Career Blog
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You are a marketing student struggling to find a position in your field? Or you want to find a job but need to develop your skills first? Or perhaps you just entered the world of marketing and hope to find somewhere to start? Either way, there are many ways in which you can gain valuable experience and develop new skills in marketing without having any formal work experience.
Marketing is a very diverse field: it encompasses everything from keyword research to social media management. So why not build your skills across different areas by familiarizing yourself with marketing tools and platforms? This is the easiest way to develop a practical knowledge of marketing, hone your skills and gain experience, all without a formal work setting! Here are excellent free tools and platforms to get you started.
1. Canva ─ Basic Graphic Design
Canva is great for exploring your creative side! You can design almost anything such as social media content, brochures, business cards, and presentations. With free graphics and photos free for commercial and noncommercial use ready at hand, you can easily design to your heart’s content while gaining valuable experience.
KEY ADVANTAGE: Canva is free! There is a premium account available, but you can get easily by with a free account. It’s perfect for someone who wants to learn and explore basic design creation, typography, colour theory, and more!
2. Instagram and Facebook Creator Studio ─ Social media
If you are into the “social media” side of marketing, why not create an Instagram / Facebook account to learn about the inner workings of the platforms first-hand? Find something you’re passionate about, make a social media for it, and experiment with different social media techniques to your liking!
KEY ADVANTAGE: Instagram and Facebook Creator Studio are perfect as a beginner’s step because they allow you to schedule posts and get insights. With the free scheduling platform, you can learn how to keep your content on a consistent posting schedule.
3. Medium.com ─ Copywriting
Interested in copywriting? Build your writing skills with Medium.com. This platform lets you share any of your writing samples with a large, interactive community. This way, you can practice writing for different audiences and perfect your copywriting skills.
4. Google Analytics ─ Research and data
Rather than being creative ─ maybe you want to explore the “numbers and data” side of marketing. Google Analytics is the perfect platform for doing just that.
KEY ADVANTAGE: The Google Analytics Certificate is free, and you can learn skills that are in demand.
With these tools and platforms, getting your foot in the door as a marketing student has never been easier. You can explore your interest in marketing and build your knowledge, all without formal work experience.
Want to explore more?
The Telfer Career Centre is open for students to get advice on how to advance their careers! Book an appointment now through Career Launch to see how you can boost your career development as a marketing student!
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This past reading week, 20 lucky Telfer students were selected to head to Canada’s marketing capital of Toronto for two days filled with exciting tours, information sessions, and networking opportunities. The trip presented a chance for students to be exposed to how the top marketers of a variety of organizations approach both their everyday duties and their careers – including those from the world’s most popular search engine, to those from a charity that makes “doing good, doable”.
On October 26, 2017, Google Canada opened its doors to Telfer for an intriguing look into their collaborative-based office. Students were invited for a tour of the many floors of the environmentally friendly, LEED-certified facility – including a chance to see their state-of-the-art technology stations, famous “micro-kitchens”, and an informative and insightful career chat with Google Performance Ads Marketing Specialist (and Telfer BCom graduate), Claûde Beaupré.
Canadian communications and media giant Rogers was up next, and the Telfer students were treated to an educational presentation of the company’s values and mission, a speed networking session with a variety of Rogers marketing professionals, and a tour of the much-loved facilities of Sportsnet. The presentation and tour was conducted by the enthusiastic Patrice Smith and My-Binh Trung, and was supported by Victoria Falle, a recent Telfer graduate who was just recruited by Rogers’ new grad rotational program.
The last company of the day was 500px, an upcoming and innovative photography startup where Director of Marketing Rommil Santiago gave students insight into the hustle of startup life and how smaller companies approach marketing with a minimalistic perspective. Rommil was joined by content marketer Annie Halim-Paulionis for a laid-back career chat and a tour of their facilities, which concluded the first day of the trip.
An early start on the morning of October 27th found the Telfer group at P&G Canada headquarters in North York, Toronto, for a presentation and career advice session held by Telfer graduates Christina Bellevue and Brad Marshman regarding the multinational corporation’s many diverse opportunities in their marketing and sales functions.
For the last outing of the trip, Toronto’s coolest charity organization WE opened their doors for an in-depth presentation by Telfer graduate Meghan Kelly and WE’s Director of Brand Muqu Pacheco, which introduced their mission and values, their approach to the WE brand, and the process they underwent in launching their newest product, ME to WE Chocolate. The students were then given a tour of their new facility, called the WE Global Learning Centre.
Upon reflection, the trip was a great opportunity to network, learn about various organizations and be exposed to many different approaches to marketing. The valuable experience of meeting a variety of marketing professionals, which was supplemented by touring their workplaces to better understand their working environment, was both eye opening and inspiring.
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The Telfer Marketing trip, organized by the Career Centre, takes place annually during the end of Fall Reading week for two nights, and is an opportunity available for 3rd and 4th year students completing their specialization in Marketing (all Telfer students are welcome to apply). For more information, visit the Special Activity section of the Career Centre website.
