April 20, 2017
Three College of Business students create marketing certification resource website
Submitted by Brent Fritzemeier
A trio of students in the College of Business Administration have developed a website designed to be a one-stop source for any student or marketing professional interested in expanding their expertise and enhancing their resume through earning online marketing certifications.
The students behind the project are Shelby Heydon, senior in marketing, Manhattan; Michelle Dorsey, senior in marketing, Olathe; and Amy Hein, senior in marketing and modern languages, Shawnee. They came together as part of an independent study with associate professor of marketing Doug Walker.
As the independent study began, the initial objective was to have the students earn marketing certifications on their own to enhance their knowledge and differentiate themselves on the job market. As they went along, they decided to aggregate the information being gathered into a website to share with other students and professionals.
"It's been interesting how we've been able to take what we've learned through a lot of these certifications, and apply them directly back to the website project," Hein said. "Things like search engine optimization and Google analytics were helpful in starting a website from scratch."
The final stage of the project has been to send the website, along with a survey, to a wide variety of K-State marketing alumni in an effort to gauge which certifications professionals in the field would value the most in a potential employee. The team is currently compiling that data, and will use it to determine the direction of their website moving forward.
"These students have created a resource that I believe will prove to be of great value to both marketing students and professionals in the field," Walker said. "Recent marketing graduates and those just getting started in the field are always looking for ways to differentiate themselves in the eyes of potential employers. Earning a marketing certification is one valued, focused way to accomplish that."
Visit marketingcertificationsource.weebly.com for more information about the project, and to browse the certification website.