Is Advertising Right for You?
Although the world of advertising is fast-paced, creative, fun and rewarding, it can be a competitive field with tight deadlines and demanding clients.
If you are considering studying or pursuing a career in advertising, here are a few things to bear in mind.
Are you creative?
If you like to design or write, then advertising may be your preferred choice of study or top career option. Your creative personality will be a valuable asset. With technology advancing towards greater heights, the opportunities are endless when it comes to creating a vision. You will be able to push the boundaries with your creativity. For example, Burger King’s ‘Burn That Ad’ campaign in Brazil allows customers to get a free Whopper burger by using Augmented Reality (AR) to ‘burn’ a competitor’s poster.
There are also others who work together to make an ad campaign successful such as PR managers, media directors, account executive, etc. These people may not be the ones involved in developing the campaign’s concept but are still crucial to ensure the client’s needs are met.
Do you thrive in a high pressure environment?
It is the norm in the advertising world to work long hours with short deadlines. If your dream is to work in a major ad company, then you must be able to handle the stress well. Since you will be in charge of a campaign’s success or failure, you can expect to be rewarded if the campaign is a hit and learn from the experience even if your ideas didn’t make the final cut.
Are you willing to work long hours and on weekends?
Although movies make advertising look glamourous, it requires hard work and dedication. You’ll have to put in the hours but working in this field can be incredibly rewarding.
You must be able to handle criticism
Feedback from your clients may be brutal. What you may think is your best work and you know in your gut is, may not even make the final cut. You might even have to start from scratch. You must be ready for such challenges and don’t get offended if you are told to make changes to your work – it’s just part of the job.
Expect to start at the bottom and work your way up
Like most jobs, the salary when you start out in advertising will be low. With hard word and determination, you can expect better career opportunities and a higher salary.
Interning at an advertising agency is a great way to determine if you are made for the advertising world. You will get a first-hand account of working in an exciting and fast-paced environment. Meeting people within the advertising industry will also help you build a professional network which will come in handy if you decide to pursue a career in this field.
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