Are there benefits to getting work experience prior to applying to a marketing PhD program? Sure.
Will work experience be weighted heavily or compensate for weaknesses in your profile? Probably not.
Many marketing PhD students have worked for several years prior to entering the program. Some schools view this very favorably. To them, an applicant with work experience is better prepared than one without because the applicant:
- May show more maturity by treating the PhD program like work rather than school.
- Isn’t running away from the responsibilities of the real world by pursuing more education.
- May have a better grasp of managerial issues and research questions in marketing (this seems rather critical for PhD students focusing on marketing strategy).
- May exhibit better networking and cooperative skills.
- May be better prepared to manage multiple research projects and other researchers.
- May enter the program with unique skills, knowledge, or access to companies and data that can help with research.
- May bring valuable insights and credibility to the classroom as a teacher.
On the other hand, schools may give little credit to someone with extensive work experience, claiming that the applicant:
- May have difficulty working with marketing theory because of a mindset shaped by managerial questions.
- May exhibit more arrogance and be less teachable.
- May not be fully committed to academic life. May be distracted by money, consulting, side projects, etc.
- May have difficulty adjusting back to a student lifestyle.
Generally speaking, the benefits of work experience tend to outweigh any of the perceived weaknesses and should not be minimized. If you have relevant work experience and aspects of your work have contributed to your motivations for pursuing a PhD, your planned research focus, etc., then this should be emphasized in your statement of purpose. Just make sure that you stay on target to match up your experience with what admissions committees want to know–whether you are prepared to be a researcher.
If you don’t have work experience, you’re not alone. If you have the profile to get admitted to a PhD program without work experience, I wouldn’t rush out to get work experience first. The same applies with those who have the profile to get admitted without an MBA or Master’s degree.
*I worked at an internet marketing agency and then as an in-house internet marketing specialist as well as a freelance internet marketing consultant before applying to the program. Work experience was fundamental in helping me find an area of research I could be happy with. I also found out later that work experience was one of the things that helped me get admitted into my current program (it was viewed as an indication of maturity and set me above some highly qualified applicants that came straight from undergrad). Looking back, I wouldn’t trade my work experience for the chance to enter a PhD program 4 years earlier because of the things I’ve gained from it: perspective, focus, business relationships, empathy, relevant stories and insight, and 4 years of savings that are nice to have when you’re living off a baseline student stipend as a PhD student!