Where will a degree and career in advertising get me in life?!?

Question

What types of jobs

where are they

this would be a degree in advertising from msu, how much income etc ?

Answer 1

You've asked a complicated question.  But I will try to answer it.

The basic departments for an ad agency are as follows:

Account Service (dealing with clients and acting as a liason with the rest of the agency)

Creative (this includes copywriters art directors, graphic designers, creative directors)  If this is where you want to go, you may need to take additional course work at someplace like Miami Ad School to be able to compete for the best jobs.

Media Planning / Buying (works with agency and client to create a plan for client advertising that includes a good media mix, negotiates with media for best prices)

Strategy (larger agencies will often have a separate department for this, small to mid-size will absorb this into account service)

Research

What you make income-wise depends on where you decide to focus, what size agency you go to, and where it is located.  For instance, a beginning copywriter fresh out of school in a small to mid-size agency in the midwest can expect to start at around $30 - 36,000.

There isn't a way to tell you in this post what the entire income potential is...but I can point you to a place where you can find out.  Go to www.adweek.com and look around.  They publish an annual salary survey every year, and you may be able to access last year's.

I CAN tell you, however, that if you are willing to work hard and learn quickly, a career in advertising can be very lucrative.  It can also be a lot of fun.  : )

Good luck!