Marketing Motormouth

A very warm welcome to all who aspire to work within the advertising industry, graduates, post-graduates and 6^th formers wishing to find out more about the advertising industry and the various roles available.

Advertising top tips for students: Series 1 of 10

This is the first instalment in the series. By the end of the series, you’ll be in a position to understand what is involved in advertising in the workplace, what skills are needed, how to interact with colleagues and most important, what you need to do to prepare yourself for your first role in the world of Advertising.

This series contains similar articles in relation to marketing and design roles which are already published within this blog site, however it is the advertising arena which probably causes more confusion than marketing and design put together.

This is an actual excerpt taken from a job application to thinktank marketing & advertising:

“I would like to apply for a position in your company. I am a very creative person who is looking for a role in advertising as I am creative and can think of advertising campaigns. My English is also very good, I have a great understanding of marketing and can use software for creating adverts and websites.”

This letter, written by a final year graduate clearly demonstrates that applicants have the perception that working in advertising is primarily a marketing or creative role. In fact what this individual has described falls under the remit of creative designer, artworker, copywriter, account manager and web designer. It is doubtful that any single person could possible be competent at every skill, prior to graduation.

What is apparent is that there is a need to educate individuals who are looking to join the advertising industry, so that they have an idea what role is suitable for them. This also helps with the credibility of their application as I would be reticent to interview a candidate who doesn’t know what they want to do and isn’t aware of their best qualities. It’s tough, I know. However, this doesn’t exempt a graduate from having to take the time to apply for something that really excites them. Just wanting to be in advertising isn’t a reason to employ anyone. Now lets take a broad look at the main types of role available in advertising agencies. Because there are so many roles, we’ll just focus on the two main areas to illustrate the difference in skillsets required:

Creative roles:

These are highly skilled job functions such as designer, graphic designer, illustrator, art director, artworker and creative artworker. They require the ability to be able to use computer programs or standard media such as paper, to create or implement advertising campaigns into working ideas (dependent on the particular role). There are also important jobs for individuals who are equally skilled with words, called copywriters. These individuals work alongside the creative team in developing clever slogans, headlines or stories which fit together with the visually creative outputs. In certain areas such as radio advertising, they have a domain of their own.

For a more detailed account of creative roles, read the Series 1 article for Designers, which covers these roles in a little more detail.

Business Development / Account Management roles

These roles require a strong people skills, good sales skills, negotiation skills, listening and organising skills, plus the ability to learn quickly and to be able to translate ideas between client and creative teams, effortlessly.

As mentioned previously, other roles such as media buyer, print buyer and departmental specific roles such as in TV advertising production, camera operators, directors of photography etc, also exist, however there are so many roles in the industry that it means very little to say that you want a job in advertising.

Of course, there are thousands of people in the UK who sell advertising space in publications such as those who work in newspapers, magazines and yearbooks, however generally speaking, these individuals are considered to be outside the domain of the types of job that graduates generally look for, even though many of the job roles within these sectors are excellent jobs with good rates of pay.

The bottom line is that should you be looking for a role in advertising, it pays to figure out which specific route you wish to follow, otherwise you may be left out in the cold when the selection process commences.

Remember to read the next article in the series.