Advertising Jobs Overview
Behind every advertisement is a team of professionals who brainstormed ideas and poured their creative and technical skills into the campaign. If you want to take part in this highly exciting work, advertising jobs may be right for you.
Advertising is an ever-changing industry and will suit you well if you thrive on variety and challenge. This field combines business and creativity so if you have one foot in each world you will also enjoy working in advertising. These are some common jobs in advertising:
Salaries for Advertising Jobs
There are many different jobs in advertising and pay will vary greatly depending on the position. Use our salary tools to compare earnings for different professions and locations. High-paying jobs in advertising include management positions such as art director and advertisement manager. Here are some examples of median nationwide salaries within the advertising industry:
Some of the cities with the highest demand for workers in advertising include New York City, Los Angeles, and Dallas.
How to Find the Advertising Job That Fits You
When you work in advertising, you might create ads in-house as part of a company’s ad department, or work for an ad agency creating ads for clients. These jobs, although similar, have a few distinct differences.
When working for an ad agency, you’re likely to get experience creating a large variety of ads, with different tones, messages, and products. You’re also likely to juggle multiple projects at once. If you thrive on variety and fast pace, this may be just the job for you. Working for an ad agency can also give you more opportunities for networking.
If you prefer consistency, working for a company’s in-house ad department can offer you a more stable environment. It can also give you more job security, since the number of clients at an agency can fluctuate more than a company’s advertising budget.
How to Apply to Advertising Jobs
Your job application is like an ad campaign for your skills and experience. Make sure to create an impactful one by showing why you’re the right fit for the role. If you’re applying for a creative job, showcase your skills in the design and layout of your resume and cover letter.
Update Your Resume and Cover Letter
Take your time to research the company and describe why you want to work for them. Read our resume sample for an art director and our sample resume for an advertising executive for some tips on how to create a well-written application. Target your resume to the employer and reflect similar keywords as in the job ad.
For many advertising jobs, quantifiable results are key. Make sure to include such numbers in your resume and cover letter whenever possible, such as any increase in sales numbers as a result of an advertising campaign you were responsible for.
If your job is in art or design, place a list of skills in these areas high up on your resume. You may also want to create a portfolio of your work. Just make sure you’re allowed to share the samples since your previous employer or client may have ownership of the work.
Get a Professionally Written Resume
If you find advertising yourself harder than creating a campaign for someone else, consider using Monster’s expertise in this area. By signing up with Monster’s Professional Resume Writing Services, you’ll get a cover letter and resume customized to your background and industry.
Apply to Advertising Jobs
When you’re ready to apply to jobs, create a Monster profile and upload your resume so that you can make it visible to recruiters searching for candidates just like you. You can also use your profile to apply directly to advertising jobs you see right here on this page.
How to Follow up With an Employer
Did the ad for your skills fall flat? Give yourself another chance to shine by following up with the prospective employer. If you haven’t received any response to your job application, a brief call or email with a short pitch can help move it forward.
What should you say when you follow up on a job application? We have some tips in our article on how to get the job interview.
Following up after a job interview is equally important. The first step is to say thank you after the interview. You can do this by sending a brief email expressing your gratitude and your interest in the position. The thank you-note should also include a brief summary of your best qualifications to remind the interviewer what makes you a great candidate for the job. The second step to the follow-up can take place about a week after the interview to inquire about the status.
Interviewing Tips for Advertising Jobs
As an advertising professional your main goal will be to promote the employer or its clients. Showing that you’re able to speak positively about previous employers, clients, and projects at your interview can help you land a job. Then, take the time to research the company’s products and services, markets, and previous ad campaigns. This will get you ready to answer interview questions like:
- What are some of your favorite ad campaigns?
- What do you know about our brand image?
- Who do you think our target audience is?
- What are the key elements of a successful advertising campaign?
Promoting your own “brand” is extra important at an interview for an advertising job. Have good pitches for yourself prepared as responses to interview questions. Browse Monster’s job interview articles to see many examples of common interview questions across industries.
Different jobs have different interview processes. The more senior the position is that you’re interviewing for, and the larger the company is, the more likely it is that you’ll go through several interviews. They could include:
- An initial screening interview with a recruiter or HR manager
- An interview with your prospective supervisor
- An interview with your prospective supervisor’s manager
Some companies also use personality tests or other job assessment tests such as a mock assignment.
What to Do When You Get an Offer
Once you get the job offer, you may think you can move from promoting yourself to promoting the company’s products and services. Not so fast. Carefully review the offer to evaluate if it’s a fair offer and a good fit for you.
If the offer isn’t as generous as you thought it would be, it may be time to throw one more pitch for yourself into the game. This pitch should briefly describe why you qualify for more than the current offer. Many employers are open to negotiate an offer as long as you phrase your request in the right way. This includes:
- Start by saying thank you for the offer and expressing your excitement about the opportunity.
- Focus on what you can offer the company and your value as a candidate, not how much you’d like to make or how much you made at your last job.
- Use fact-based information such as the salary information you can find on Monster. Find the median salary range based on your location and job title.
- Consider where on the range your salary would reasonably fall depending on your level of experience and education.
Advertising Jobs and Career Paths
To work in advertising, you typically need a bachelor's degree. These are some common career paths and fields of study:
- Production and art: These departments produce ads through illustrations, video, photography, multimedia, and writing. Some common jobs are art director, copywriter, creative director, and graphic designer. For these jobs you may need an art, design, or communications degree.
- Strategy: Managers in advertising plan the overall strategy for ad campaigns and brand perception. Some common titles are product manager, user experience director, and brand manager. Depending on your job title, you may need a degree in product management, marketing, advertising, or business.
- Sales: Ad agencies have sales departments that find new clients and manage products for existing ones. Some examples of common jobs in this area are account managers and sales managers. A degree in sales or business can help you find one of these jobs.
New technologies are rapidly change the ad landscape, creating new opportunities for ad content, no matter what part of the industry you work in. Some examples are in artificial intelligence to create more intelligent chatbots, machine learning for more detailed marketing data analysis and collection, connected TVs, and location-based product placements.
These are some common professional organizations for advertisers that can help you learn more and network for new opportunities:
Similar Occupations to Advertising Jobs
If you want to take on a leadership position, consider also looking into other management jobs, for example: