How do you get a job in advertising?

How do I get a job in advertising?

• My dream to become a creative director one day for an advertising agency. How do I get there?

• Answer:

  Congratulations on deciding upon a career path! If you are in college earn as much class credit and non-paid experience as possible. This is a perfect time to learn! Ask instructors for opportunities and use the services of your college's career and employment office. Get their job bulletin, take seminars, post a job wanted ad, examine help wanted ads, etc. Add these experiences to your portfolio. Join and become active with student chapters of professional organizations, such as American Advertising Federation, Public Relations Society of America, American Marketing Association, Business Marketing Association, etc. Use your connections to look for jobs during school breaks and summer sessions. Call creative directors at companies you are interested in and conduct informational interviews. Find out how long they have been in the business, what led them to the job they're in now, what their specialty is (if applicable), what their typical day is like, what is the work environment like, what type of clients they work for, how an advertising team works together on a project, how is their job different from what they learned in college, what did they learn in college that was most important to their career, what suggestions do they have for someone interested in being a creative director, do they have a need for an intern (paid or unpaid), are they hiring, can they suggest someone else for you to talk to? If you already graduated, the short answer is the same as above, but target which area of advertising you are interested and research those companies before submitting resumes.