Is Advertising your suggested career choice?
Find out more about the field, from different types of work, qualifications and more.

Not sure if an Advertising career is right for you?
Take the Carer Planner Quiz to get insight on the best career paths for you.

Do your color preferences match you to a career in Advertising? Find out now with the Color Career Counselor.

Are you currently in Advertising and not satisfied?
Find out your level of satisfaction with aspects of your actual work and your work environment. Take the Career Vision Job Satisfaction Survey™ for a personalized report now.

ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS SERVICES

Significant Points

- Competition for many jobs will be keen because the glamour of the industry traditionally attracts many more jobseekers than there are job openings.
- California and New York together account for about 1 in 5 firms and more than 1 in 4 workers in the industry.
- Layoffs are common when accounts are lost, major clients cut budgets, or agencies merge.

Nature of the Industry

Firms in the advertising and public relations services industry prepare advertisements for other companies and organizations and design campaigns to promote the interests and image of their clients. This industry also includes media representatives-firms that sell advertising space for publications, radio, television, and the Internet; display advertisers-businesses engaged in creating and designing public display ads for use in shopping malls, on billboards, or in similar media; and direct mail advertisers. A firm that purchases advertising time (or space) from media outlets, thereafter reselling it to advertising agencies or individual companies directly, is considered a media buying agency. Divisions of companies that produce and place their own advertising are not considered part of this industry.

Industry organization. In 2006, there were about 48,000 advertising and public relations services establishments in the United States. About 4 out of 10 write copy and prepare artwork, graphics, and other creative work, and then place the resulting ads on television, radio, or the Internet or in periodicals, newspapers, or other advertising media. Within the industry, only these full-service establishments are known as advertising agencies. About 1 in 6 were public relations firms. Many of the largest agencies are international, with a substantial proportion of their revenue coming from abroad.

Most advertising firms specialize in a particular market niche. Some companies produce and solicit outdoor advertising, such as billboards and electric displays. Others place ads in buses, subways, taxis, airports, and bus terminals. A small number of firms produce aerial advertising, while others distribute circulars, handbills, and free samples.

Many agencies have created units to serve their clients' electronic advertising needs on the Internet. Online advertisements link users to a company's or product's Web site, where information such as new product announcements, contests, and product catalogs appears, and from which purchases may be made.

Some firms are not involved in the creation of ads at all; instead, they sell advertising time or space on radio and television stations or in publications. Because these firms do not produce advertising, their staffs are mostly sales workers.

Companies often look to advertising as a way of boosting sales by increasing the public's exposure to a product or service. Most companies do not have the staff with the necessary skills or experience to create effective advertisements; furthermore, many advertising campaigns are temporary, so employers would have difficulty maintaining their own advertising staff. Instead, companies commonly solicit bids from ad agencies to develop advertising for them; the ad agencies offering their services to the company often make presentations. After winning an account, various departments within an agency-such as creative, production, media, and research-work together to meet the client's goal of increasing sales.

Widespread public relations services firms can influence how businesses, governments, and institutions make decisions. Often working behind the scenes, these firms have a variety of functions. In general, firms in public relations services advise and implement public exposure strategies. For example, a public relations firm might issue a press release that is printed in newspapers across the country. Firms in public relations services offer one or more resources that clients cannot provide themselves. Usually this resource is expertise in the form of knowledge, experience, special skills, or creativity; but sometimes the resource is time or personnel that the client cannot spare. Clients of public relations firms include all types of businesses, institutions, trades, and public interest groups, and even high-profile individuals. Clients are large and small for-profit firms in the private sector; State, local, or Federal Governments; hospitals, universities, unions, and trade groups; and foreign governments or businesses.

Public relations firms help secure favorable public exposure for their clients, advise them in the case of a sudden public crisis, and design strategies to help them attain a certain public image. Toward these ends, public relations firms analyze public or internal sentiment about clients; establish relationships with the media; write speeches and coach clients for interviews; issue press releases; and organize client-sponsored publicity events, such as contests, concerts, exhibits, symposia, and sporting and charity events.

Lobbying firms, a special type of public relations firm, differ somewhat. Instead of attempting to secure favorable public opinion about their clients, they attempt to influence legislators in favor of their clients' special interests. Lobbyists often work for large businesses, industry trade organizations, unions, or public interest groups.

Recent developments. In an effort to attract and maintain clients, advertising and public relations services agencies are diversifying their services, offering advertising as well as public relations, sales, marketing, and interactive media services. Advertising and public relations services firms have found that highly creative work is particularly suitable for their services, resulting in a better product and increasing their clients' profitability.

Training and Advancement

Most entry-level professional and managerial positions in advertising and public relations services require a bachelor's degree, preferably with broad liberal arts exposure.

Beginners in advertising usually enter the industry in the account management or media department. Occasionally, entry-level positions are available in the market research or creative departments of an agency, but these positions usually require some experience. Completing an advertising-related internship while in school provides an advantage when applying for an entry-level position; in fact, internships are becoming a necessary step to obtaining permanent employment. In addition to an internship, courses in marketing, psychology, accounting, statistics, and creative design can help prepare potential entrants for careers in this field.

Assistant account executive positions-the entry-level account management occupation in most firms-require a bachelor's degree in marketing or advertising, although some firms require a master's degree in business administration.

Bachelor's degrees are not required for entry-level positions in the creative department. Assistant art directors usually need at least a 2-year degree from an art or design school. Although assistant copywriters do not need a degree, obtaining one helps to develop the superior communication skills and abilities required for this job.

Assistant media planner or assistant media buyer also are good entry-level positions, but almost always require a bachelor's degree, preferably with a major in marketing or advertising. Experienced applicants who possess at least a master's degree usually fill research positions. Often, they have a background in marketing or statistics and years of experience. Requirements for support services and administrative positions depend on the job and vary from firm to firm.

In public relations, employers prefer applicants with degrees in communications, journalism, English, or business. Some 4-year colleges and universities have begun to offer a concentration in public relations. Because there is keen competition for entry-level public relations jobs, workers are encouraged to gain experience through internships, co-op programs, or one of the formal public relations programs offered across the country. However, these programs are not available everywhere, so most public relations workers get the bulk of their training on the job. At some firms, this training consists of formal classroom education but, in most cases, workers train under the guidance of senior account executives or other experienced workers, gradually familiarizing themselves with public relations work. Entry-level workers often start as research or account assistants and may be promoted to account executive, account supervisor, vice president, and executive vice president.

A voluntary accreditation program for public relations specialists is offered by the Public Relations Society of America. The program is a recognized mark of competency in the profession and requires that workers have been employed in the field for several years.

Employees in advertising and public relations services should have good people skills, common sense, creativity, communication skills, and problem-solving ability. Foreign language skills have always been important for those wanting to work abroad for domestic firms or to represent foreign firms domestically. However, these skills are increasingly vital to reach minorities not fluent in English in U.S. cities, such as Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, and Phoenix. New media, such as the Internet, are creating opportunities to market products, but also are increasing the need for additional training for those already employed. Keeping pace with technology is fundamental to success in the industry. In addition, advertisers must keep in tune with the changing values, cultures, and fashions of the Nation.

Success in increasingly responsible staff assignments usually leads to advancement to supervisory positions. As workers advance on the job, broad vision and planning skills become extremely important. Another way to get to the top in this industry is to open one's own firm. In spite of the difficulty and high failure rate, many find starting their own business to be personally and financially rewarding. Advancement among the self-employed takes the form of increasing the size and strength of their own company.

Employment

The advertising and public relations services industry employed 458,000 wage and salary workers in 2006; an additional 46,800 workers were self-employed.

Although advertising and public relations services firms are located throughout the country, they are concentrated in the largest States and cities. California and New York together account for about 1 in 5 firms and more than 1 in 4 workers in the industry. Firms vary in size, ranging from one-person shops to international agencies employing thousands of workers. However, 68 percent of all advertising and public relations establishments employ fewer than 5 employees (chart 1).

The small size of the average advertising and public relations services firm demonstrates the opportunities for self-employment. It is relatively easy to open a small agency; in fact, many successful agencies began as one-person or two-person operations.

About 74 percent of advertising and public relations employees are 25 to 54 years of age. Very few advertising and public relations services workers are below the age of 20, which reflects the need for postsecondary training or work experience.

Job Outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Career Guide to Industries, 2008-09 Edition, Advertising and Public Relations Services, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs030.htm

---