Choosing a college major that leads to a satisfying career is not easy. The choices are many and varied. Often students opt for college majors based on academic aptitudes, a single strong interest, personal values, or market factors which sometimes change. Experiencing the work itself as early as possible through part-time jobs and internships will help individuals realize whether or not they have chosen wisely from the millions of jobs available. The field of marketing offers many opportunities. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, marketing and sales jobs will grow by 2.3 million from 1998 to 2008, with a large number of these in services industries. Advertising, marketing, and public relations managers, management analysts, and college and university professors are among the fastest growing occupations. Marketing professionals are employed in every type of industry and nonprofit organization, including government. Employment with large advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and consulting agencies offers the possibility of advancement to partner, enabling an individual to share proportionately in the profits of the agency. Marketing fields also offer numerous options for self-employment as manufacturers' agents, entrepreneurs, and consultants in such areas as marketing strategy, public relations, and advertising. Whatever an individual's interests and values, marketing has something to offer.

Career decision-making is complex because it requires a careful analysis of one's strengths and weaknesses and it has a major impact on one's quality of life and the achievement of personal goals. A career decision-making model that incorporates both internal and external factors affecting career choice follows. The blank lines in the model enable career decision makers to add factors important to them and to rank the factors in terms of their relative importance. It was developed to enable individuals to better evaluate the career options discussed in this book.

Among the factors influencing an individual's career choice are careers of family members, guidance from teachers, suggestions from friends, personal interests, and values. A college education requires a large commitment of time, money, and energy, and selecting a college major demands careful consideration. Even students who have already chosen a college major should explore other options early in their education to be sure that they have chosen wisely. Some students become dissatisfied with their original choice when they begin to take courses in the field and end up wanting to change majors. Advisors assigned to students can provide some help, but most are not career specialists.

Today, most college campuses have career information centers available both to students and members of the community who are interested in exploring career options. User-friendly computerized career information systems are available in many college career centers. These systems aid students in making career choices by relating responses on a questionnaire to various careers and generating a list of career options based on the responses. Students can then obtain descriptions of careers that look interesting. Many computerized systems provide information on colleges and financial aid as well. Career centers house a plethora of printed career information, including occupational briefs, current articles, and books such as Careers in Marketing.

It is our hope that all who explore marketing careers through this book will gain the insights and enthusiasm for marketing that we have gained in writing it. In addition to job descriptions, this book includes personal and educational requirements for those entering marketing careers, salary data, job market information, trends, job search tips, and many sources of additional information. Challenges and rewards abound for those entering the field of marketing. The first and greatest challenge is to prepare and market oneself. It is the objective of this book to help in this end.