In Response to Gretchen

Gretchen asked if I think it's effective for a company to market to me while I'm already inside the store or if I find it annoying.

I think that to a point it makes sense for a company to market to people while they are inside a store, so the customer's will keep coming back and supporting the store. It would also make sense if they provided a good deal for the customer's so they will have an incentive to come back to buy more the next time they are shopping. They may go in to buy one thing, but it always ends up happening that the customer's see another couple of things they could use along with the item that they came in for. At grocery stores coupons generally print out for you for your next shopping trip if you buy a certain item or spend a certain amount. I always like getting a $3 off coupon at the end of my shopping trip because it will make me want to go back to get money off, especially since grocery shopping can get expensive.

I also find marketing to customers that are already shopping in your store can be annoying. Especially if you are pushing "your products" too much. Recently, I was shopping for a new car, so I went to the Kia dealership first because it's the first car dealership that I pass on my way to Honda and Toyota. I told the guy that I was looking for a used Honda, which they didn't have and I like the quality of Honda's so I wasn't willing to settle for a Kia. He kept pushing the Kia brand on me to the point that it go extremely annoying. I was at the dealership looking around, I didn't see the point of him pushing the brand on me, especially since I was there. I will probably never go back there because of that guy. If he had toned down his marketing just a little bit, maybe I'd recommend for people to go there, but instead I have told people how annoying he was and not to go there. By the time I got to Honda I was already sick of car dealerships, but the guy that came out to help me was nice and wasn't extreme on pushing a brand onto me because of that guy I will go to Honda again. Do you think marketing to people that are already in your store is annoying?

Jobs for College Grads

As college students around the country prepare for graduation, something they have worked hard for so they can get a good job, they will be entering a job market with an unemployment rate of 9.7 percent. This is double the rate that it was when all of these students started college in 2006. The good news is the job market has improved slightly from last year and some sectors like government, heath care and financial services are starting to hire more people. The job market for the 2010 class is better than it was for the 2009 class, but it's still weak. There just isn't the need right now to hire people as there was two and a half years ago. The graduates with the best chance of finding a job right away are the ones applying for health care, business administration, computer science and accounting or finance jobs. The accounting sector has seen a large increase in the need to hire people. Deloitte plans to hire 5,300 college graduates this year for full time positions and paid internships, this is a 10-15 percent increase from last year. One employer that is always hiring college graduates is the federal government. Government jobs are becoming more popular with students, partly because they are looking to seek a stable job in this shaky job market. For the graduates that can't find jobs, the best way to get their foot in the door is by doing an internship...even if it's unpaid. By doing this you can prove that you are a great worker and maybe the company will eventually take you on full time when they can afford it. If you are graduating this year, have you had a hard time landing a job?