Are you friendly, optimistic and outgoing? Creative and expressive? A team player? Passionate? Do you enjoy public speaking? Can you be persuasive? Do you have negotiation skills? Do you have an ambition to succeed? Well, take a look at Marketing, Sales and Service career field.

MARKETING, SALES AND SERVICES

Marketing is predicting what customers need, then directing the information about the goods and services from a producer to a customer to satisfy those needs. Marketers work with advertising professionals to determine how adverts should look, where they should be placed, and when the advertising should begin. Marketing campaigns may begin months before a product is available. This creates a desire for the product in the marketplace and gives the manufacturer a leg up on any competitors.

Sales jobs involve actual transactions between customers and manufacturers, retailers, or wholesalers. In these transactions, money is exchanged for goods or services. Manufacturers produce consumer goods, Wholesalers buy products from manufacturers and sell them to retail businesses, who in turn sell them directly to the customers.

Service marketing might include the process of selling telecommunications, health treatment, financial, hospitality, car rental, air travel, and professional services.

The marketing, sales, and service marketing scope of work involves buying and merchandising, distribution and logistics, e-marketing, management and entrepreneurship, marketing communications and promotion, marketing information management and research, and professional sales and marketing.

Jobs in the marketing, sales, and service career field call for excellent communication skills. To prepare for a career in this field, be sure to sharpen your speech and writing skills while in school. Participating in debate or drama clubs is a great way to learn the importance of accurate and succinct messages, which is critical in this field. This sector had only 3% of the jobs advertised.

FUTURE JOBS

The jobs in this sector include

  • Brand Managers
  • Brokers
  • Advertising Managers
  • Customer Managers
  • Marketing Communication Specialists
  • Promotions Managers
  • Public Relations Officers
  • Sales Personnel
  • Credit Managers
  • Debt Clerks
  • Stock Brokers
  • Financial and Investment Managers
  • Market Research.

SKILLS

This sector has more to do with an individual’s personality than academic qualifications, such as

  • Cheerfulness
  • Persuasiveness
  • Reliability
  • Assertiveness
  • Ability to influence people
  • Enterprising
  • Good communication skills.

COURSES

These are some of the academic programmes you can study to attain a career in this field;

COURSE ENTRY QUALIFICATIONS

To get into the courses above, these are some of the schemes you can apply through;

  • Direct Entry; the candidates should have a minimum of two (2) principle passes in all A ‘level subjects obtained at the same sitting or its equivalent in relevant subjects.
  • Diploma entry scheme; the candidate should hold a relevant diploma course.
  • Mature age entry scheme; the candidate should have a pass in the mature age entry examinations with at least 50% and must be 25 years and above with a certificate or diploma in any course.

NOTE: Candidates who have obtained at least one (1) principle pass or its equivalent in relevant subjects can apply for diploma and certificate programmes. For certificate courses, candidates must have attained a minimum of 5 credits at O ‘level.

(SOURCES: The New Vision newspaper university guide, the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Sports, Career Guidance Handbook, and the Uganda Bureau of Statistics)