Commerce (majoring in Marketing) questions (1 Viewer)

[indiansummer]

Hey everyone. I'm a long time browser, first time poster.

I'm looking to do a Commerce or Business degree, majoring in Marketing, and just have a few questions. I've been looking around with the search tool on this site for quite some time to find some resolutions and avoid starting a new topic, but I just need some clarification on a few issues.

1. Of the universities that offer these degrees, I am mostly interested in USyd, UNSW, Macquarie, ANU and UTS - but not necessarily in that order. Bearing in mind that most answers will come with some element of subjectivity, which university would be "best" for a Marketing major? My definition of "best" encompasses reputation both internationally and within local industry, future employment prospects, quality of lecturers and positive personal opinions on each course.

2. What are the advantages of doing (Commerce or Business)/Law in favour of straight Commerce/Business, particularly in relation to the Marketing major? Are there distinctive future employment oppurtunities in the field of Marketing when coupled with a Law degree?

3. I know many universities offer double majors within the Commerce degree. Is there a benefit to doing another major? If so, which major is best taken in conjunction with Marketing?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[danielvh]

Hi. Stazi would probably be the best one to answer this on these forums (I'm still waiting anxiously for his marketing guide).

I can answer question 2 and 3 though (although this is just from what I've seen so don't take it as fact).

2: Doing a Law degree would greatly increase your chances of a good graduate position. Employers know that to get through a law degree a student will have had to develop several soft skills such as organisation, deductive thinking and so on. So, all other things being equal, the job will go to the law graduate rather than the straight commerce graduate. Saying that, it's not worth doing law unless you're actually passionate and interested in it. I was previously doing a Law/Commerce degree but have changed to Economics/Commerce as that's where my interests lie.

3: There is an advantage to doing a double major. It allows you to broaden your knowledge. Majors that would be useful to have with marketing are probably management, accounting, information systems/management, economics and some sort of international business major. So, I'd pick one of those that you find interesting.

 

[indiansummer]

Thanks for your quick reply.

2: Doing a Law degree would greatly increase your chances of a good graduate position. Employers know that to get through a law degree a student will have had to develop several soft skills such as organisation, deductive thinking and so on. So, all other things being equal, the job will go to the law graduate rather than the straight commerce graduate. Saying that, it's not worth doing law unless you're actually passionate and interested in it. I was previously doing a Law/Commerce degree but have changed to Economics/Commerce as that's where my interests lie.

Law is an area of study which interests me, and one which I would not consider otherwise. The fact that it would be beneficial in the field of Marketing leads me to believe it would be useful to do a combined degree.

Although I know in some instances it is not technically correct, I'm operating under the assumption that UAI cutoffs are indicative of the "best" Commerce course as they reflect demand. Both Macquarie and ANU offer Combined Law courses at a cutoff which is virtually on par with a straight Commerce degree from either UNSW or USyd. Assuming that these figures do not change for 2008, which would be the best option? Would employers take a graduate with a Combined Law degree from Macquarie or ANU over a Commerce graduate from UNSW or USyd despite all courses bearing similar entrance requirements? This is an issue as I'm unsure as to whether I'll make the higher cutoffs needed for the UNSW or USyd Combined Law programs.

3: There is an advantage to doing a double major. It allows you to broaden your knowledge. Majors that would be useful to have with marketing are probably management, accounting, information systems/management, economics and some sort of international business major. So, I'd pick one of those that you find interesting.

Of these, International business and Managament are majors I am most interested in. Which of those two would be the best to major in alongside Marketing? I have no preference between the two so I am impartial as to which one I choose.

Any further input from other members would be great. Thanks again danielvh.

 

[velox]

I will get flamed for this, but most of the majors you have listed are pretty wishy washy crap. Management is useless at undergrad. What is international business? Marketing is at least a more conventional albeit ridculed discipline.

 

[indiansummer]

So you're saying... Marketing/Management/International Business won't matter anyway long term? I'm not really as big a fan of the accounting/financial side of things, so I'm not going to do them just so I can do non-"wishy washy crap" majors, but if they help me find employment I guess I could be swayed. I'm interested in Marketing though, so rather than merely criticise the majors I'm thinking of doing, what do you suggest would be more useful to couple with Marketing?

 

[velox]

So you're saying... Marketing/Management/International Business won't matter anyway long term? I'm not really as big a fan of the accounting/financial side of things, so I'm not going to do them just so I can do non-"wishy washy crap" majors, but if they help me find employment I guess I could be swayed. I'm interested in Marketing though, so rather than merely criticise the majors I'm thinking of doing, what do you suggest would be more useful to couple with Marketing?

Dont shoot the messenger. People dont have to reply remember.

I say accounting or finance or economics would be useful with marketing. Management doesn't teach you much, and most management positions come through experience, even if you're at coles.

What does international business even teach?

 

[§eraphim]

More clearly, if you do these majors you cannot claim to have any highly developed skills which would make you employable. Being skilled in a particular area is a good foundation for further and higher order learning and development.

(IMO, the only thing interesting about marketing are the statistical methods. The rest falls under pop psychology)

I think if you don't know what you're good at or know precisely what you want to do, you should consider a more general education (not a vocational major like marketing) that you find interesting . A good compromise for a 'humanities' kind of person is maybe psychology, economics/economic history and/or something arts related (maybe cultural studies?). That's at least one step up on international business.

 

[Conspirocy]

Just throwing it out there, best major with marketing: accounting.

Anyone agree/disagree?

Let me tell you why accounting. Sure you can be great at marketing and get a foot in the door. Long term how is a good marketer going to run a marketing department. Well I would say an accounting major, supplemented with a CA/CPA while you work in marketing would give you a big edge. That's just me. Probably an old view. Sure someone will disagree with it.

Then there is Finance...umm no, don't see how knowing how to do a merger or acquisition will ever help you in marketing. But then again if someone points it out to me I'm open to changing my view.

Economics I guess will give you a general idea of consumer behaviour, how to read the economy...met a lot of marketers who have done economics as well. Can't really say why it works, it just does. Most eco majors will get you to do some econometrics which would come in handy for market analysis which all you marketers seem to love. So I guess if you want to be a marketer with some quant skills an econometrics major would look good...even though most people say its watered down, would generally be all you need to get the job done in a marketing context.

Also flowing from the post above...psychology and marketing is a good combo...in psych u would do some of the statistical methods needed so a Com/Sci Combined degree is another option

Still favor the accounting...how can you manage a department and know little about the bottom line

 

[ahallam2]

Ok, I'm going to be brutally honest here.

Yes, International business is a useless load of crap. It sounds like you learn how to fly around the world and do billion dollar deals. It's not like that at all. (At my uni in international business) they teach you about importing/exporting and logistics etc. Useless and boring. Also, there are very few grad positions in this area. Even my careers counsellor at uni was trying to persuade people not to do it.

I agree with the other posters here that management is kinda useless as an undergrad as well. Look at it this way, once you finish uni, noone is going to hire you as a manager, so you cant use half your degree for at least a few years. That said, you could learn some good soft skills from it.

If you like marketing, go for it. Just be aware of the things you need to do to make yourself attractive as a grad. Conspirocy makes a good point about Accounting - you can use it anywhere as all businesses rely on this skill. There are also plenty of grad positions in this area.

I apologise if I've been to harsh (and the length) and I'm sure others will disagree with me, but I just see a lot of my friends who *think* they want to do commerce or business but dont want to learn the "bread and butter" subjects (accounting/finance/economics etc) that are so useful in all businesses and in getting a grad position.

 

[indiansummer]

Hey guys, thanks for the input. Having researched a bit more into the majors available I can understand where you guys are coming from in regards to management/international business. Your points about accounting make a lot of sense, and I'm seriously considering that now, after reading further into what it entails.

Thankyou to velox, §eraphim and Conspirocy and thesilentvine for your advice. If at all possible, any guidance in relation to the Commerce vs. Commerce/Law issue in my second post in this thread from somebody would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Vagabond]

Law gives a competitive edge on some ultra-competitive jobs, like in IB etc.

If you're planning on an accounting career its rather useless as CA incorporates all the law you need to do.

Marketing career useless also because any commercial company would have a dedicated legal team to handle that sort of stuff.

Obviously you'd gain from having done research, reasoning in essays etc etc but for a commercial career you'd be better off with an extra 2 years under your belt in the workplace

 

[Newbie]

law degrees for the win
both asthetically as 3 letters on your resume and practically because they do get you to think and analyse things on slightly deeper levels than debits and credits

 

[blOwfish]

If this hasn't been said before, have you considered going to UTS doing a major in Marketing, like you said, and combining it with a major in Advertising and Promotions Management? Those two majors complement each other very well, and from what I think, UTS is the only uni in Sydney that offers that major. But just a thought. I'm doing it though!

But overall, goodlucks with your choice

 

[indiansummer]

So it would be best to go for a combined law degree at Macquarie than straight Commerce at UNSW or USyd?

-also-

How does a UTS Business degree stack up against other Sydney unis for commerce/business courses for Marketing/graduate employment? I've heard it's more practical in its approach to coursework.

Thanks for the advice so far.

 

[stazi]

Just throwing it out there, best major with marketing: accounting.

Anyone agree/disagree?

Let me tell you why accounting. Sure you can be great at marketing and get a foot in the door. Long term how is a good marketer going to run a marketing department. Well I would say an accounting major, supplemented with a CA/CPA while you work in marketing would give you a big edge. That's just me. Probably an old view. Sure someone will disagree with it.

Disagree. To work in accounting, you don't need to have an accounting major. My mate got a job with E&Y and has not taken a single accounting unit. You will learn all you need to know in terms of accounting knowledge for marketing jobs from your first year units. When you are running a marketing department you get finance and accounting people looking after those elements.

From all my interaction with brand managers, you only need very basic accounting knowledge: i.e. understand the balance sheet, income statements, budgets, etc. Again, you learn this in first year accounting. Then other brand managers maintain that you don't even need this knowledge as you'll learn what you need on the job.

 

[stazi]

If this hasn't been said before, have you considered going to UTS doing a major in Marketing, like you said, and combining it with a major in Advertising and Promotions Management? Those two majors complement each other very well, and from what I think, UTS is the only uni in Sydney that offers that major. But just a thought. I'm doing it though!

But overall, goodlucks with your choice

because from my experience UTS marketing grads are less successful in getting employment.

So it would be best to go for a combined law degree at Macquarie than straight Commerce at UNSW or USyd?

-also-

How does a UTS Business degree stack up against other Sydney unis for commerce/business courses for Marketing/graduate employment? I've heard it's more practical in its approach to coursework.

Thanks for the advice so far.

No, I have never heard anyone say that a combined degree in law will really help in marketing. You don't really need to have this knowledge to get jobs in marketing. If you are keen on law, then major in marketing and commercial law. That would be quite useful.

Personally, I recommend USYD or UNSW - the best represented universities at all my internship interviews, and those with by far the most impressive candidates.

 

[shoxgeneration]

agreed - if you are interested in law but wish to ultimately pursue in marketing?

... then do majors in marketing & business law <-- they have upper electives specific to marketing, so it's very useful.

 

[stazi]

my guide to marketing is available from the following thread:

http://community.boredofstudies.org...ed-marketing.html?highlight=what+is+marketing