Career Opportunities in Advertising and Design

The advertising industry is extremely diverse. The roles people in this field hold range from account executive to art director and from copywriter to graphic designer. Although some companies have in-house advertising capabilities, this is something that is more often outsourced to one of many advertising firms. A recent trend has been for advertising firms to broaden their service offerings, providing clients with sales, marketing, public relations, and interactive media capabilities in addition to advertising expertise. Thus, the opportunities available in the world of advertising are increasing.

Advertising agencies generally categorize jobs into five departments: account management, creative, media, research, and support services. Account managers or executives usually act as the liaison between the agency and its clients and help to initiate the idea behind an advertising campaign. Account managers must make sure all facets of an account team are running smoothly since they are ultimately responsible for client satisfaction.

Working with the account manager, the creative department is responsible for giving life to an advertising idea. Copywriters develop scripts for radio and television spots as well as copy for print ads. Art directors and graphic designers then use these scripts to create visual concepts of the advertisements in the form of paste-ups, storyboards, print ad layouts, or cartoon summarizations. Art directors are also responsible for managing the filming of TV commercials or photo shoots.

Once the client has signed off on an advertising campaign, the media department makes sure the ads appear in the appropriate places at the right times. Media planners work with researchers to examine the target audience of an advertising campaign and gather information on that audience's viewing and reading habits to determine when and where the advertisement will have the greatest impact. Media buyers are responsible for determining the times and space available for purchase in media such as newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and the Internet. They then negotiate rates and purchase the appropriate time slots and space.

Given the high-profile nature of advertising, competition for jobs is intense - with the best jobs going to highly motivated college graduates with strong communication skills and high levels of creativity. Schools such as the International Academy of Design & Technology, which offers a number of different locations across the United States, have developed programs designed to prepare students for the rigors of a career in advertising.