7 Things You Don’t Learn In College for Advertising Majors
So, did you land your first full-time job at an advertising agency? You have every right to be excited! The agency lifestyle is among the best environments you will ever be in. They are places of collaboration, creativity and unique business! Even though you might beyond excited to begin you’re probably asking yourself:
- “Am I ready for my first job?”
- “What should I be expecting?”
- “Is this anything like I learned in college?”
Well, there are a handful of things you didn’t learn in college that will surprise you at the start of your career. Don’t get caught off guard! This is real life and just some of the many things you will learn right away at the beginning of your career path if you’re working at a marketing agency or advertising firm.
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You’re Not Always Right
Has your phenomenal GPA from your local state college given you the sense that you know everything about the industry you’re working in? Well, l hate to break it to you but your ideas and methods are not always going to be right.
When you enter the advertising world you will find that every company has its own unique ways of operating.
Not Every Client Is The Same
The quickest thing you will at an advertising agency is that not every client is the same. Throughout your career, you are going to have a large variety of clients, all with unique personalities, attitudes, ideas and expectations. Some will be stubborn and others will be great. Some will be awkward and others will consider you their best friend.
College can never prepare you for real-life client relations because every single one is different. The good news is this prepares you for real life. You will learn that you may not be able to please everyone. But most importantly, you will learn how to interact with every type of person.
It Can Be Hard To Communicate With Clients
Clients are your agency’s lifelines. College might have given you the expectation that every client will be transparent with you. However, clients can be extremely difficult to get straight answers. Even worse, they can be extremely difficult to get in touch with.
You have to remember that your clients have their own company to run. They have to fulfill their duties and maintain their own business. So, don’t get frustrated when your client doesn’t have time to talk to you about the background color of your latest print advertisement for them.
Be confident about your work. Even though clients aren’t always transparent and easy to communicate with, they trust you to provide them with the best product for their business.
You Chose A Very Competitive Industry
Employees will come and go. As fun as it collaborating with colleagues on projects and strategies, you will eventually learn that all of you, down the road, can be replaced.
Now, even though that might sound discouraging, it’s simply a fact. An advertising agency will only survive and thrive based on the satisfaction of clients. So, basically, the clients are everyone’s lifelines. No matter how good your work maybe or the track record you may have, one slip up could cost you your job.
Now, you don’t need to worry. Typically, if you show dedication to your work, are able to perform your basic job duties and are constantly active in the development of new creative ideas and strategies you will thrive within the advertising industry.
Not Everyone Is As Enthusiastic As You
You will find that not every employee shares the same amount of enthusiasm as you might have while working at your agency. However, just because someone has a hard time showing enthusiasm doesn’t mean they aren’t masters at their craft. You will find that everyone within the agency has a set of skills and are just as valuable as an asset as you are.
Advertising agencies hire a large pool of professionals. Jobs within your agency could range from sales all the way to back-end web developers. So, don’t be surprised if Debra from accounting isn’t as enthusiastic as you might be as a junior art director.
You Will Learn Marketing Skills
Everyone says marketing and advertising go hand and hand. They are absolutely right. Even though you didn’t receive some fancy business degree in marketing doesn’t mean you won’t be learning valuable marketing skills.
Most advertising agencies double as marketing firms. Some of your job duties may require you to learn certain aspects of marketing including everything such as competitor analysis, budgeting and market trends. These are all skills that you will acquire over your course of working at an advertising agency. It might be best you blow the dust off your Marketing 101 textbook and revamp your memory.
Digital Advertising Is The Future
Digital advertising is the future! This should come to no surprise that companies are pushing more funding into online advertising, SEO and web development. A close friend, who manages print campaigns, told me that within our lifetime we will see print disappear and digital take over. Just to put that into perspective he is in his late 50s and I’m currently in my 20s.
You will learn that advertising agencies already know this and are currently pushing for the development of online advertising services within their individual firms. So, be prepared to be heavily involved in aspects of digital advertising including “exciting” things like keyword research and Facebook ads.