Don’t bet on that marketing degree, Gen Z

COMPANIES want to hire recent graduates who pursued business, accounting and finance. Marketing majors need not apply.

Gen Zers, many of whom have grown up marketing themselves and building followings on social media, have gravitated toward the degree in the tens of thousands, according to Handshake, especially the creative side of the field that includes brand-building and advertising.

The career networking platform, which focuses on undergraduate students, estimates that applications for marketing jobs have nearly tripled since 2021. 

That glut, coupled with new competition from artificial intelligence (AI), is making it increasingly difficult for them to find employment: Nearly six out of 10 marketing students are working high school-level jobs five years after graduation, according to a new study from the Burning Glass Institute and Strada Education Foundation. 

“It is brutal, man,” said Olivia Simone, 22, who graduated from Michigan State University in 2023 with a degree in marketing. She now works as a receptionist in New York City.

She said that she began applying for jobs in the autumn of her senior year and then moved on to cold-calling companies, but only found jobs that required at least two years of experience. She’s been “ghosted” by what feels like “millions of employers”.

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The fact that even low-level marketing jobs now require previous experience makes establishing a career an especially tricky prospect for recent graduates, according to Katie Birkelo, senior vice-president of finance and accounting at staffing group Randstad. “I would bet half of them do not graduate with a job because it’s the same degree everybody else has,” Birkelo explained, noting that in the past those studying marketing had much better prospects. “The times have changed.”

General marketing majors, who focus on brand management and advertising, now also need additional technical skills, according to Ryan Felkamp, vice-president of recruiting at staffing agency Kelly Services. The profession is becoming more numbers-driven and data-oriented as promotion moves online, while past marketing tasks, such as the creation of physical fliers and graphic design, are no longer a priority. 

Many parts of the role can now be done by generative AI, which can create designs and advertising content, meaning that a full-time employee is often no longer necessary for the creative work that marketing students say attracted them to the field. Felkamp estimated that only 3 per cent to 5 per cent of company inquiries he receives are in search of a marketing specialist. For comparison, about 75 per cent are related to accounting and finance. 

Natalie Zhong, 21, recently graduated from Baruch College with a marketing degree and lives in Brooklyn. She has been working at Starbucks, picking up marketing internships when she can. While she is currently in an apprenticeship, she has seen little future or mentorship during her limited stints. “I do not know what I should be doing next,” she added. “I want a more structured path.”

Other undergraduate business majors are faring much better. For example, only 10 per cent of those who studied business management were unable to find a good job after graduation, according to the Burning Glass and Strada Education study. Accountants easily got offers. Degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics also remain desirable. 

When entering college, students often aren’t aware that some business degrees are more desirable than others. Katie Karl, 23, a recent graduate from the Kelley School of Business in Bloomington, Indiana, who now works in real estate in Chicago, said that she pictured herself getting a job at a marketing agency and having stability. “That is obviously not what I’m doing now,” she noted. 

Marketing graduates’ struggles stand out even more amid a relatively tight US labour market which has plenty of job listings. Andrew Hanson, senior director of research at Strada, said that there’s a lack of coordination between universities and employers. “It is a general lack of alignment across the entire system,” added Hanson. “The faculty does not necessarily have a strong sense of what employers are looking for with respect to specific skills they are teaching.”

Frustrated with the futile job search, Simone plans to go back to school and get a master’s degree in political communications. Zhong said that graduate school might be her next step if she cannot find work after her apprenticeship ends. “I do not think my marketing degree can get me where I want to go,” Simone added. “I cannot do this for the rest of my life.” BLOOMBERG