Careers in Advertising

Undergrads can find account management, media, and account planning positions at ad agencies, and account management positions in PR, through on-campus recruiting or by networking. While most advertising creatives have BAs, you don’t have to have a college degree to be a copywriter or art director, just a killer portfolio. Would-be PR types would also do well to put together a portfolio of work-for instance, event promotions for college organizations. Volunteering for a political campaign can also make you a stronger PR candidate. Furthermore, internships are the best way to land a full-time job in both advertising and PR. While MBAs and other advanced-degree types don’t often enter advertising because entry-level jobs pay less than in other industries, their understanding of marketing can help them land a job in account management, media, or account planning.

Most midcareer professionals looking to move into advertising or PR should be prepared to go back to square one. However, specific industry knowledge or functional expertise (e. g. in PR, lobbying experience) can start you higher up the ladder in PR. For those already in advertising or PR, it’s often necessary to jump from agency to agency to move ahead. Forces including the decline of the dot coms and the overall economic recession have caused many ad and PR agencies to lose business and to lay off employees or close up shop as a result. Always fields that are difficult to break into, advertising and PR offer even fewer opportunities currently. But as the economy improves and Corporate America begins spending more on advertising, the advertising and PR job markets should improve.

Different accounts and a steady stream of new ads or press releases can mean plenty of variety. You might like that advertising is one of the more relaxed industries, at least in terms of dress code and workplace formality. In both advertising and PR, you work with people who are smart, funny, and plugged into popular culture. You can change the way people think or speak. Your work might enter the national consciousness-just ask the people who were involved in ad campaigns like “Just Do It” for Nike.

You may have to deal with some pretty bloated egos. Though you’re involved in a creative effort, in the end you’re not doing much for mankind. In fact, you may end up making ads for tobacco companies or writing press releases to defend corporate despoilers of the environment. Moreover, there can be plenty of politics, both with the client and among coworkers. The pressure can be high and the hours long, especially before a new-business pitch or a deadline, or if the client isn’t satisfied with the agency’s service. Lack of stability-an agency might lose a big account, and suddenly 20 percent of the agency’s staff is laid off.

Given these pluses and minuses think long and hard before trying to enter the advertising field because it will be a career choice that will stick with you for a long time to come.

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