As a marketing specialist (FPE) (formerly marketing planner (FPE)), you are not restricted to working in just one sector. In addition to marketing, you can also work in PR, direct marketing, advertising, product management, field sales or office sales. The marketing specialist course prepares you comprehensively to take over parts of sales or marketing management.

The Marketing Specialist course provides participants with in-depth specialist knowledge in:

• Basic skills:
  • Marketing basics Repetition
  • Project and self-management
  • Accounting
  • Market performance & communication design
  • Distribution design
  • Legal knowledge
  • Market research & statistics
• Specialization for marketing experts:
  • Marketing concept
  • Digital marketing
  • Communication tools
  • Exam training (written/oral) and simulation
  • Presentation technology

In the marketing specialist training course, participants learn to plan suitable marketing measures and implement them together with specialists from the areas of text/concept or design.

During their training, marketing specialists acquire in-depth knowledge and skills in various areas of marketing and sales. This will enable you to enter or advance in a qualified position in an agency or company. As a marketing specialist, you will work in product management, advertising, public relations, marketing, sales or market analysis. However, the extent of your responsibility depends largely on the function in which you work. Marketing specialists can be employed as marketing assistants as well as in a leading role (in smaller companies) in marketing.

There is a large selection of first-class schools in Switzerland where you can complete your training. They offer courses that prepare you for the Federal Professional Examination and provide you with all the knowledge you need.

Various providers also prepare you for further training to become a certified marketing manager.

Training to become a marketing specialist (FPE) (formerly marketing planner (FPE)) usually lasts one year and is part-time. However, the duration of training varies from school to school and can vary between nine months and three semesters. The chosen model is also decisive for the duration of the continuing education, further training. For example, some schools offer the Marketing Specialist (FPE) course (formerly Marketing Planner (FPE)) on two evenings a week, on one evening and a whole Saturday or on several consecutive days as block courses.

In continuing education, further training as a marketing specialist, you will learn about and apply the individual marketing instruments of advertising, sales, PR, distribution, sales promotion and the various marketing methods. In this way, you will acquire all the know-how and knowledge you need to carry out a qualified job in marketing.

In order to work as a marketing specialist, you need to pass a Federal Professional Examination, for which you are prepared in further training courses. These courses are very popular and bring great benefits to graduates in many respects. A survey of graduates of continuing education, further training to become marketing specialists shows that the clear majority would choose this course again. The benefits of training as a marketing specialist are many and varied and always depend on your commitment, goals and requirements.

Basically, of course, it always depends primarily on you whether and to what extent continuing education, further training as a marketing specialist pays off for you. If you have good negotiating skills and can sell yourself and your abilities well, a salary increase of more than 30% is possible. This is shown by a survey conducted on behalf of Ausbildung-Weiterbildung.ch among graduates of precisely this continuing education, further training course. It showed that over 70% of all respondents saw their income increase in the first two years.

Development opportunities in terms of continuing education, further training as a marketing planner are as follows:

• Offers from professional associations, Colleges of Higher Education and Universities of Applied Sciences
• Advanced Federal Professional Examination (AFPE): qualified marketing manager, qualified sales manager, qualified communications manager, etc.
• College of Higher Education: Business Economist CHE
• University of Applied Sciences: Bachelor of Science (UAS) in Business Administration, Communication & Marketing, Bachelor of Science (ZFH) in Communication, Bachelor of Science (UAS) International Management, etc.

There is a wide range of training and continuing education, further training courses in marketing aimed at marketing professionals who wish to further their education in this field, be it with a Federal Professional Examination (FPE), Advanced Federal Professional Examination (AFPE) or a diploma from a College of Higher Education (CHE), University of Applied Sciences (UAS) or university. But of course you can also train at a marketing school if you have no previous experience in marketing, sales or communication and are looking to enter these sectors. In this case, almost every school offers certificate courses, for example in preparation for the MarKom certificate exam, which is a good basis for all other federally recognized continuing education, further training. As of 2019, passing the MarKom exam is no longer mandatory for continuing education, further training as a marketing specialist, PR specialist, communication planner, sales specialist and copywriter with a federal certificate.

However, people who simply want to gain an insight into marketing or would like to be trained on a very specific topic can of course also attend a seminar at a marketing school. Such seminars or courses can be on topics such as web analytics or search engine marketing, social media marketing or conversion rate optimization. You can find out about their current course offerings directly from the schools.

The opportunities for further training in marketing are considerable. For example, after vocational education and training and a few years of professional experience in marketing or sales, advertising, sales marketing or PR, you can take a MarKom admission exam, which serves as the basis for all further federal further education courses (FPE and AFPE) in this field (only compulsory until 2018). To pass this exam, it is advisable to learn everything you need to know in a special course offered by a large number of schools. Building on this course, you can then attend a course that prepares you for one of the Federal Professional Examinations (FPE). From 2019, the Markom certificate examination is no longer mandatory. These are for training in marketing:

• Marketing Specialist with Federal Diploma of Higher Education
• Communication planner with Federal Diploma of Higher Education
• Copywriter with Federal Diploma of Higher Education
• PR Specialist with Federal Diploma of Higher Education

The following Advanced Federal Professional Examinations (AFPE) are also possible:

• Swiss certified marketing manager (AFPE)
• Graduate Communications Manager (AFPE)
• Swiss certified PR consultant (AFPE)

You can complete the following continuing education, further training courses at CHEs:

• Swiss certified marketing manager (CHE)
• Swiss Federal Diploma in Business Administration (CHE)

There are also a large number of courses at postgraduate level and degree courses at Universities of Applied Sciences. You can also find information on these in the guide "Education and continuing, further training at Swiss Universities" (see navigation point "Education help" above).

Federal Professional Examination (FPE):

• Degree: Federal Diploma of Higher Education
• Duration: Usually 1 year
• Rather more topic-specific.
• Final examination: One national final examination per year (completion rate approx. 60-70%, relatively high examination pressure)

Course at a College of Higher Education (CHE)

• Degree: Federal Diploma
• Duration: Usually 3 years
• Subject-specific orientation Example: Marketing Manager (CHE)
• Generalist orientation e.g. business economist (CHE)
• Final examination: Permanent practical transfer through work (practical work, term papers, diploma thesis)
• Generally less audit pressure

Continuing education, further training as a marketing specialist (formerly marketing planner) with a federal certificate is a very comprehensive marketing course that covers all facets of marketing, including internet marketing or online marketing. However, the main focus of this continuing education, further training with Federal Professional Examination is not on Internet marketing, so if you are primarily interested in this area, you would certainly be better advised to take a different course.

The individual schools that train marketing specialists will inform you about the exact details of the marketing specialist training. You can easily reach them via our contact form. In addition, our free educational guides will give you a comprehensive insight into further training for marketing specialists and even more interesting facts about this course and your career opportunities. You can download the guide "Training and further education in the fields of marketing, communication and sales" (see navigation point "Educational aid" above) here free of charge.

During the professional examination to become a marketing planner or marketing specialist with a federal certificate, eight parts of the examination are tested, three of which are oral. These are: Marketing concept; presentation and communication techniques; and integrated communication. The written parts are: marketing concept; sales and distribution; integrated communication; accounting / controlling; and market research. Information on the detailed content of the professional examination for marketing specialists can be found in theExamination regulations.

All marketing schools offer various courses and training programmes, some of which award federally recognized qualifications and some of which are internal to the school. The admission requirements for federally regulated continuing education, further training courses are clearly defined and can be found in the relevant examination regulations, which can also be found on the website of the State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation SERI. For all Federal Professional Examinations (FPE) and Advanced Federal Professional Examinations (AFPE) in the fields of copywriting, communication, sales, PR, advertising and marketing that take place before the 2019 examination year, the MarKom entrance examination is mandatory in order to be admitted. This will no longer be required from 2019 onwards.

In addition, several years of relevant professional experience are expected, depending on the specialization. This means that you must also have marketing knowledge for all courses that train you for the FPE or AFPE. You can gain this knowledge by taking the MarKom exam, for which you can study at most marketing schools. These courses require you to be at least 18 years old, but there are no other requirements. For many other courses, seminars and courses with an internal certificate, you do not need to have any marketing knowledge. However, you should always discuss this on a case-by-case basis with the marketing schools concerned for the continuing education, further training course you wish to attend.