How to make a career in Advertising

If you’re somebody who can come up with 10 strategies to sell an idea in 10 minutes flat, if you are the one who cracks the best one liners in your group and if you are somebody who is constantly disappointed with the advertisements you see on the television thinking they could’ve been so much better, then you are born to get into advertising. Advertising is one profession that has been going on for ages but only recently has it started getting the attention that it deserves. The best minds come together to plan a strategy that will drive people to believe in a concept and that, my friend, can be hard.

Avenues

Advertising is one profession that will give you choices even after you enter it. There are various departments that are functional in an ad agency and that is what you need to figure out before you start your career in advertising. The departments that are most common in ad agencies are – finance, client servicing, creative, media, studio, film department, production. All these departments work in coordination with each other to reach the client and take back the product that suits their needs and budget the most. So once you have all the departments figured out, choose which one attracts you the most.

Education

Based on the different departments available in an ad agency, choose the course you would want to go for. People who want to head into finance will have to go in for an MBA in the same. Others who wish to get in client servicing will have to do their masters in management and the creative people have courses like advertising, film making, etc. People usually choose to go in for post graduate courses to enter advertising because by then they are sure about their creative spark and that they wish to make a career in advertising. Many reputed colleges offer such courses like Xaviers, IIMC, MICA and various other institutes have courses where one can apply and learn the basics.

Once you have figured the course and are sure about the college you wish to attend you will have to prepare for a written test, an interview and a GD at the least. The process is rigorous for most of the best colleges, but it isn’t difficult to crack.

Funding

The fees for most of these institutes for Post Graduate diploma in advertising or management can range anywhere between 2 lakhs to 5 lakhs. One can procure an education loan which can be paid back after getting done with the course. For departments other than creative, a normal MBA fees will be applied, which can range from 30,000 (online) to 17-20 lakhs for a good college for which one can again go in for education loan which can paid off later.

Career

Your career will start immediately after you finish the course. Most of the good colleges have placement drives and if not, then one can always go to get an interview in most of the advertising companies. The top in these companies in India is Ogilvy and Mather, followed by various others like JWT, McCann etc. The stipend as a trainee is fairly low but once you are done with training, you will land up at something around 25,000 to 30,000 per month. This also varies according to your college and according to the company you are joining. The appraisals and hikes in this industry are good so one can expect to earn a lot more in just a few years.

Though success is relative in advertising, it is one career that is fulfilling and fun. People who get into advertising stick to it for the rest of their lives because of the passion and the drive this profession brings into one’s life. It will mostly account for 90% of your time but you will love every bit of. So if you are dedicated and willing to invest time in yourself, this is the place to be.

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