A Guide to Marketing Careers
If you’re considering a career in marketing and you’ve just found us, congratulations! This area is dedicated to helping you discover what it’s like to work in this exciting field.
Whether you’re a school leaver or a university student, you’ll find out what types of marketing exist and how you can get valuable work experience to kickstart your career in this creative and innovative field.
What is marketing?
Essentially, marketing is getting consumers (or other businesses) interested in a product or service. You’ll encounter it in most things you see or do.
It begins with market research and understanding the needs of your consumers, and then developing and distributing the product or service to the consumer or business. Marketing is very closely related to sales and advertising, and is involved in every stage of a business.
Marketing is hugely diverse, and every industry uses it in some capacity. So, you could find yourself working in fashion, finance, health, or even entertainment.
It’s also one of the fastest-paced, exciting and rewarding sectors to work in. Technology has pushed marketing into amazing data-driven realms, pushing areas such as digital marketing as a popular career path!
In fact, students search for roles in marketing on Higherin more than any other sector.
What is it like working in marketing?
Of course, this will depend on what area of marketing you are working in, but you can normally expect:
CREATIVE OUTLET
You often get to work on branding, storytelling, campaigns, design, and content creation.
VARIETY
Each day can be different. You could be working on social media one day or a print advertising campaign the next.
COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENT
You typically work cross-functionally with sales, product teams and agencies.
DATA DRIVEN
You could be using analytics to measure performance, optimise campaigns, and make smarter, faster decisions.
HIGH IMPACT
Good marketing can significantly grow a business, and you often see direct results from your efforts.
CONSTANT LEARNING
Trends, tools (like SEO, Google Ads, and AI), and platforms (like TikTok or LinkedIn) evolve rapidly.
Like any other job, you’ll likely be working 9-5, 5 days a week. However, marketing offers so many opportunities that you might even be able to travel around the UK or internationally for your work experience. So definitely something to keep in mind.
Here’s what a marketing intern said about their time with Tesco:
‘The support and the guidance received was great! The apprentice and graduate team are so supportive and understanding, any problems, queries and questions they are more than happy to answer. Of course as an intern you do not know everything, so the support about navigating and transitioning is highly helpful also.’ Marketing Intern, Tesco
How do I get work experience in marketing?
We advertise all types of marketing work experience. There are plenty of businesses ready to take you on. The first place to look is on our jobs page, which features some of the UK’s top student employers in the marketing sector.
Click below to find out more about each opportunity.
Digital Marketing Apprenticeships
Discover how a digital marketing apprenticeship works, including what qualifications you need, who you could work for and how to apply
Marketing Apprenticeships
Want to work in marketing? Why not do a marketing apprenticeship? You can apply straight out of school or college
Marketing Degree Apprenticeships
Want to work in marketing? Why not do a marketing degree apprenticeship? Zero tuition fees, degree earned, 5 years of work experience on your CV
Marketing Graduate Schemes
A guide to marketing graduate schemes and how to secure one. Find out when to apply, which companies you could work for and what qualifications you need
Marketing Internships
Want to get ahead? Secure a marketing internship. Find out which companies to work for, how much you could earn as an intern and how to apply
Marketing Placements
If you’re in your second year of university and looking to work in marketing, a marketing placement is exactly what you need
What employers could I work for?
So many big-name companies offer work experience in marketing. From Hilton to the BBC, there are hundreds of companies that are looking for uni students or school leavers just like you to join their team.
Some you can work for are:
Here’s what a marketing placement student at Adidas had to say about their company culture:
"The company culture is second to none! You will never find as good a culture as Adidas. Everyone is so friendly and approachable and that's a testament for the family Adidas have built. They regularly run office events (e.g. 5-a-side tournaments, guest speakers, giveaways). They are very keen to give back to their employees and this makes such a difference coming into work. Everyone is also ready to help, loads of people from different departments gave me advice and helped me a lot" Marketing Placement Student, Adidas
What can I do with marketing work experience?
There are so many different paths you can embark upon with marketing experience under your belt. Some entry-level jobs are:
Marketing Assistant or Coordinator
Social media executive
Content or copywriter
SEO specialist
Digital marketing executive
Market analyst
Know that marketing is always in high demand, with plenty of scope for specialising as you climb the ladder. You will have the chance to earn big and could lead huge teams. It’s a hugely varied career.
Feeling excited? We have loads of marketing jobs for school leavers, university students and graduates available right now! Get started below.
Apply for Marketing Work Experience
Register Your Interest - Brand Performance & Insight Placement
at Volkswagen Financial Services
- Placement (10 Months+)
- £22,900
- Milton Keynes
Register Your Interest - Campaign Insight Placement
at Volkswagen Financial Services
- Placement (10 Months+)
- £22,900
- Milton Keynes
Register Your Interest - Central Sales Placement
at Volkswagen Financial Services
- Placement (10 Months+)
- £22,900
- Milton Keynes
Register Your Interest - Commercial Performance Placement
at Volkswagen Financial Services
- Placement (10 Months+)
- £22,900
- Milton Keynes
Register Your Interest - Communications and PR Placement
at Volkswagen Financial Services
- Placement (10 Months+)
- £22,900
- Milton Keynes
Register Your Interest - Executive and Strategy Placement
at Volkswagen Financial Services
- Placement (10 Months+)
- £22,900
- Milton Keynes
