Career Profile: Advertising Executive

1353 Words3 Pages

Career Profile Task

The career that I have chosen to profile is that of an Advertising Executive. Advertising professionals combine creativity with sound business sense to market a product based on financial, sociological, and psychological research. To ensure this complicated process works smoothly, advertisers spend a lot of time in the office (a six-day week is not unusual). Most of their time is spent brainstorming, creative blockbusting, and sifting through demographic research; less time is spent meeting with clients or pitching advertising campaigns. Fluidity of daily activity marks the life of the advertising executive who jumps from project to project. It takes a very disciplined person to handle both the creative end and the detail-oriented side. Advertising executives work in teams on projects, so working with others is crucial; those who are successful have the ability to add to other people’s ideas and help them grow. The need to be flexible can not be emphasized enough. As a number of large players in the industry move toward “computer-based brainstorming,”-a way in which creative ideas are kept in a fluid database without regard to account specificity-computer skills will become more valuable. Like most project-oriented careers, you can expect periods of intense activity during which you have little, if any, free time. At other times, the workload is light and mundane.

Education / Training Requirements

High-school preparation:

Take lots of English courses. Any other writing-intensive courses are good as well. If your high school offers courses that will teach you how to use computer programs or, even better, how to create computer-based graphic art, take them, too. You'll probably be required to take a foreign language in college if you choose to major in Advertising. Plan accordingly. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Advertising majors almost universally involve some fairly challenging statistics courses. Consequently, if you ignore math in high school, you'll be in for a rude awakening.

Degrees Possibly Required:

· Degree in Internet Marketing

· Degree in Marketing and/or Business Administration

· Journalism and/or editorial experience would be an asset

· BA/BS

· Other specific degrees in relation to the type of advertising. (Example: Internet Advertising = Degree in Internet Advertising

Skills...

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...ne to make it better. I tell my family and friends about my ideas, and they love them! If I had an advertising account to complete, and I had a team of skilled designers, and conceptualists, I know that I could do the job pretty darn good. It takes an outgoing, creative, social, skilled person who likes to, and can work with others collaborating thoughts and ideas, to be an advertiser.

Through all of my personality tests and self-evaluations, I have come to the conclusion that I am almost perfect for this job. I have an outgoing personality, I am creative, I enjoy working with others, I love creating great humour, and I LOVE designing things. I am also somewhat skilled at selling products and ideas, as well as negotiating (this must be hereditary, as my mother is blessed in this area).

Bibliography:

(March 2). Monster Job Search Website. [Online]. Available: http://www.monster.ca

(March 3). Career Builder. [Online]. Available: http://www.careerbuilder.com

(March 3). About.com. [Online]. Available: http://www.about.com

(March 4). Google. [Online]. Available: http://www.google.com

(March 6). The Princeton Review. [Online]. Available: http://www.princetonreview.com

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