Career Pathways
Marketing
Launch your career in marketing, a vibrant field where creative and data-driven worlds collide. As a marketing professional, you will have opportunities to tell meaningful stories that shape and drive business outcomes. Whether designing impactful brand campaigns or conducting relevant research, marketing professionals are essential for connecting products and services with target audiences. This is a rewarding career path for those who value tangible results and want to make a lasting impact in an ever-evolving industry.
Executive exposure
Marketing professionals play a vital role in a company’s revenue, so work is often visible to top execs.
Growing industry
Projected employment growth for marketing managers is 10% from 2021 to 2031.
Lucrative career
Marketing managers’ annual median wage surpasses the average for all industries by 87K.
Angela Abad, Social Media Marketing Manager
To know where your skill set fits within this industry, sometimes all it takes is a little research. Listen as Angela Abad, Social Media Marketing Manager, shares what she loves about the field:
One of the things that I most enjoy about marketing is that is mentally stimulating. It’s never boring. You’re always learning with every company, every client, every campaign, every ad, everything that you put out is new. It gives you different results and outcomes. And you are always thinking about strategies and how to change it, and how to make it better, and there is always room for improvement, and it is always opening doors to learn more and opening new paths, to move forward in different areas. And that’s really, really good.
Discover your career opportunities
Gaining marketing expertise can open up a wide range of career opportunities across different fields and subject matters. Here are some roles that are available to candidates with this skill set:
| Entry level | Mid level | Senior level | Entrepreneurial |
|
| Advertising Manager |  | |||
| Brand Manager | | |||
| Community Manager | | | ||
| Content Creator | | | ||
| Content Marketing Manager | | | ||
| Copywriter | | |||
| Digital Advertising Specialist | | | | |
| Digital Marketing Specialist | | | ||
| E-commerce Manager | | | ||
| Email Marketing Specialist | | | ||
| Marketing Analyst | | |||
| Marketing Communications Manager | | | ||
| Media Planner | | |||
| Product Marketing Manager | | |||
| SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Specialist | | |||
| Social Media Strategist | | |
Please keep in mind that these roles are listed as examples of ones you might discover. Each organization has variations in its structure and naming conventions, and therefore, you may find that this categorization is not universally applicable. Always make sure to do your research when applying to roles to make sure that you are appropriately qualified.
The marketing industry is unique due to its constant changes, data-driven approach, and global reach. It’s about adapting fast, connecting with people, and gaining practical experience using the tools and technologies you’ve learned. There’s a big difference between knowing in theory and doing it in practice.
Sarah Han, career expert at edX
Learn about topics in marketing
Register for a course on edX to learn about a variety of topics within the marketing industry.
How can I acquire marketing skills and turn them into a career?
If you’re interested in pursuing your own career in marketing, consider these steps:
Research is key when it comes to any career, and a career in marketing is certainly no exception. Take advantage of all the information that’s out there, whether it’s through browsing the internet for job titles, listening to relevant podcasts, reading books on the topic, or getting connected to professionals in the areas or positions that interest you.
One key part of the research phase is networking. This simple step is often overlooked and undervalued but can significantly impact your career trajectory. To clarify your career goals and aspirations, you must talk with professionals about what the work looks like in actuality.
You open a door of opportunity in your career by reaching out to professionals in your targeted fields, positions, and companies. Connecting with marketing professionals who could vouch for you and provide hard-to-find intel about the industries or organizations of interest is invaluable.
Check out our Networking guide and Networking outreach samples for help getting started.
To supplement your understanding of what others are doing professionally, gain clarity on your own goals and aspirations. Ask yourself what about marketing interests you — the possibilities are endless.
A bachelor’s degree is typically all the formal education that’s required to get started in the field of marketing, so your success is mostly contingent on the skills and experiences that set you apart.
Take time to identify the specific areas of marketing that you’re most interested in and skilled at. Whether that’s content creation, social media management, data analysis, or SEO, honing in on those areas of interest will help you focus your efforts on acquiring any useful expertise.
Ask yourself which type of work you’d like to participate in, and always make sure to consider the skills that align with your career goals and the demands of the shifting job market. Here are a few marketing skill sets that could directly apply to your career, organized by traditional domains of work:
Data and analytics
- Data analytics
- Data visualization
- Marketing analytics
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Predictive analytics
Customer experience
Branding and content
- Branding and engagement
- Content marketing
- Copywriting
- Digital content creation
- Social media marketing
- Storytelling
Strategic planning and management:
There are a variety of mediums through which you can learn marketing skills. Consider which route best fits your needs and learning style. Here are a few options to consider:
Self-education — If you want to learn asynchronously, informally, or casually, self-education is a great place to start. Many approaches to this learning style support various career goals, budgets, learning preferences, and time commitments. Here are some ways to self-educate in marketing:
- Informal opportunities: Gain a greater understanding of the industry by reading. Explore books and articles to expand your marketing knowledge and learn what’s happened or is happening in the field. Not a reader? Plenty of videos, podcasts, and other forms of multimedia can teach you a thing or two about careers related to marketing.
- Online Courses: If you prefer a more structured or socialized learning experience, online courses might be a good option. edX.org offers several instructor-led and self-paced marketing courses that may be of interest.
- Professional certifications: When you want a less casual learning experience but don’t have needs that warrant a boot camp or degree, professional certifications may be the best fit for you. Professional certifications are a great addition to your resume and build your skills for roles in marketing. edX.org offers many marketing and marketing-adjacent certificate programs that may interest you.
Boot camps — Experienced curriculum teams design these innovative programs to help you achieve your career goals in a fraction of the time it takes to complete a traditional degree. With many boot camps lasting just 3–12 months, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can gain the knowledge and expertise you need to launch your dream career. Explore popular marketing boot camps on edX.org.
Marketing degrees — Pursuing a degree in marketing means gaining a comprehensive understanding of the principles and strategies behind effective product and service promotion, consumer-based thinking, and so much more! It equips you with a range of skills and knowledge that can be applied across various subject matters.
Employers hiring for marketing roles may require a portfolio to demonstrate your ability to create compelling content, manage campaigns, analyze data, and more. Even if portfolios aren’t mandatory for your specific applications, we believe they serve as an excellent means to distinguish yourself as a standout candidate.
A well-organized and visually appealing portfolio is a powerful tool that can highlight your skills, experiences, and successes in marketing or adjacent work. It allows employers to see how you can directly contribute to their outcomes and makes a strong case for why you’re the ideal candidate for a position.
Get to know people in the field and get their feedback on your portfolio. Hearing feedback from folks already in the marketing space will give you a competitive advantage over the rest of the candidates.
Sarah Han, career expert at edX
As you prepare, make sure to get clear on who you are and what you want professionally. Especially in a creative field like marketing, the way you brand yourself and tell your story matters. Check out our Professional branding guide for more.
Once your professional brand is locked in, you can use it to polish or create your application materials and prepare for interviews. Visit our Marketing portfolio guide, Marketing resume sample, Marketing LinkedIn samples, and Marketing interview sample questions for additional guidance.
Once you achieve your marketing career goal, make sure to celebrate your success. The career journey is full of ups and downs, and every victory deserves acknowledgment.
With that said, your journey doesn’t end here — it’s only just beginning. Give yourself grace and understand that careers are not linear. Here are some ways you could continue growing your marketing skills.
Continued learning — Always reference our course catalog on edX.org for continued learning opportunities. It never hurts to brush up on your skills, expand your knowledge within the industry, or learn about other subjects that could apply to your work, interests, or something in between.
Promotions — As technology continues to advance, career opportunities in marketing are following suit. To position yourself well for promotions, you might want to stay current on digital technologies and trends, find a subject matter to specialize in or pursue leadership opportunities.
Marketing Analytics Director: Oversees the analysis and tracking of marketing data and utilizes insights to guide strategic marketing decisions.
Marketing Director: Oversees and leads movement of an organization’s strategic marketing plans from development to execution.
Chief Marketing Officer (CMO): Oversees an organization’s marketing vision, strategy, and direction.
Pivots — Make sure to regularly check in with yourself and your satisfaction with daily tasks. If you are dissatisfied in your current role, take stock of what you like and dislike about it, keep your eyes out for company-sponsored growth opportunities, and pursue career pivots that optimize your background, skill set, and interests.
I’m going to give an overview: it’s strategize, plan, create, proof, revise, edit, deploy, analyze, optimize, repeat. Whatever stage of marketing [you’re in], whatever your tier is within an organization, whether you’re entry level or VP, those are the components of marketing. And that’s how you start from beginning to end. You do that for every channel and for every touch point that you have with your customers.
Laurel Ciliberti, Email and Marketing Manager
What are my next steps?
Start learning now
Register for a course on edX to learn about a variety of topics within the field of marketing.
Watch a session
Watch a relevant session on our Events Page to learn more about the industry and other professional’s experiences within it.
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