Advertising copywiters?

Question

I'm really interested in becoming a copywriter and have a few questions.

1.I know that obviously a degree in advertising is good but is english or journalism just as good? Whats the best for a good chance of landing a job/internship?

2.after completeing my degree in around 4 years i have to move to new york for other reasons, will it be hard to get a job or internship at a NY company as a brtish person.

3. I have been told that getting into advertising copywriting is much more difficult for women than men, is this true, will it be harder for me to get a job as a woman?

thanks very much.

Answer 1

Getting a job or internship in Advertising is never hard for any determined woman, provided she is ready to put in late hours.

Fortunately degrees have no value in Advertising, though some qualification is better than nothing. Creativity is not the result of degree but of hardwork. (99% perspiration 1%inspiration)

If you had the medical emergency and you had to take patient by road, will you bother about the make and the age of the car or bother about reaching to the hospital in time. It is same for english or journalism in Advertising. What is needed is that the idea should get across to the target audience. As such it may have no words at all.

Answer 2

Hi there.

If you really want to get into advertising as a writer, it would serve you well to take some courses in advertising. Yes, it's important to know the elements of good writing, and you have to know the rules before you can break them, but copywriting isn't like typical writing. Plus, an advertising course will help you put together an advertising portfolio (samples of ads) which you will need as you interview for jobs and internships.

I would recommend taking journalism if you wanted to get into Public Relations, but journalism won't prepare you all that well for a career as a copywriter. Also, as it relates to putting together a portfolio, you might be great at writing press releases and feature stories, but I doubt whether or not an agency will hire you on the basis of having lots of nice news stories in your portfolio. You need to have ADS!

I can't speak to how difficult it might be to get an internship as a British citizen. But I would venture to guess that there must be British companies in America that would take you on board. Plus, you might do some research to see if there are American companies that market to Britain - you might be a real asset to a company like that.

Advertising used to be a male dominated industry, and in some respects, it still is. But I see more and more women entering the industry all the time. Your ability to succeed is going to come down to how good you are, and men certainly don't own the patent on that.

If you want any more advice, feel free to e-mail me.

Good luck.