Marketing and Market Research
Find out more about careers in marketing and market research
About
Marketing opportunities can be found across all sectors. This can range from banking and retail, to food, media and voluntary organisations.
Marketing professionals can also work in full service marketing agencies. They provide marketing and communications services to external clients.
There are 187,100 marketing associate professionals working in the UK in 2022, an increase of 69,600 from 2010
Job profiles
Have a look at Prospects and targetjobs to find out what roles in this sector involve and how to get into them. These are some of the job profiles available:
- Marketing executive
- Marketing manager
- Digital marketer
- Social media manager
- Creative director
- Digital copywriter
- Web content manager
- SEO specialist
- PPC specialist
- Product manager
- Sales promotion account executive
- Market researcher
Skills employers look for
- attention to detail
- excellent spoken and written communication skills
- drive, motivation and initiative
- the ability to think creatively
- good organisational and planning skills
- the ability to work under pressure and to deadlines
- the ability to lead and motivate a team
- good business sense and budget awareness
- foreign language skills, which can be useful for international marketing jobs
Salaries
Starting salaries for graduate jobs in this sector can vary depending on the position.
To get an idea of typical starting salaries use the following resources:
- our Discover your Earning Potential Pathway offers access to The Pay Index. This shows you how salaries vary across different roles, industries and locations
- job profiles, such as those listed on Prospects or targetjobs
- vacancy sites such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn
For information about how to negotiate a salary, visit Handling job offers.
Inspiration from people working in the industry
- Browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed.
- Use LinkedIn’s Alumni tool to find out what Newcastle graduates are doing now. You could ask to connect with them, to gain advice and insights into their career. See Newcastle Alumni on LinkedIn to help you get started or watch our quick tutorial on Getting inspiration from others [3:13].
- Attend alumni events, such as Newcastle Develop, to hear directly from our graduates.
- Sign up for mentoring support with Graduate Mentor and The 1 Hour Project. These aim to match students with industry professionals who can provide invaluable insights. Register to be connected for a one-hour meeting.
- Attend recruitment events and employer and sector insights. Hear about graduate jobs, placement schemes, build your network and ask questions.
Online reviews
Searching for reviews online can be a useful way to get an idea of what to expect from certain roles or employers. Reviews are written by employees with different opinions about what makes a good employer.
Use the following review sites for inspiration and insight into the recruitment process:
- RateMyPlacement placement year reviews written by students.
- The Job Crowd – graduate job reviews
- Glassdoor – company reviews from employees
Not sure what you want to do?
If you’re not sure exactly what you want to do, we can help. You can book a guidance appointment via MyCareer. Our careers consultants can help you explore your options or plan your career.
Get started by exploring our advice on Career planning, including our guides to:
Career guides
Read career guides for this sector, such as:
- targetjobs – Marketing, advertising and PR
- Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) - Get into Marketing
- Jobs in marketing | Prospects.ac.uk
Industry news
Use online magazines and journals to follow news from your industry. Reading about trends and developments is important for applications and interviews.
Examples include:
- The Drum
- Marketing Week include marketing and communications news, reports
- Content Hub is from the Chartered Institute of Marketing. It includes useful articles, podcasts and webinars
- Campaign
- IPM Bitesize is a source of news, reviews and features about promotional marketing.
- 1000heads: blog provides industry updates on social media trends and stories
- Alltop: SEO links to popular search engine optimisation (SEO) blogs and sites
Attend events
Attend events to hear directly from professionals in the industry.
See also our recruitment events and employer & sector insights.
Student societies
Join student societies through NUSU.
Many societies have secretary, social secretary or event co-ordinator positions. These roles are a great way to take part in something you are passionate about whilst developing relevant skills. Skills you could develop include promoting, organising and running events, recruiting members and running social media pages.
Social media
Use social media to find industry insights.
Join sector-specific groups on LinkedIn to keep up to date. Posts often include news, events and opportunities. You can also find useful insights on careers on Twitter and TikTok. Treat these with caution, as not all content may be accurate.
Find out more about how to use social media for your career and subscribe to our marketing sector Twitter list.
Professional bodies
Consider joining a relevant professional body/industry network
Professional bodies often:
- run networking events
- have specialist groups you could join
- post vacancies on behalf of their members
- have member directories, useful for speculative applications
Key organisations include:
Marketing
- Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)
- The Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM)
- Institute of Promotional Marketing (IPM)
Market research
- MRS (The Market Research Society)
- Association of Qualitative Research
- Social Research Association: Careers in Social Research
Finding professional bodies worldwide
GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of professional bodies. Find them under ‘Professional and Personal Networking’ on each individual country guide.
Guide to finding opportunities
Getting into marketing is competitive. You don't have to have a degree in marketing, but you do need to show you have the key skills employers look for. Experience can be useful for this.
Many large recruiters, such as L'Oreal, advertise summer internships, year-long placements and graduate training programmes in marketing.
There are various ways to find internships, placements and graduate opportunities. We’ve added some tips below to help you get started.
- search for advertised vacancies using the vacancy sites listed below
- look at the careers sections on company websites for student and graduate opportunities. Use Researching Employers to help you gain insights into companies
- attend events such as recruitment fairs and employer and sector insights
- contact employers speculatively – see Finding Hidden Opportunities to help you find organisations to approach
- follow companies on social media for latest news and updates
- consider registering with a recruitment agency for graduate jobs
- register with EmployAbility if you are disabled, neurodivergent or have a mental health condition. They can offer advice and support on applications to Newcastle students. They also run first year, internship and graduate programmes with inclusive employer partners.
- ask family and friends if they have any useful contacts who may be able to offer you work experience
- consider alternative ways to find relevant experience and develop your skills
- create your own opportunity by starting your own business or working freelance
- The Data & Marketing Association (DMA) offers a creative data programme. These are one-day workshops where you can crack real-life business problems using data.
Search for internships and placement years
Use our resources to get started:
- MyCareer - search for internships and placements in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts
- Internships, placements & shadowing - links to vacancy sites
- Global work experience - for internships or placements abroad
Apply to become a paid placement year student for the Careers Service's Marketing and Events team. This involves promoting our activities and events . Applications typically open in semester 2 for the following academic year. This opportunity is advertised on MyCareer.
Search the following external sites for more opportunities:
- Unilever Graduates (unilever.com)
- Loreal - Where it all begins... | Students & Graduates | L'Oréal Careers (loreal.com)
- The DMA also offers a 3 day immersive academy exploring career paths in data within the marketing industry. This is London and accommodation is provided if you live outside London
- The Dots - creative network, includes marketing and digital marketing. Search for internships and job opportunities
NCL Internships
The Careers Service runs flexible term-time and summer internships with local employers and on campus. NCL internships are aimed at all students, from any stage and often include marketing projects.
- Search for these under Vacancies on MyCareer.
- You can find these advertised throughout the academic year. Full-time summer opportunities are advertised from around March.
Worldwide experience
Access GoinGlobal for internships in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:
- additional vacancy websites
- CV, application and interview advice
- Advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world.
When to apply
The resources in this section advertise both graduate jobs and graduate schemes. See our graduate jobs page to understand the difference between them.
For graduate schemes, apply as early as possible.
UK applications typically open early in the academic year from September or October. Some close as early as November-December. Many employers close applications as soon as their places are filled.
Graduate jobs tend to be immediate start positions which can be available all year round. You are more likely to apply for these towards the end of your studies.
Marketing vacancy sites
Use our resources to get started:
- MyCareer - search for graduate schemes and graduate jobs in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts
- Graduate Jobs – lists graduate vacancy sites
See Prospects for a list of graduate schemes that includes:
- Associated British Foods - has a two-year scheme involving project management and delivering presentations.
- Centrica - offers a commercial and marketing scheme lasting two years and three months, with the option for flexible home working.
- Diageo - runs a three-year rotational programme involving brand marking and customer activation.
- Nestle - has a two-year scheme that covers brand communication and analysing market trends.
- Newton Europe - its people and marketing stream involves three placements lasting three to six months each.
- Virgin Media - runs a two-year commercial, product and marketing scheme with four, six-month rotations.
- There is also the 'Top 100 graduate employers' list, that advertises different marketing schemes and placements - The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2023-2024
See these vacancy sites for more marketing jobs:
- CIM Jobs - search for vacancies across a wide range of sectors
- Guardian Jobs - marketing and PR jobs
- LinkedIn: Jobs
- Campaign: Jobs
- Marketing Week
- Only Marketing Jobs
- Simply Marketing Jobs
- The Drum
- The Dots - creative network, includes marketing and digital marketing. Search for job opportunities
- Digital Marketing Jobs
- Digital Grads - opportunities in tech and media, including digital marketing
- Arts Marketing Association (AMA) - includes marketing jobs in the arts, culture and heritage sector
Market research vacancy sites
- Research Jobfinder - from the Market Research Society
- MrWeb
- Social Research Association - jobs
- Ipsos MORI – offers a graduate scheme in market research
Worldwide vacancy sites
See International jobs for details of overseas vacancy sites.
Access GoinGlobal for job adverts in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:
- additional vacancy websites
- CV, application and interview advice
- Advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world.
Non-advertised work experience and graduate jobs
Not all internships, placements and graduate jobs are advertised. In fact, many people create opportunities through:
- networking and making contacts
- developing their own business ideas
A speculative approach is common for finding internships and placements and graduate jobs. This is where you approach a company directly to ask if they have any opportunities available.
How to access hidden opportunities
Start by identifying organisations you are interested in. Our guide to finding organisations below can help. Then use the following steps to approach them speculatively about possible opportunities:
- Identify a contact name to address your cover letter to. Call or email to find out who handles recruitment within the organisation. Or, find a key contact in the department you want to work in.
- Send them a tailored CV and cover letter, Express your enthusiasm for the sector. Show that you have researched the company.
- Follow up your speculative application with a phone call, or email, around a week later. This shows you are serious and motivated.
- If your application was unsuccessful, ask for feedback or advice, and keep trying!
How to find organisations
- Find organisations on MyCareer. Select ‘search' then 'organisations’.
- Use the business directories and databases on our Researching employers page.
- Search for companies on LinkedIn. The Find Alumni tool shows you where Newcastle graduates are currently working.
- Browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed.
Use the resources below to find organisations in the North East, UK and worldwide.
North East organisations
- Digital Agency Network: Best digital agencies in Newcastle. This includes marketing, creative, social media and digital agencies
- Toffee Factory: Occupier directory - office space in Ouseburn, Newcastle. Includes marketing and digital companies
- North East Chamber of Commerce: Business directory. – Search for marketing agencies in the North East
- Explain Research - North East market research company
UK organisations
- targetjobs - search employers by sector, eg software engineering or technology
- Find organisations on MyCareer. Click ‘Search' then 'Organisations’ to find companies the Careers Service has worked with. Can filter by keyword, sector and region
- LinkedIn Alumni tool - see where Newcastle University graduates are working for inspiration
- creativebrief - includes agency database of digital and integrated marketing companies
- Direct Marketing Agency – member directory
- Institute of Promotional Marketing. See their member directory for a list of agencies
- Association for Qualitative Research includes member and business directories, useful for speculative applications
- Yell.com - search for marketing/market research agencies by location
- Professional body websites sometimes include member directories, which are helpful for finding employers.
Worldwide organisations
Search GoinGlobal’s employer directory for company information in 196 countries. Their country guides list professional bodies around the world.
Other ways to gain relevant experience
We've added some suggestions to help you develop your skills and gain relevant experience.
- undertake a free virtual internship, eg through the Forage platform
- think about voluntary work - see Volunteering for help with finding opportunities. See Google's Nonprofit Marketing Immersion. This experience allows you to help not-for-proft organisations with their marketing.
- sign up for a free marketing course:
- Google Digital Garage has free online marketing training. This includes in content marketing, search and analytics.
- Digital Business Academy has free online courses. These courses focus on understanding what makes a strong brand.
- The Digital Nomad Project offers free part-time online courses to help you become a digital freelancer.
- enter a marketing-related competition, such as the DMA Talent Marketing Challenge
- become a student ambassador - there are opportunities across the University each year
- write articles for the Courier (Newcastle University's student newspaper). You could also create a blog to showcase your writing skills, as well as promoting your blog on social media.
- see targetjobs for advice on how to promote your work through social media
- find part-time work as a campus rep for a brand. You could also work in sales, customer service, market research, promotions or even flyering for local clubs/bars.
- Field Marketing & Promotions offers casual in-house promotion work throughout the UK
You can also gain an understanding of SEO (search engine optimisation), PPC (pay per click) and Google Adwords for digital marketing.
See Econsultancy’s jargon buster for definitions and Moz’s guides to learning SEO and Search Marketing.
Specialist recruitment agencies
Recruitment agencies can be useful for finding graduate jobs in marketing. These tend to be for immediate start positions. It's worth registering with one or two agencies towards the end of your course.
Specialist agencies include:
- F1 Recruitment – London-based recruitment agency
- Spotlight Recruitment. This is a specialist recruitment agency for marketing and communications sector, based in London
See Recruitment Agencies to find more agencies.
Finding overseas recruitment agencies
GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of recruitment agencies in specific countries. They are listed under the following headings:
- Staffing agencies and temporary help firms
- Executive recruiters and search firms
Recruitment agencies may not operate in the same way in different countries. In the UK agencies are free for job seekers, but this may not be the case elsewhere. Explore the terms and conditions of an agency before signing up to use them.
Work for yourself
Working as self-employed or freelance is common in the marketing sector.
The following resources may be useful:
- How to become a freelance digital marketer - article from Digital Marketing Jobs
- Digital Grads: How To Get Your Freelance Digital Marketing Career Off The Ground Even When You Have Zero Experience
- Freelance UK - freelance marketing and PR news and industry guides
Our START UP team can help you explore working for yourself at any stage. Whether you want to explore an idea or have already launched a business or freelance career, you can access the following help:
- support with idea generation
- provide tailored advice
- help you develop your skills
- introduce you to like-minded peers
- refer you to further support from mentors
- award grant funding up to £3,000