Amarican Marketing Association membership: Is it worth it?

[Lucky]

Hi everyone.

I am looking for a job in marketing and came across this association. They claim to have regular meetings and events that could help to establish some connections and probably find a job this way. The membershop fee is around $250 per year. However, I have doubts and it looks like a member needs to make additional payments for every event. What I also find interesting is that they have a job refferal program.

Is it worth a try?

If someone has any experience with this association, please share!

Thanks,
Lucky

[Zvezda]

I am looking for a job in marketing and came across this association. They claim to have regular meetings and events that could help to establish some connections and probably find a job this way. The membershop fee is around $250 per year. However, I have doubts and it looks like a member needs to make additional payments for every event. What I also find interesting is that they have a job refferal program.

Я тоже в маркетинге. Сама не встyпaла в AMA, но мой муж вступил (ему по работе положено, он профессор), так что у меня есть доступ к некоторым их ресурсам. Я их информацией не пользовалась особо в целях поиска работы. Мне кажется, что у них очень академический уклон. В плане получения контактов и работ для practitioner - когда нужна работа, я считаю уже поздно метаться. Вот если заранее вступить, да на их собрания ходить, да волонтирить там, то потом это и в резюме можно указать, и глядишь с кем познакомишься на будушее. По поводу job referrals я думаю так: работодателю выгодно, чтобы их обявления видело макскимальное количество людей - в этом плане им выгоднее повесить обявление на бесплатный ресурс типа Монстер, а не закрытый для обшей публики. Одновременно с этим раbотодателям выгодно, чтобы их обьявление видело максимальное кол-во квалифицированных людей - в этом плане им выгодно пользоваться фильтрируюшими механизмами, но по критерию проф. пригодности, а не уплаты членских взносов. Например, если Вы закончили top MBA school в США - то Вас "отфильтровали", т.к. туда не всех возьмут, и Вы скорее всего выше среднего будете работником. А если Вы заплатили взнос в АМА - то работодателю от этого ни жарко, ни холодно. Но это моё личное мнение.

P.S. Да, хочу добавить - это не левая какая-нибудь организация, а вполне известная и авторитетная, но (по моему мнению) больше в академической среде, как я выше сказала.

[Lucky]

Zvezda, Thanks very much for your response.

It means a lot to me, and I don't know anyone to ask.

I recently received a permission to work here and I am looking for my first job. And it looks like it's tough to find a job in marketing. I mostly have experience in Internet Marketing and I'd like to concentrate on marketing research.

I have some experience in this area but I feel that I need to gain more. I tried to find a volunteer job but found only "funds raising and writing ads".

I thought about contacting marketing research companies directly and asking for volunteer opportunities. Is it an acceptable way to do it?

I also thought about internship opportunities but I am not a student or an alumni of an american university. (bachelor degree from Russia)

What are my options?

Thanks again.

Lucky.

[Zvezda]

Zvezda, Thanks very much for your response.

Sure

it looks like it's tough to find a job in marketing.

I would rephrase it as "it's tough to find a job". Period. I mean a good job.

I mostly have experience in Internet Marketing

What exactly did you do?

and I'd like to concentrate on marketing research.I have some experience in this area but I feel that I need to gain more.

Could you list your marketing research skills/experiences? I assume we are talking primary marketing research here.

I tried to find a volunteer job but found only "funds raising and writing ads".

Those are two distinct functions: fund raising is sales wheres writing ads is creative/mktg communications so if you are interested in marketing perhaps you could get a start on the creative side.

I thought about contacting marketing research companies directly and asking for volunteer opportunities. Is it an acceptable way to do it?

I don't know anybody who did that with a marketing research companiy (I know people who've done this in other type companies) but I don't see why not. I would assume if you did that you'd be most likely be offered a job doing something like telephone interviews, mall interceptions or data tabulation... unless you possess some heavy-duty marketing research skills in which case you may be able to participate in survey instrument design, more sophisticated ways of collecting primary data and data analyses.

Also, keep in mind that it's not just the marketing research companies that do the research. Some companies do it in-house. Almost any large company is bound to have a marketing research department. It may, however, be more difficult to approach them because they tend to have a rather formalized recruitment process.

I also thought about internship opportunities but I am not a student or an alumni of an american university. (bachelor degree from Russia)

You don't have to be a student/alumna of a US university to get an internship. It's just that companies frequently recruit interns on campus and it's somewhat unorthodox for a non-student to go for an internship.

What are my options?

I am not a career counselor (even though I sometimes act like one ) so I don't have an answer for you. You may have to invest a lot of time in figuring out how to start your work life in US.

[Lucky]

What exactly did you do?

Search Engine optimization, internet marketing campaigns (banners, Google's AdWords, etc), analyzed clients' feedback, etc.

And now I want to move to something more interesting for me, like segmentation analysis, regression models. I have an option to go and get an MBA but I want to put my hands on this field first. + I hope to get sponsorship from an employer. Is it possible? I mean is it doable?

I don't know anybody who did that with a marketing research companiy (I know people who've done this in other type companies) but I don't see why not. I would assume if you did that you'd be most likely be offered a job doing something like telephone interviews, mall interceptions or data tabulation... unless you possess some heavy-duty marketing research skills in which case you may be able to participate in survey instrument design, more sophisticated ways of collecting primary data and data analyses.

Thanks for your support here. I will try to contact a few companies.

Thanks again,
Lucky

[KatrinaR]

Если естъ поблизости университет, зайдите к ним на кафедру маркетинга и спросите, можно ли вступит в ассоциациu не будучи студентом. В моём универе за год всего $25 membership fee и намного болъше шансов закинут удочку в marketing field посколъку народ на собрания приходит опытный или желауший найти intern.

[Lucky]

KatrinaR,

Thanks for the tip!

I will definetely do that. I am thinking about joining AMA but have doubts. They have around 2-3 meetings per year. And it looks like volunteer opportunities are not available (at least at this moment in my chapter). So Univeristies and their associations can have better ROI . $260 vs. $25

Lucky

[Zvezda]

And now I want to move to something more interesting for me, like segmentation analysis, regression models.

I studied regressions pretty thoroughly in my MBA program. But I guess you can just take a statistics class to cover regression. FYI makreitng research people usually come from either a marketing background (you can even get a concentration in marketing research in some schools) or a math background (math, statistics, clinical psycology). Some firms have quite a few PhDs doing the research. If you are serious about marketing research you may want to consider taking some statistics classes even if you decide against the MBA program.

I have an option to go and get an MBA but I want to put my hands on this field first. + I hope to get sponsorship from an employer. Is it possible? I mean is it doable?

That's what I wanted to do too... wound up going for my MBA instead I think it's doable though. I've never met anybody who's done it but read stories about people who did. The tough thing is to get your first professional job in US.

Thanks for your support here. I will try to contact a few companies.

My pleasure and good luck!