Has Degree.. Is unemployed...

[saturnz]

Speaking of unemployed graduates, do Bcom Acc grads need an Hons or CTA in order to get articles? My neighbour is unemployed and he has Bcom Acc and has asked me to help him find work. It's sad to see him like that taking up anything just to get working with a supposedly in demand qualification.

If you are going to start with accounting, the end goal should be CA, if thats not the end goal then the qualification is not in demand- sort of like a medical student with only four years of studies.

It should be easy for your neighbour to get a job for the purposes of completing articles, but if he wants a real job then it will be difficult for him.

 

[Random Hero]

A whole 5, is that all? You should be going to at least 5 interviews a week.
Heres a few to start with:
https://www.pnet.co.za/5/job-search...ld=resultlist2&whereRadius=0&ke=marketing&ws=

I actually applied for most of those... went for this interview yesterday :

Marketing Personnel
Express Employment Professionals SA - Pretoria

 

[Random Hero]

All of your threads does have some 'feels' to them. This is the first straight up question and answer thread from your side. But jokes aside.

I own a software development company, purely in the software-as-a-service market. Thus far I have only gotten clients by word of mouth, only recently did I start using social media (fb) and adwords to try and boost sales. But I don't really understand online marketing all that well. For the last 7 years, I only did face to face sales to people that approached me. I did hire a sales person last month, but he will be travelling and setting up face-to-face meetings with actual clients. I would love to get up to speed with online marketing and gather leads.

Going by my need for a marketer or marketing advise, there must certainly be a demand for your skills, especially if you can fine tune it to the current trend of social media and online whatever. Have you considered starting a small business on the side while you study? Doing online marketing, managing Facebook pages and twitter accounts, designing marketing strategies etc. There is even a market for you to manage the content companies place online in order to ensure maximum SEO and advert exposure (look at http://alfalfacontentgenerator.com/ one of my clients, that is all they do all day long.)

I will give these guys a look.

it seems as though people hire marketing people and expect them to run everything to do with marketing, i want to be in a position where I can learn and be mentored in marketing.

 

[Random Hero]

I have been looking for companies that can help you get google adwords and google analytics certified. does anyone know of such companies?

 

[heartbroken]

I will give these guys a look.

it seems as though people hire marketing people and expect them to run everything to do with marketing, i want to be in a position where I can learn and be mentored in marketing.

Unfortunately, I think that will generally be the case. Smaller companies do not have the resources to hire several marketers and assign each a specific role. Generally you will only find that in large corporates.

I would really suggest you take a hard look at starting up a business while you are studying.

 

[Random Hero]

Unfortunately, I think that will generally be the case. Smaller companies do not have the resources to hire several marketers and assign each a specific role. Generally you will only find that in large corporates.

I would really suggest you take a hard look at starting up a business while you are studying.

I actually want to do this, but I have limited resources. and I have my book knowledge and the little experience gained from working last year.

 

[WebNexus]

I actually want to do this, but I have limited resources. and I have my book knowledge and the little experience gained from working last year.

Creating a website is a cheap and effective means of starting a business with limited resources. Use that to sell some form of:
1-Service (social media consultant,etc)
2-Training (how to do marketing in X niche)
3-Online Course (how to pass ABC101 that you had in your course)

The formula: What problem/irritation can my knowledge base solve. Package this solution as a product/service, that can be monetised. Sell it.

Read the 4 hour work week: http://www.kalahari.com/Books/The-4-Hour-Work-Week_p_40073988

Video Summary of the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3TeLsaKzAM

This book, "Rich Dad-Poor Dad" and "How to win friends and influence" people should all be required reading in school. Also they should have taught us how tax works, but I digress.

 

[Random Hero]

Creating a website is a cheap and effective means of starting a business with limited resources. Use that to sell some form of:
1-Service (social media consultant,etc)
2-Training (how to do marketing in X niche)
3-Online Course (how to pass ABC101 that you had in your course)

The formula: What problem/irritation can my knowledge base solve. Package this solution as a product/service, that can be monetised. Sell it.

Read the 4 hour work week: http://www.kalahari.com/Books/The-4-Hour-Work-Week_p_40073988

Video Summary of the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3TeLsaKzAM

This book, "Rich Dad-Poor Dad" and "How to win friends and influence" people should all be required reading in school. Also they should have taught us how tax works, but I digress.

Thank you for the tips... i literally survive on R2000 a month... that includes everything, petrol, food.. everything. its really difficult for me to invest time into extra things... right now I am also doing bad with my honours. I have to submit a research proposal in may and that is not going to happen. and my 2 theory subjects are also not doing well. So my life is a complete ball of stress right now and I struggle to motivate myself because of being unemployed. I know what I am capable of and I know my worth. I am just not getting employment.

I am a very innovative person. I have many business ideas and i do know how to draft up decent business plans and business models. I also know how to do proper market research. my problem is that I am not getting the opportunity I need

 

[^^vampire^^]

Creating a website is a cheap and effective means of starting a business with limited resources. Use that to sell some form of:
1-Service (social media consultant,etc)
2-Training (how to do marketing in X niche)
3-Online Course (how to pass ABC101 that you had in your course)

The formula: What problem/irritation can my knowledge base solve. Package this solution as a product/service, that can be monetised. Sell it.

Read the 4 hour work week: http://www.kalahari.com/Books/The-4-Hour-Work-Week_p_40073988

Video Summary of the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3TeLsaKzAM

This book, "Rich Dad-Poor Dad" and "How to win friends and influence people" should all be required reading in school. Also they should have taught us how tax works, but I digress.

^ this coupled with how to change a tyre.

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

Having a degree means nothing these days, especially if you don't have an in demand one.

My cousin has a BSc Environmental Water Sciences Hons, still trying to find work. That's why I'm pushing the rest of my, still school going family, to either go BComm (pref Economics) or BEng.

But don't give up bud, I was unemployed for a year and half after graduating before I got my break.

I wouldn't limit choices to just those two.

Any mathematically-inclined BSc will do just as well, and in many cases, surpass the above two. Actuarial science, computer science, maths and stats, applied maths, physics - these are all degrees that will allow you to succeed.

The world would be a boring place with just bean counters and engineers in it...

 

[Spotja]

I wouldn't limit choices to just those two.

Any mathematically-inclined BSc will do just as well, and in many cases, surpass the above two. Actuarial science, computer science, maths and stats, applied maths, physics - these are all degrees that will allow you to succeed.

The world would be a boring place with just bean counters and engineers in it...

But Physics? Are we talking money-wise?

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

But Physics? Are we talking money-wise?

It's a mathematical degree. I know of quite a few successful people in the banking sector with physics degrees, employed in quantitative analysis, algorithmic trading, etc.

If you have a degree that you feel can help fill a skills void, then you should be able to market yourself well...

 

[Spotja]

It's a mathematical degree. I know of quite a few successful people in the banking sector with physics degrees, employed in quantitative analysis, algorithmic trading, etc.

If you have a degree that you feel can help fill a skills void, then you should be able to market yourself well...

Ok. I thought you meant getting into the mainstream physics field, Research and education

 

[heartbroken]

Creating a website is a cheap and effective means of starting a business with limited resources. Use that to sell some form of:
1-Service (social media consultant,etc)
2-Training (how to do marketing in X niche)
3-Online Course (how to pass ABC101 that you had in your course)

The formula: What problem/irritation can my knowledge base solve. Package this solution as a product/service, that can be monetised. Sell it.

^ Best post in this thread. READ, IT, AGAIN!

Thank you for the tips... i literally survive on R2000 a month... that includes everything, petrol, food.. everything. its really difficult for me to invest time into extra things... right now I am also doing bad with my honours. I have to submit a research proposal in may and that is not going to happen. and my 2 theory subjects are also not doing well. So my life is a complete ball of stress right now and I struggle to motivate myself because of being unemployed. I know what I am capable of and I know my worth. I am just not getting employment.

I am a very innovative person. I have many business ideas and i do know how to draft up decent business plans and business models. I also know how to do proper market research. my problem is that I am not getting the opportunity I need

Well that's the problem - you are going to have to make time for it to work. Money is not an issue, you can get a hosted website with email for R9 a month. You can make that by asking a stranger for money at the shops.

With regards to 'getting an opportunity', the short answer is you won't. Life only works that way for a small number of people. The rest of us has to go and make it for ourself. Think, Try, Fail, Repeat.

 

[saturnz]

I wouldn't limit choices to just those two.

Any mathematically-inclined BSc will do just as well, and in many cases, surpass the above two. Actuarial science, computer science, maths and stats, applied maths, physics - these are all degrees that will allow you to succeed.

The world would be a boring place with just bean counters and engineers in it...

economists are not bean counters, those are accountants, huge difference

 

[Gunner182]

I wouldn't limit choices to just those two.

Any mathematically-inclined BSc will do just as well, and in many cases, surpass the above two. Actuarial science, computer science, maths and stats, applied maths, physics - these are all degrees that will allow you to succeed.

The world would be a boring place with just bean counters and engineers in it...

Reason I didn't include BSc is that I've always thought of it as an academic degree, prob just my ignorance.

And ja as said above, Economists are far from bean counters.

 

[w1z4rd]

Didn't know if was a competition man..

You have a lot to learn about capitalism

 

[noob_saibot]

I don't know how much my advice might help, but it may be a worthwhile opportunity to pursue.

You currently have a marketing foundation, so now you need to add a quantitative skill to your skill-set.

Thing is, you aren't the only grad unemployed. Also, there is a bias sometimes from alumni when they don't recognize the prestige of your varsity (yes, SA has elite varsities). As far as the numbers go, I've heard the figure sits around 60,000+ grads with no **work.

Everyone wants experience to hire, but nobody can offer that experience.

In your situation, you can either become a legendary salesman and rake in more money than a CEO based on commissions (being able to sell something is one of the hardest things out there) or you can pursue a field more applicable to your scenario and go into: Data Analytics / Big Data (recommended).

There is no formal program for it, so you will need to self-train, self-publish and build up your status as a marketer with quantitative research skills.

You can then present yourself to: Big Bank, Big Supermarket, Big Insurer, Big X Company with over 100,000 clients and show them how you use your data analytics + marketing skills to gain insight into the market.

Difficult? Yes, but you'll stand out in the crowd of CVs and they can maximize more value from you than pure-marketing grads.

Good luck.

 

[saturnz]

I don't know how much my advice might help, but it may be a worthwhile opportunity to pursue.

You currently have a marketing foundation, so now you need to add a quantitative skill to your skill-set.

Thing is, you aren't the only grad unemployed. Also, there is a bias sometimes from alumni when they don't recognize the prestige of your varsity (yes, SA has elite varsities). As far as the numbers go, I've heard the figure sits around 60,000+ grads with no degree.


Good luck.

this was my original point, people graduate out of UCT with BBusci(Marketing) with four years behind them and a strong quantitative knowledge in statistics.

If you look at the numbers that come out of UCT every year and given that marketing graduates are not really in demand, the first people that would be absorbed into the job market are mostly the UCT grads.

 

[Random Hero]

I don't know how much my advice might help, but it may be a worthwhile opportunity to pursue.

You currently have a marketing foundation, so now you need to add a quantitative skill to your skill-set.

Thing is, you aren't the only grad unemployed. Also, there is a bias sometimes from alumni when they don't recognize the prestige of your varsity (yes, SA has elite varsities). As far as the numbers go, I've heard the figure sits around 60,000+ grads with no degree.

Everyone wants experience to hire, but nobody can offer that experience.

In your situation, you can either become a legendary salesman and rake in more money than a CEO based on commissions (being able to sell something is one of the hardest things out there) or you can pursue a field more applicable to your scenario and go into: Data Analytics / Big Data (recommended).

There is no formal program for it, so you will need to self-train, self-publish and build up your status as a marketer with quantitative research skills.

You can then present yourself to: Big Bank, Big Supermarket, Big Insurer, Big X Company with over 100,000 clients and show them how you use your data analytics + marketing skills to gain insight into the market.

Difficult? Yes, but you'll stand out in the crowd of CVs and they can maximize more value from you than pure-marketing grads.

Good luck.

Thank you for the information.

And thanks to everybody for contributing to this thread. I really appreciate it. any more tips will be appreciated. perhaps another unemployed graduate might come across this thread and find useful information.