Young professionals entering today’s fast-paced marketing world need to have a wide variety of skills at their disposal. For those looking to accelerate their careers, the 10-month, full-time marketing master’s program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Haslam College of Business offers a well-rounded curriculum that will help them stand out in the job market.
Program faculty member Jonathan Hasford, Douglas and Brenda Horne Professor in Business at Haslam, explains that exposure to all facets of the rapidly evolving marketing field is what will set the program’s graduates apart from other job candidates.
“Future employers will be really interested in the current diverse skill set we develop with our students in the program — everything from digital media to market research to strategic decision making,” he says. “All of the content we use is current, up to date and focused on existing marketing problems in the real world.”
No Business Background Necessary
Hasford believes students from a wide variety of undergraduate majors can excel in the Haslam M.S. in Marketing program because it provides an overview of all aspects of marketing, allowing students to build upon whatever they’ve learned in their undergrad program.
“We’ve designed this program specifically to appeal to students of all backgrounds, whether it’s engineering or English or psychology, and previous experience in business is not required,” he says. “Our program will provide students with the skills to thrive in the field of marketing, regardless of their undergraduate experience.”
The program’s in-person format helps students thrive in a tight-knit cohort as well. “They’re really close,” Hasford says. “They help each other out; they’re really looking out for each other’s best interests. It’s a really strong culture we have with our students in the program.”
Skills That Appeal to Future Employers
The Haslam marketing graduate degree prepares students for successful careers through its coursework in addition to corporate partnerships that give students the chance to apply their classroom knowledge to real-world situations and to form valuable professional connections. In the fall 2023 semester, students worked with Total Wine and had the opportunity to develop new advertising campaign materials for Nissan.
Hasford believes the lessons students learn from the program’s collaborative spirit and forward-thinking curriculum will take them far as they enter the workforce.
“What I hope to hear from students at the end of the program is not only did they enjoy their time in the program and learn a lot of current, useful information in the field of marketing, but they’re all going on to pursue their chosen career paths, hopefully getting employment at some of the biggest companies in the world to utilize what they learned here.”
The Haslam M.S. in Marketing program is now accepting applications for the 2024-25 cohort. Visit the program’s website to learn more.
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CONTACT:
Stacy Estep, writer/publicist, sestep3@utk.edu