Careers

A 15-year marketing veteran, Steve Chorlins has held  senior marketing positions with several leading professional services and B2C organizations. Before joining Aquent, he was Marketing Director for a global HR consulting firm where he was essential in helping to increase revenues and build awareness for several lines of business in and various regions throughout the world. Steve also served as Principal, Marketing Director for a regional benefits and investments firm and as a senior creative writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the city’s daily newspaper.  In his current role as Marketing Agent with Aquent, Steve draws upon his marketing acumen and experiences as a hiring manager to add a critical and practical layer that benefits clients and talent alike. 

Question: I graduated in 2005 from a state university with a bachelors in marketing. Seeking some sales experience, I got a job with an online university, where I then completed my MBA. I've found myself now put into a position where I'm really looking for a job, but everyone wants prior experience for marketing positions, but I have no practical experience! What should I do to get started on an actual CAREER?

Answer: This is a very common issue for those making the switch to marketing, and the good news is that there are a couple of different steps you can take.  First, I think it’s important to address the difference between marketing and sales.  Both marketing and sales have to do with making potential buyers aware of your product or service and how to buy from you.  The distinction is that sales is more of a one-to-one activity and marketing is more of a one-to-many activity.  While that’s a drastic oversimplification, the point is that you have probably done more “marketing” activities than you realize.  So step one is to take inventory of the sales activities you’ve done that could/should be classified as marketing activities.

Step two is to build your experience by leveraging your current position.  For example, ask your manager for their blessing to take on some sales-related image/brand building efforts like attending a recruitment event; serving as a guest speaker at a chamber event; proposing an idea for a webinar that you could execute alongside the marketing department.  Get involved in whatever you can that allows you to add more traditional marketing elements to your resume.

Lastly, to bolster your experience further, you should get involved with a civic or charitable organization and ask to serve on their marketing or communications committee.  It’s a great way to build your resume while bettering the community.