Learn about the different careers in advertising.
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An advertising executive presents her
clients with a new TV spot.
Fast-paced careers in advertising provide daily creative challenges. Advertising professionals spend much of their daily work striving to come up with new angles for a product or business, while account managers and coordinators work with clients to ensure they are getting what they want.
Advertising work is usually fast-paced and team-based, so the ability to work quickly and coordinate your ideas with others is very important.
Hours can be brutal, especially in entry-level positions, and the field can be competitive, but those who succeed are eventually rewarded with exciting jobs and accounts and generous salaries or bonuses.
While the aptly named "creatives" on advertising teams do focus on new, innovative brainstorming, not all advertising jobs involve frenetic out-of-the-box thinking. Many careers in advertising require good analytical skills and sound business sense. For example, a media buyer must juggle the demands of a budget with a client's need for exposure, while a market researcher must be able to see trends in large samples of customer data. Advertising executives must be constant liaisons between customers and creative teams, and work to find solid, useful solutions that meet everyone's needs.

Advertising Career Path
| | Entry Level | Mid Level | Senior Level |
| Types of Roles | Sales assistant, sales agent, media coordinator | Sales manager, account manager, marketing research instructor, promotions manager | Sales director, executive vice president |
| Experience | 0 – 3 years | 3 - 10 years | 10+ years |
| Getting There | - Communications, marketing or related bachelor's degree
- Strong language and writing skills
- Ability to think creatively on demand
- Media knowledge
| - All entry-level requirements
- Ability to coordinate with sales staff
- Negotiation skills
| - All mid-level requirements
- MBA degree
- Successful track record at management level
- Extensive industry contacts
|
| Salary* | $28,000 – $47,000 | $60,000 - $90,000 | $100,000+ |
| Description | - Assist senior personnel in developing ads
- Research clients and competition
- Coordinate media sales for a client or organization
| - Coordinate advertising campaigns
- Supervise activities of junior employees
- Meet with clients to develop advertising strategy
- Position brands and products for maximum exposure
| - Oversee advertising professionals for an entire branch or firm
- Manage contacts with high-level executive clients
- Create new business opportunities for firm
|
* Depends on company size, specific job, and location
Sources: Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), Princeton Review, Salary.com, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Monster.com


Walden University
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City University of Seattle
A respected member of the Washington state educational community since 1973, CityU is one of the largest private, not-for-profit institutions of higher learning in the Northwest with more than 45,000 graduates and 11,000 students worldwide.
Liberty University
With Liberty University Online, you can fit your education around your life. This means that you can earn an accelerated, accredited degree when and where you are-–no night classes, no commuting. It's simple, flexible and of course, Christian.