Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Ad Agency Employment

Posted by Anonymous on 5/24/2010 at 10:56 PM ET 100 Points
I have a few different questions related to working at an ad agency. I'm pretty ignorant about the topic, so excuse me if some of these questions are pretty obvious/basic.

1. How useful is it to start out at an ad agency, if your long-term goals are to work for a company's marketing department (and therefore deal with more general marketing tasks, like branding, strategy, etc)?

2. Do most ad agencies just do advertising, or do they also do some more general marketing? For example, do companies sometimes hire ad agencies to build some ads, as well as to help them achieve other marketing goals/strategies?

3. What types of entry-level employees are ad agencies looking for? Do they mainly want marketing majors, or are they pretty open to hiring people from lots of backgrounds? In case it matters, my background is economics, math, and psychology.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 5/25/2010 at 9:36 PM Author
    Yes, I definitely plan on doing some informational interviews. For now, I'd just like to get some feedback from you knowledgeable folks at MarketingProfs.
  • Posted on 5/26/2010 at 10:06 AM Accepted
    I've worked for ad agencies in Chicago, Milwaukee and 2 smaller WI cities. Most of my experience is in PR, but my early career was in radio. Most ad agencies also have PR, Web and other marketing disciplines in-house, so they can offer clients full-service capabilities.

    The #1 recommendation I have for anyone pondering a marketing career is to learn how to WRITE!

    It is imperative that you be able to communicate effectively. You wouldn't believe the number of fresh-faced college grads that don't know how to write very well. It is a hiring manager's nightmare. In my experience, I hired 6 interns in Chicago and entry-level people in Milwaukee.

    Internships might be a good way to get your foot in the door, of agencies or companies. Your psychology experience should prove useful in advertising too.

    You might also check out market research firms that serve ad agencies.
  • Posted on 5/26/2010 at 10:12 AM Author
    rmartin,

    In regards to market research, what are the exit opportunities? I think I'm pretty well-positioned to land a market research job. I just don't know if I'd like to work in market research for the rest of my career, and therefore am wondering how easy it is to switch from market research to other marketing-related jobs?
  • Posted on 5/27/2010 at 10:11 AM Accepted
    I've never worked in market research so can't tell you, but I think research would give a good basis to move into other marketing disciplines. Maybe get informational interviews at a couple big firms that do this.
  • Posted on 5/28/2010 at 3:47 PM Accepted
    I think if you know for sure you want to work in marketing that agency experience is very valuable. In many agencies you gain a wider range of experience than starting in a marketing department. If you aren't sold on marketing, consider doing an internship. Even if you don't get paid, it's worth trying it out for a short period of time and gaining experience.

    Today most agencies do a variety of things including PR, general marketing, events, advertising, strategy and graphic design.

    I agree that writing is probably the number one skill that you need to have. If your major and experience are completely unrelated I think it's even more important to consider an internship within the field.

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