What is a marketing graduate programme?

Marketing graduate programmes (otherwise known as graduate schemes), will generally start as a period of training that will allow you to progress into a full-time role with the business at the end of them. Work may include copywriting and creating communications material for advertising or public relations purposes, as well as other specialist areas of marketing, such as social media or SEO (search engine optimisation), and liaising directly with clients. This could be with a marketing agency, but it’s far more likely that it will be in house for a well-known business or brand.

Is a marketing graduate programme right for you?

If you have studied a marketing or marketing-related degree, you may already know whether or not you have a passion for this career. Marketing is not closed to those with different degree subjects – for example, technical and numerical subjects tend to work well for data analytics-driven marketing. It would be worth undertaking an internship to determine whether you’d find the work engaging, and giving yourself a skills audit to see whether you’d have what it takes to succeed. This is a highly competitive profession but can provide opportunities to work for a huge range of employers in different fields. In many cases, you are not necessarily locked into marketing if you discover a different field (such as management) while on rotation during a graduate scheme.

When is the best time to apply for marketing graduate programmes?

Although there are still some marketing agencies that recruit graduates, the majority of employers will be larger entities, such fast-moving consumer goods companies. As with most graduate employers, applications open in September/October with deadlines in November/December for jobs to start in the autumn of the following year.