Marketing is an ever-growing sector of business that you would be intelligent to choose for your career path. That being said, pursuing marketing also means that you should most likely get a college degree. To make sure that you use your degree to catapult yourself into your career, you should determine how you plan to make the most out of your college education.
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1. Take Every Class You Want
Granted, you should not overload yourself with so many classes that you are unable to make good grades in them, but take advantage of the time you have in school to learn as much as you can. With student loans and the high cost of education, you should satisfy your curiosity and take as many classes that interest you. Many schools do have a curriculum that you need to complete, but there are also undesignated hours that you need to get for your degree. Take advantage of these hours by choosing classes that could make you better in marketing by expanding your interests. Regardless of which degree you choose, whether it’s an undergraduate bachelor’s degree in business, or even a masters in social work, marketing is fundamental to everything. You can take broad courses of interest that are specific to your field, or to broaden your university education in general.
2. Feed Your Creativity
Marketing is a field where you need to be tapping into your creativity to analyze data and come up with new and efficient ways to reach your target audience. While you are in college, take classes that feed this creativity and ability to critically think. Joining theater, visual art classes, or even statistics courses allows you opportunities to build up your ability to think outside the box. Being able to think about something in multiple ways with different approaches can give you options to set yourself apart later on.
3. Take Care of Yourself
Any college student needs to prioritize their mental and physical wellbeing. While the work may be overwhelming and demand the majority of your time, you can take care of yourself by making sure you eat healthily and sleep. Instead of eating out of the vending machines, try to nourish your body with lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables. Attempt to stay away from junk food and fast food and utilize your school meal plan to eat meals that are going to fuel your studies. Avoid procrastinating, eliminating all-nighters, and get your recommended 8 to 10 hours of sleep a night. If you do not take care of yourself physically, you can make yourself susceptible to illness that will make you miss school and fall behind in your classes.
As well as physically, caring for yourself mentally has many benefits. Stress has been linked to lowering your immune system and making you vulnerable to getting sick. Take breaks when you need them and indulge in a head-clearing walk or soothing cup of tea to help keep your stress levels low. If you need to talk to someone, do not hesitate to reach out to on-campus mental health professionals that can help mitigate your feelings. Every student gets stressed at times and there is no shame in asking for a little help. If you need an extension or outside assistance because of your mental health status, request it.
4. Learn the Basics.
While you are expanding your horizons and growing as a person, make sure you are dedicating the proper amount of time to the whole reason you are in school: marketing. Throw yourself into your marketing classes and try to utilize every opportunity available to you.
One great way to utilize every opportunity you have is to implement study tools. While Chegg and Quizlet, may be the first that comes to mind, an even better up-and-coming tool is Studypaq. This tool is perfect for students because you can use it as your one-stop shop. Studypaq allows you to upload exams, lecture slides, notes, study guides, and more. In addition, they will soon automate practice assessments, giving you even more opportunities to be successful. This tool will empower students with the highest quality study resources, course documents, and personalization. Sometimes it can be tedious and difficult to find all of your information before an upcoming exam, therefore, having every single note and course document uploaded in one place can guarantee you have all of your sources. All you have to do is log in, review your material, take an automated practice assessment and you’ll be set. By making use of Studypaq you are saving time, staying organized, and excelling in your future career.
Learning all of the theoretical knowledge that you can in the classroom will help you later on when you get practical knowledge from working. An example of this is the 7 ps. The 7 ps are the core belief system of all marketing. They are:
- Product
- Price
- Promotion
- Place
- People
- Process
- Physical Evidence
During your summers and for class credit during the year, take advantage of internship opportunities to gain the aforementioned practical knowledge. These are the experiences that will set you apart from other students when applying for schools and give you a leg up when you are hired.
Marketing while lucrative, can be difficult, but as long as you prioritize your health and your goals, you can succeed.