Jobs in Advertising
There are three main areas of work in the commercials sector, and there are different types of people, different skills, different training routes demanded and different career paths for each.
Production (Content)
Roles are largely creative and include: Account Executive, Advertising Executive, Commissioner, Client Executive (who may be someone such as Head of Marketing or Head of Communications), Producer, Director, Researcher, Writer and Copywriter.
Career paths are forged through hard work, a creative portfolio or contacts. People can enter these role through a variety of courses or from work in other areas of the creative industries.
Production (Technical)
These roles are highly skilled. Technical problem solving is key and technical staff need to keep up to date with the latest technolgies are key. Roles include Camera, Sound, Lighting, Editing, Art, SFX, Printer, Engineer and so on.
There are opportunities for reliable Assistants to most technical roles in Advertising and this may be the best route for people interested in this area of work to target. In addition to the technical skills, employers and producers will look for flexibility, a friendly personality, a “can do” attitude and the ability to be friendly or totally silent when with clients.
Admin and support roles
Like all industries, commercials relies on a body of highly skilled support staff such as Production Managers, Production Accountants, Lawyers, PAs and so on. This area of work is relatively conventional for most roles, as advertisers operate in the same way as most other forms of business. Whether secretary or lawyer, accountant or personnel manager, you train in the normal way but in interest in the field will always help.
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