Marketing is an essential function of every business in every industry. It deals with the relationship between products and/or services and the consumers in the marketplace which access them. A common assumption is that marketing is the advertising or public relations arm of an organization. While these are certainly included, marketing involves every step in the life cycle of a product or service, including research and development, testing, rollout, promotion, feedback, and more.

While careers in marketing are expected to increase, competition for management-level positions will reward candidates with a combination of education and experience. A bachelor’s or master’s degree in marketing or related area, combined with job or internship experience is highly recommended.

Marketing is what ties everything together in business. Most businesses function by compartmentalizing materials, resources, research and development, accounting, planning, and more. Marketers use all of these areas of business to increase the capacity of the business to compete in the marketplace and build relationships with consumers. If you enjoy working with strategy, new ideas, and interaction with others, marketing could be a good choice for you.

The world today has plenty of workers with degrees in business, including marketing. And it takes much more than just a degree to compete with them. Employers today want employees not only competent in their field but who can communicate effectively, work in and lead teams, and are able to observe and analyze a situation to quickly identify the best solution. You won’t find this experience in just any degree program.

The best business education should include two important standards: (1) Everything you learn should be useful in the world right now, not just twenty years ago or “someday in your future career.” (2) You should be given the opportunity to put what you learn to the test. Many universities offer excellent lessons in business theory. Others offer a more training-based education. Very few can offer you both.

Absolutely. In our School of Business, we believe that the value of your education is found in how you can use it right now. So we not only hire professors with the highest level of education available in their respective fields, we find those who are also active in research, publications, consulting work, and other opportunities for active engagement in marketing. By the time you graduate from La Sierra University with a degree in marketing, we want you to already have valuable experience not only in the standards and practices of this field, but in acting as a leader, a team-member, an effective communicator, a sharp analyst, and an ethical decision-maker.

In our School of Business, we believe in the value of small class-sizes combined with highly engaged professors. We limit the maximum enrollment of each of our marketing courses to thirty students or fewer, allowing our professors to work closely with each student, maximizing their potential for learning. In addition, each of our professors holds regular office hours, a time for students to meet with them for assistance, questions, advice, or even to learn of networking or career opportunities. There is nothing that delights our professors more than students interested in their own growth.

Yes. We strongly believe in the value of engagement outside of the classroom. All students are given opportunities to apply what they learn in the classroom in useful ways to our local and global community. Whether it be through community engagement in our Service-Learning courses, student-led projects in our Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) Team, events and activities with our highly active business club and other student groups on campus, our students learn through experience.

We also work actively to engage students in job and internship opportunities. The fact that La Sierra University lies in the fastest growing county in the state and a city known for its affinity to business provides our students with excellent prospects for local work and internship opportunities. Our annual Meet the Firms Night event stands as one such opportunity for students to meet and network with potential employers.

One of the most common mistakes potential business students make is assuming that the study of business is only for those who “enjoy math” or “working with numbers.” Today’s employers need students with strong communication, leadership, critical thinking, and analytical ability. As a university, we seek well-rounded students with these same characteristics. And based on current trends across the United States, students who put extra effort into their written and oral communication skills before college end up in high demand.