I am not sure how to get my career going in that direction without a background in marketing or marketing experience. Any suggestions?

Joanne Hall

AQUENT

I came to the Aquent Marketing team with 9 years of International Brand Management experience within packaged goods and the film and entertainment industries. I now use my hands on knowledge of marketing in my role as an Account Manager, placing the cream of the marketing crop with the biggest and brightest players in brand, communications, analytics and public relations.

Question

I am currently an engineer for an oil company in Houston, TX and have been working full-time for a little over a year. I hold a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering.
However, I am very interested in pursuing a marketing career focusing on brand and/or product management. I am not sure how to get my career going in that direction without a background in marketing or marketing experience. Any suggestions?

Answer

Here at Aquent, we get a lot of questions from candidates looking to make a career change into a new field. In the current economic climate we are advising our candidates to try to remain in their area of expertise or an associated field. During this time they can work on building their transferable marketing skills for a future transition. With so many individuals currently looking for work, employers have their pick of candidates – they are seeming less willing to hire based on potential and instead are looking for direct, market-related experience.

Careers

I am not sure how to get my career going in that direction without a background in marketing or marketing experience. Any suggestions?