gain from adversity, good business acumen, confidence and

poise under pressure

What to Talk About

Travel

Restaurants

Sports

Summer, Weekend, Vacation

Plans

Books, Movies, TV

Shows

Listen for verbal cues!

Behavioral Interview / “Fit”

The Big 3

Tell me about yourself / Walk me through your resume

Why marketing?

Why <<company>>?

Tell Me About Yourself

• Framework for your response

• I am a <<class year, major>>

• With interest in <<brand management>>

• I have had internships in; project work on; worked for,

etc.

• Speak to your skillset

• Use the job description as your guide!

• Highlight your skills and competencies that tie

to the job requirements

Why Marketing?

• Real question: why are you a good fit for

marketing?

• Tell your story; make it unique

• Demonstrate understanding

• Answer the question they are really asking

• Don’t talk about what you will get from them

Why <<company>>?

• Express enthusiasm for the company

• Show off what you know! Incorporate it into your

response.

• Align your skills and experiences with the role

• Use the job description and correlate to your skills

• Connect to your career trajectory

• Show that you’ll be around for the long run

During the Interview

• Display your knowledge about the company and

what they do

• Take your time

• Ask “Did I answer your question?”

• Leverage the S.T.A.R Method

STAR Method

Situation Task Action Result

STAR Method: Situation

• Describe the task that you needed to accomplish

• Be specific

• Give enough detail for the interviewer to understand

• Can be from a previous job, volunteer experience, RSO,

game, competition, etc.

STAR Method: Situation

“Advertising revenue was falling off for my

college newspaper, The Maroon, and large

numbers of long-term advertisers were not

renewing contracts.”

STAR Method: Task

• What goal were you working toward?

STAR Method: Task

“My goal was to generate new ideas,

materials and incentives that would result in

at least a 15% increase in advertisers from

the year prior.”

STAR Method: Action

• Describe the actions you took to address the

situation.

• Keep it concise and focused on YOU.

• Be specific; what was your particular

contribution?

• Use “I,” not “we” when describing actions.

STAR Method: Action

“I designed a new promotional packet to go

with the rate sheet and compared the

benefits of The Maroon circulation with other

ad media in the area. I also set-up a special

training session for the Account Executives

with a Booth professor who taught me about

competitive selling strategies.”

STAR Method: Result

• Describe the outcome of your actions

• Don’t be shy about taking credit for your

behavior

• What did you accomplish? What did you learn?

• Your answer should contain multiple positive

results.

STAR Method: Result

“We signed contracts with 15 former

advertisers for daily ads and 5 for special

supplements. We increased our new

advertisers by 20% over the same period last

year.”

STAR Method: Themes

Teamwork Initiative

LeadershipCommunication

After the Interview

Prepare smart questions for the interviewer

Practice “The Icing” - have a concise “closing

statement” where you share anything that you

have forgotten to address or that you’d like the

interviewer to remember about you

Write a thank you note!

Questions to Ask the Interviewer

Ask targeted questions such as:

“What has been your favorite deal to work on recently?

“What attracted you to your group?”

“What are some changes the firm is currently experiencing?”

Ask questions that span various categories

Don’t ask anything about the interviewer (e.g. –career path).

Don’t ask about anything negative or related to bad press.

Interview Questions that Never Get Asked

(But Are Always Answered)

• Does this person really want to work here?

– Genuine enthusiasm, know about this firm, show up early,

dress up

• Could I put this person in front of a client?

– Professionalism, eloquence, can you run a meeting

• Would I want to work with this person?

– “Airplane test”

Important Acronyms & Items to Learn

• SEO = search engine optimization

• CRM = customer relationship management

• ROI = return on investment

• 4 Ps = product, price, placement, promotion

• PR vs. Advertising

• Competitive analysis

• Strong marketing campaigns that have resonated with you and why?

RSOs

• The Mark

• Pareto Solutions

• Women in Business

• In a way, ALL RSOs

• Other business-related RSOs found on Blueprint

– https://blueprint.uchicago.edu/Organizations

Practice Interviews

• Search “practice interview, Career Advancement”

• Select your interviewer prior to calling

• Send your resume in 24 hours prior

• Available via the Front Desk (773.702.7040)

• Link

Business Career Services

Lauren Rath

laurenrath@uchicago.edu

https://collaborate.uchicago.edu/depts/bcs