Those with the right training and qualifications can find openings in marketing and sales departments of almost any type of:

· Industry
· Public or private sector organization
· Multinational company
· Export firm

Those who plan to start out in sales, hoping to switch to a career in marketing at a later stage, would be advised to initially join a smaller organization, as upward mobility is slow and rare in large firms.

DIVERSIFICATION

Social Marketing

Marketing skills are required by non-commercial ventures as much as by profit-making organizations. Government as well as non-governmental/voluntary organizations concerned with areas like development, welfare, health or safety, often hire marketing professionals to apply the same basic principles used in launching, testing and developing a product, to the promotion of an idea or a cause. 

Social marketing is opening up as an alternative avenue of employment for qualified people with an inclination towards social welfare and development. 

Consultancy

A number of organizations find it more cost effective to hire the services of a consultancy firm or an individual consultant to plan their marketing strategy, rather than set up a separate department for this purpose. 

Consultancy firms are equipped with the infrastructure and expertise to conduct an entire market research survey, analyzes its results, and work out the basis of product strategy. This is a fast expanding area, offering a large number of job opportunities. Those launching out on their own consultancy firms, however, would require considerable experience in the field, and very good business connections to experience success.

FUTURE PROJECTIONS

The importance of the marketing and sales function in business has grown enormously in recent years. With companies laying far greater stress on the development of this department in order to stay ahead of the ever-increasing competition, the demand for competent, trained marketing and sales personnel is huge, and will continue to expand well into the next century. This makes future prospects look very bright for those entering a marketing and sales career.

RELATED CAREERS

Advertising, management, public relations, retail distribution, shipbroking, exporting.