marketing career readiness in the digital era: required skills and knockout factors

Digital transformation has changed the way people communicate, shop, work, and live, as well as how organizations operate and conduct business. Evolving digital technologies affect the workplace and impact the critical skills marketing graduates need to succeed. As technology made job applications easier to submit, the number of applications for each position increased, overwhelming recruiters, while hiring rates stayed flat. Marketing educators play a key role in preparing students for the hiring process and entry-level positions. Our research examines the technical, professional, and soft skills job candidates need to succeed in the evolving digital workplace, how best to signal these attributes during the hiring process, and what mistakes could knock students out of consideration for an interview or job. Critical thinking and communication skills remain imperative. Professionalism, coachability, storytelling (during the interview and with data), listening, teamwork, and some software expertise (i.e. Excel) are critical. Poor listening skills and a lack of knowledge about the organization could eliminate a candidate from consideration during the interview, which was identified as the most important activity in the hiring process. The results have implications for both marketing students and marketing educators in the rapidly changing digital workplace.