How to transition to brand management

[Anonymous]

I currently work in an unrelated field, already have a slightly related but dated Masters, am thinking of getting the GT certificate in marketing, networking with people from Linkedin, etc, then some volunteer work using the newly developed skills, and somewhere between the last two items doing a good and thoughtful job search.

I'd prefer to develop marketing products for an physical thing (vs a service) or in healthcare product management. Does anyone have anyone have any thoughts on what else I should be doing? Completely open to relocation, anywhere in the US. DC is nice, just expensive and very service-oriented.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I currently work in an unrelated field, already have a slightly related but dated Masters, am thinking of getting the GT certificate in marketing, networking with people from Linkedin, etc, then some volunteer work using the newly developed skills, and somewhere between the last two items doing a good and thoughtful job search.

I'd prefer to develop marketing products for an physical thing (vs a service) or in healthcare product management. Does anyone have anyone have any thoughts on what else I should be doing? Completely open to relocation, anywhere in the US. DC is nice, just expensive and very service-oriented.

I think you are going to need an MBA, emphasis in marketing to be taken seriously.

[Anonymous]

Assuming you want to work in CPG (consumer packaged goods) marketing, DC is not the best market, particularly without an MBA. Would you be open to agency work? This would be the easiest way to get your feet wet in a marketing-related field, and eventually jump to the client-side.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Assuming you want to work in CPG (consumer packaged goods) marketing, DC is not the best market, particularly without an MBA. Would you be open to agency work? This would be the easiest way to get your feet wet in a marketing-related field, and eventually jump to the client-side.

Good luck!

I was going to say that DC is a dead zone for CPG. I have friends who moved to the area b/c of spouses and have said there is nothing here

[Anonymous]

+1000

I'm one of those people. I did marketing for CPG then DH got transferred to DC and there is next to nothing here. Chicago, NY, San Fran are top with LA, Boston, Seattle(less so) are the places to be. There are other brands in the Midwest - but it requires moves to less dense areas (places where land is cheap for manufacturing)

I went into B2B side for services and there are tons of options. It isn't glamorous but it pays the bills.

Agree on MBA. Certificate won't do anything for you without years of experience, even then it's just a check mark.

As someone who has been doing it awhile, I can tell you that everyone thinks it's so easy - but its not. It's getting more analytical. Talent, creativity and a sharp business sense is required. Its not paper pushing. You have to wear lots of hats and failure is inevitable.

I have friends who are like "your job must be so fun" or "wow, I would love to do social media for a living. Look, I just posted a picture of a cat wearing a hat and got 5 likes" - don't be those people. They are a dime a dozen and cant hold a job...