Marketing career

Five Occupational interview Establishing a company's relationship with the market is a fascinating aspect of the marketing profession. The marketing division, among other things, conducts market research, advertises, and interacts with customers. Five distinct employees from various firms participated in occupational interviews as part of career development. The employees worked in either the same or other sectors, but the goal was to gain knowledge for developing one's own marketing career.

Michael Edwards, a market research analyst for Nike Inc., was the subject of the first interview.Edwards has served in this position for the last five years and has an in-depth information based on his experience. The interview was conducted on 10th of November 2017 at Kmart, Southern Hampshire. During the interview, the issues that were discussed included duties and the work environment for the market research analyst.

Among the critical duties that a market research analyst performs include monitoring and forecasting of the market and the sales trades as well. Besides, a market research analyst is charged with the duty of measuring the effectiveness of the marketing research programs as well as the strategies that will best work in the market for a particular product. The analysts are usually mandated in devising and evaluation of the methods of data collection that include surveys, opinion polls, and questionnaires. Other forms of data that can be collected include that concerning the conditions prevailing in the market, consumers and the competitors. They analyze data using the statistical software and preparation of the reports for the clients and management.

The interviewee also indicated that the market researchers work alone in most of the time on their computers. They collect data and analyzes them for the various applications from their PCs. On a few occasions, however, they may work in groups especially where they are dealing with complex sets of data.

I was impressed to learn interesting facts that I had not imaged I would learn from this particular department. I did not expect that the role of data collection is usually performed by this marketing section until I interacted with Michael Edwards during an interview. Interestingly, this is an interesting position to work in any company because of the activities involved. On only need to collect and analyze data from office on the various aspects are required.

Interview 2

In the second interview, a Market Research Assistant was interviewed by a different company dealing with the same products like Nike Inc. her name, Jennifer Williams, worked as an assistant market research analyst. Despite her competency, she had only worked for one and a half years in the company. The interview was conducted at Brookline on 11th November 2017.

The information that the interviewee gave did not differ with the information that had been collected previously by the market research analyst. The analyst indicated that her position involves serving in the roles of the market research analyst in full when the person holding that position is out on leave. In most of the other time, she assists the research analyst in the collection and analyses of the information before presenting it to the customers and the customers. Regarding the essence of collecting such information, the interviewee revealed that managers use it in making social, political and economic decisions for the company. Those working as market research analysts get the job through direct employment by the company and they work in collecting information regarding the marketing decisions, investments, and the customers’ decisions. Further employment may be through the marketing agencies where contracts for the various companies will be conducted.

It was encouraging to learn the coverage of the employment opportunities in this career. I also realized the sources of the market information that are usually portrayed in the public portals of the various companies. As a competent marketing analyst, one can form and run a marketing research agency and contract companies privately to offer the services of reporting on the various aspects of the business performance in the market.

Interview 3

This interview was conducted on 14 November 2017 with the marketing promotions manager at Gant. The manager's name is Nichole Cate. The location of the interview was Lebanon, Southern Hampshire. The interview was aimed at getting information regarding marketing and promotions. One of the principal roles of the marketing and promotions manager is to promote programs that will generate interest on the products being produced by the company. According to Cate, this is one of the most complicated positions that one can hold in the marketing department because the firm is usually looking down to you to sell their products. The rest departments are looking down at you to perform, failure to which closure of the entire firm can occur. Specific strategies are therefore required to run the firm successfully.

A marketing and a promotions manager can work directly with the company or indirectly for a firm through an advertising agent. Other areas that one can work from including regional managing offices and corporate offices as well.

It was interesting to learn that marketing managers do not use preset budgets from the financial department but they manage budget responsibilities for communications and marketing within their field. Besides, the initiatives that bring about the promotion of good are usually advisories from the section of the marketing and promotion to the management of an organization. I also learned that working in this section requires real skills, knowledge, and experience because one can never take chances regarding the performance of the division. The company has to sell to produce more. Besides, selling generates profits that run the entire activities in the firm. This is such a serious but critical section in running the whole organization.

Interview 4

The interview was conducted with the marketing communications coordinator, called Jane Edwards. Jane Edwards has been working at Ken Chick Company for the last six years in the various marketing departments. The interview was conducted on 15th of October at her home place, New Haven, Connecticut.

According to the interviewee, a marketing communications coordinator are required to have a clear understanding of the print and the web production content. Besides, it is essential that these employees create strict timelines and adhere to them because any failure will lead to the creation of conflicts in the firm. A person working in such a position must possess such skills as the ability to coordinate meetings with excellent organization and presentation as well. They are charged with information sharing at the various levels as required.

I was surprised to learn the existence of this department because I had initially thought that communications are usually made directly from the various departments and sections rather than communication through a common channel. However, I learned the importance of this section towards the efficiency of the various operations in the marketing department and the organization in general.

Interview 5

This was the last interview conducted with Melanie Jane who was working as a Marketing Associate at America’s Eagle company. Melanie had a working experience of four years I the same company. The interview was conducted on 18th October at her home at Ithaca, New York.

According to the interviewee, the marketing associate assists in planning and implementing the marketing and advertising activities within the firm. As such, persons serving in this role requires knowing analyzing the behaviors of customers and the market research. Therefore, it is important to understand the full marketing mix to better serve in this position.

I learned that most of the tasks performed by the marketing associate are similar with the tasks assigned to the market research analyst. Therefore, not many organizations will create both of these positions. I also learned how each of the marketing departments depends on each other to facilitate the overall system efficiency. The entire interview process exposed me to skills of knowledge regarding my future career that it will be easy to maneuver and relate with the various sections in the marketing in the future. I also learned the marketing principles behind the success of the organization.