I’m studying/working in marketing and honestly… why does it feel so different from what we learn vs real life?
I’ve been getting into marketing (internships + learning on the side), and I keep noticing a gap between what’s taught and what actually happens in real projects.
In theory, everything sounds structured target audience, funnels, content strategy, analytics, etc. But in real work, it often feels like:
Things change last minute
Clients don’t always know what they want
Trends matter more than long-term strategy sometimes
And a lot of “guessing + testing” is involved
I kind of like the creative chaos part, but it also makes me wonder is marketing actually more intuition-based than people admit?
Would love to hear from others in the field:
Did you feel the same starting out?
What actually made things click for you?
And is it normal to feel like you’re figuring it out as you go?
If you were starting in marketing today and wanted to land a great role in the next 1 year:
Which AI tools would you learn?
What skills are becoming non-negotiable?
What should I spend my time on outside of my MBA to stand out?
And what skills do you think are overrated despite being heavily taught?