Going to grad school after working for many years.

That sounds wretched-not only your working conditions, but the idiotic assertion that branding is/wasn’t important. f I were you I would have high-tailed out to the advertising agencies they tried to your jobs to-I’m surprised they didn’t attempt to pinch your group to begin with.

I actually aspire to “own”/control the entirety of a brand. It seems (from this end) like having one foot in the world of advertising and one foot in solid business/marketing. My friend does this exact job for a big company (like PG/Reckit Benckeiser size etc.) with an MBA and while the pay is not 275K or something, it’s a solid upper five/lower 6 figures type job.

This is the salary track for my own career, but I work considerably fewer hours than I would if I were to switch into that field (I know your hours must have been horrible). I would be switching not for the extra cash, but because I honestly love marketing/advertising and the consumer products industry.

Thanks for your perspective and good luck finishing up the rest of lawschool :).

Yeah, there were unique circumstances in that job. It was located in one of the most economically distressed states in the US. Lots of college grads… hardly any jobs… recipe for horrible working conditions. Most people who left the company actually moved out of state to find their new jobs.

Now, on the upside, my parents have their own Market Resaerch Firm. <plug>Perhaps you will read my dad’s textbook Ethnography for Marketers</plug>.

Anyway, it is a very exciting job for them, always varied, sometime crazy! They work with a lot of brand managers, some advertising firms, some product development teams, etc. The most frustrating thing for them is when they do all kinds of research and the findings are just ignored for whatever reason. Some companies do not like to hear what their weaknesses are, I guess. But other than that, they love it… no, they live & breathe it.

But anyway!

This is the extent of my geekiness…I read business journalism, management and marketing books even though I’m not IN business school. I’m gonna pick up your dad’s book. Thanks for the tip.