Marketing and Consulting? Is That a Thing?

Hello! Welcome to my very first blog! While I know that there’s plenty about myself on this website, I thought that it might be interesting for all of you to learn a bit more about me and my time as a marketing major at JMU.

For all four years of high school, I was a part of a mass communications program where I learned basic marketing and advertising skills, photography and videography skills, and the basics of graphic design. In that class we toured many universities, one of which was James Madison University, and I immediately knew that was the school for me. When it came time to apply, I’m sure you can guess what major I applied with—SMAD (media arts and design)! No? Were you thinking marketing? Yeah… I was not thinking marketing at the time.

In my mass communications class, I was able to compete and place for a marketing portion of an FBLA (link) competition. By doing this, I was able to use the skills that I had already learned from my class but approach a problem in a business-oriented way which I really enjoyed. After I was accepted into JMU with SMAD, I was able to officially choose my major. At this point, I had thought back on my time in FBLA and ultimately (arguably on a whim) decided to last minute select marketing for my major.

In the beginning of my time in college, I didn’t fully know what I wanted to do with my major. I thought brand management or social media could be a fun option to explore but I ultimately had no clue. While photographing a career fair my sophomore year during my time working as a media assistant for JMU’s career center, I spoke to a representative from a very large consulting firm with the only thing I knew about them was that my uncle worked for them. Unknowingly to how large the firm was, I asked the consultant if he knew my uncle. He didn’t. They didn’t even work at the same office. BUT that moment right there (and telling my uncle about it afterwards) is how I learned about consulting—and the rest was history! I began speaking to recruiters, signing up for events, and just trying to learn more about consulting as a whole. It was not something that was really brought up in my classes, but I was hooked and knew that I wanted to do my best to pursue a career in consulting.

If you ask most consultants, they will say that your major does not determine whether or not you can be successful, they’ll say, “I know history majors and English majors who are consultants!” which is true! But for me as a sophomore in the College of Business, I constantly felt at a disadvantage since I wasn’t learning things like advanced finance or different programming languages. This brought me to joining the consulting club.

By joining the Madison Consulting Club (MCC) in September of 2023, I was able to learn more about consulting and the skills necessary for it, connect with consultants, and utilize my developing marketing skills while helping consult on pro-bono projects around Harrisonburg. On top of the marketing major, I wanted to be as competitive as an applicant as I could be. For that reason and because of personal interests I already had, I decided to add the business analytics (BSAN) minor and take a programming class. I also really loved MCC’s mission and vision and because of that, I applied and was able to take on the position of External Vice President where I currently am responsible for the marketing efforts of the organization, maintaining partnerships with firm partners, and organizing all external events with the club.

As a marketing major, I’ve learned that the analysis skills and “people side” of business is vital to the success of an organization and key to identifying current and potential problems that may be faced. I have noticed that the marketing major does not show consulting as a common career path, but I have seen first-hand that it is more than possible. In fact, most marketing majors I have spoken to do not know much about consulting, nor do they receive much information about it unless they happen to coincidentally learn about it like I did.

As a senior looking back on my time as a marketing student in the college of business, I can confidently say how fortunate I feel to not only be able to have studied my major, but to have been able to utilize what I have learned in the consulting club and now in my time after graduation!

To anyone reading this debating on if their major is “right for consulting”, my biggest advice is TRY. Even if you aren’t interested consulting and you’re interested in something else that may seem impossible, you never know until you try. Your major and your university does not define the rest of your life. If you want it and you put your mind to it, I believe that you have a chance. I hope this blogpost has shown you a little bit more about me and my journey than you would have known without it.