Do you want to build a marketing career in the automotive industry? You may be at an early stage in your career path and be considering in your options. Or perhaps you already work in an automotive industry marketing role and are thinking about your next move.
With over 20 years’ experience helping automotive industry marketing professionals progress their careers, I have written this guide to give you an overview of the different marketing careers the automotive industry can offer. I’ll look at the different directions and specialisms you might want to consider and give you my top tips on how to achieve your career goals. I’ll then look a 4 example marketing careers – based on real-life examples of people currently working in the UK automotive industry.
Marketing Career Paths in the Automotive Industry
There are numerous different marketing specialisms you can follow in the automotive industry as well as wide ranging types of employer you could work for. You may want to become a ‘marketing generalist’ where you will have skills and experience across the ‘Marketing Mix‘. Alternatively you may choose to specialise in one area of marketing for example CRM or Digital Marketing.
The table below gives four examples of automotive industry marketing career paths, namely: marketing agency, retail marketing, product/brand management and vehicle manufacturer. These are just a few options – there are numerous other automotive industry marketing career paths including PR, CRM, events, digital marketing specialisms.
Your suitability and likelihood of success in each of these areas will largely depend on your skill set, personality and previous experience. Below are some examples careers of people currently working in the UK automotive industry. Click on each to read invaluable tips and advice from these four successfull automotive industry marketing experts who have have all taken different paths in their career journeys. Thanks very much to Rachel, Gina, Federico and Jess for your kind contributions!
Marketing Agency Career
Find a function that’s growing and that you are truly passionate about and learn it inside and out
Retail Marketing Career
It has been a roller-coaster of change and challenges, but I can say with certainty that I do love my career and everything that comes with it.
Product Marketing Career
It’s a very competitive, high pressure environment but equally very rewarding if you like cars and enjoy challenges.
Vehicle Manufacturer Career
Remember the industry is large – do your research, speak to people who work there, and consider carefully the right fit for you
How to achieve your marketing career goals
Hopefully the example careers have inspired you. So if you want to start (or progress) your automotive industry marketing career here’s my 7 point checklist to securing your dream marketing job:
- Make a plan. Decide where you’d like to take your career. You may want to set yourself short, medium and longer term goals. Consider your skill set and which areas of marketing you’re likely to be best suited to. Are you creative, are you highly analytical or are you a people person?
- Seek advice. Once you have an idea of where you want to take your career, I recommend talking to as many people as possible to learn more about the career options. Try and speak to someone who is in a role you aspire to get to. If you’ve not already done so – read the advice above given by the four successful automotive industry marketers featured in this article.
- Get Educated. A professional marketing qualification is highly regarded by many employers. A great place to find a suitable marketing course is the The Chartered Institute of Marketing.
- Get your CV in shape. For help with your CV – including free templates – see our CV advice.
- Start applying for jobs. Be focused and specific about what you apply for rather than having a scattergun approach. Only apply for jobs where you are a strong fit (at least 80%) to the skills and experience being asked for.
- Register with a specialist automotive industry recruitment agency, such as Copeland Automotive Recruitment. We have been helping people progress their automotive industry marketing careers for over 20 years. Learn why employees choose Copeland.
- Get yourself interview ready. If you prepare well for any interview you’ll greatly increase your chances of success. We offer all our candidates advice with interview preparation and techniques. Here are a couple of articles to help: Interview Preparation; Interview Presentations.
Next steps
If you’re ready to find your next marketing job in the automotive industry, Copeland Automotive Recruitment can help. We have over 20 years’ experience finding automotive industry marketing professionals their dream jobs. Learn more about our specialisms.
Take a look at our Current Vacancies or Register your CV.
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