INSIDE BU: CAREER EXPLORATION
Ranked as part of the top 5% of best schools for marketing majors by College Factual, Boston University was bustling with students with an eye for creativity and a hunger for strategic product and service delivery. With the rise of social media marketing and the constant innovative stream of novel products, it’s no surprise that the Questrom concentration was becoming increasingly popular over the years. With the versatility of the field, I spoke with current BU Marketing students to explore what got them into the concentration, the inside scoop on BU’s marketing program, and the prospective career paths they would take with their marketing degrees.
Elisa Shin (QST ‘25)
Shin had gained her passion for marketing in a seemingly unconventional way. “I worked at a boba shop and there was a competition for creating a new drink, and whoever got the most votes for it would be the creator of that drink. I had to “market” the drink and promote it socially to win” said Shin. “ I [was able to] gain a sense of marketing through that [experience]”.
Being such an interpersonal field, it’s no surprise that for many students, the people-oriented aspect draws them into marketing.
“Being able to connect with the people about a product that I’m proud to share is the most exciting thing about marketing to me” said Shin. “I’ve only taken one marketing course, MK323 “Marketing Management”, and it’s pretty interesting so far.”
However, it’s not always an easy road. When asked about the hardest aspect of marketing, Shin said, “Getting data and analytics for equations and formulas to find percent awareness have the been the most difficult. [However,] the terminology of marketing is interesting and pretty easy to follow so far.”
Many underestimate the crucial role mathematics plays in marketing; it’s regularly used to estimate the gains of a product or service and to budget advertising and promotional costs.
With her ambition and growing passion for marketing, Shin looked forward to taking an organizational approach to her future. “I want to be able to work as a marketing manager with creative people who can bring new and innovative ideas to connect and communicate with the consumers” said Shin. As a budding marketing manager, Shin looked forward to bridging the gap between companies, customers, and coworkers.
Amrita Raval (QST ‘25)
For Raval, she was interested in the visual aspect of marketing. “I always was interested by designs and how people perceive products. I wanted to know how and why certain products did better than others because of marketing” said Raval.
She has been working as the Social Media Committee Manager for Boston University Marketing Club, leading a group of nine students in content creation, social strategy, and foundational design across all media platforms.
Raval had a passion for the intersection of visual arts and strategic online marketing. When asked what excited her most about marketing, she said, “I would say the creative aspect. You get a lot of freedom to create a brand image based on who you are marketing towards. The creativity allows for a broad range of ideas.”
When it comes to designing with a team, it requires constant communication and deliberation. As a current leader and content creator, Raval knows the struggles collaborative designing can bring. “It can be hard to align your ideas with your clients because there can be creative differences. However, often times, we find a middle ground that allows for both parties to be happy” said Raval.
Raval looked forward to combing her drive for business and design. “In the future, I hope to do business administration and marketing together to learn about trends.”
It was clear that marketing students at BU had a wide range of paths they sought to take. Whether they implemented their skills for interpersonal relationships or design, Boston University marketing gave them a place for them to thrive.
Written by Rachel Mun
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