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Working Your Degree
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October 27, 2000: 6:15 a.m. ET
Advertising professionals can flip-flop from account side to creative
By Staff Writer Shelly K. Schwartz
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - It's got all the makings of an identity crisis.
On the one hand, you pride yourself on creativity - an appreciation for architecture, design and fine works of art. On the other, you possess a kind of built-in business savvy that meshes well with your practical-minded classmates bound for corporate America.
And now, as you plot the coordinates of your professional path, you struggle to decide which side of your brain speaks the loudest - the right or the left. And most importantly, which personality trait best defines who you are.
Enough already with the melodrama.
Those plugged into today's booming job market say there's room enough for  both of you in the face-paced world of advertising.
"There are great opportunities in advertising on every side [of the business]," said Birthney Ardoin, an advertising professor at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif. "Most people probably start out in the account-planning and media-buying side because those are the jobs that are most available [to recent grads]. Creative jobs are much more competitive, but those who want to can start out on the account side and transition over."
Students unsure of whether they would most enjoy flexing their creative muscle or working with clients to "sell" the ads don't necessarily have to decide, he notes.
At Pepperdine, as with most advertising programs across the country, students are exposed to all facets of advertising, from the practical application of copywriting and layout design, to strategy development and account relations. By the time they get out, they usually have a good idea where they'd like to end up in the industry.
"It's really interesting because I don't feel like anyone's really on one particular side," said Deidre McPherson, a May 2000 advertising graduate of Miami University of Ohio and an account-planning coordinator for the Arnold Worldwide agency in Boston. "All the departments work together because everyone's creativity is used. The creative side comes up with the concept but everyone provides some input into those areas. It's kind of seamless."
Selling the goods
Advertising is equal parts creative and account management. Each team uses different equipment but they all shoot for the same goal - helping clients sell their product and improve their image.
Mike Donahue, an executive vice president of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, said it's best to view the industry as a three-legged stool.
First, you've got the creatives, who develop campaigns and ads for clients - the ones you see on billboards, in the print media and commercials for television and radio. As the job titles suggest, copywriters draft the text of an ad and art directors develop the accompanying layout and design, as well as booking and directing any required photo shoots. Creative directors oversee their work.
Next, you've got the account teams who conduct market research and work with clients to develop the campaign strategy used by the creatives. They also manage the advertising budget, assess the need for ad services and ultimately "sell" the finished product (ad campaigns) to the clients.
Finally, there are the media buyers who decide where and when an ad will run, based on demographics and visibility projections.
It bears noting, too, that some advertising majors also end up in promotions, where they combine advertising initiatives with discount incentives to sell a product. That can include direct mail and telemarketing, rebates and sweepstakes contests.
Visit CNNfn's Career page regularly to read "Working Your Degree," a new
column that highlights job opportunities for a different college major each week. Click here for a list of previous profiles of these professions: accounting, philosophy, physical education, biology, political science, English, engineering, economics, computer science, physical therapy, history and teaching.
Diamonds in the rough
Advertising, marketing and public relations professionals held about 485,000 jobs in 1998, the most recent year for which government data are available. Many work for wholesale trade, manufacturing firms, advertising firms, computer and data processing services and public relations companies.
Donahue notes advertising agencies and in-house account departments within organizations are more lenient than most people imagine when it comes to hiring new recruits.
"You don't have to have knowledge of advertising going in to be successful in this business," he said. "We teach our recruits the language of the business. They learn very quickly. This is a very simple business. It's about the work and the relationship [with clients]."
 Not all colleges and universities even offer advertising as a major. As such, English and journalism programs funnel many a budding young copywriter into the field, while degrees in marketing, public relations and business prove useful for account executives and media buyers.
Those who become art directors and later creative directors frequently hail from graphic design and art history departments. And many - even those who did major in advertising - find the job market to be so competitive that they are forced to enroll in a post-graduation portfolio school to build their "book."
The same challenge affects advertising insiders who switch from the account side to creative.
Some of the more popular portfolio schools include: the Portfolio Center in Atlanta; Virginia Commonwealth University; the Miami Ad School; Pasadena School of Art and Design and the Rhode Island School of Design.
To give you an idea of cost, the Portfolio Center, one of the premier schools in the nation, charges $2,950 per quarter for the two-year program. That's a price tag of close to $24,000 total.
"A portfolio is a lifelong project for any creative," said Ardoin, of Pepperdine University. "I'm rather partial to the creative side. I think it's the most stressful and demanding side of advertising, but it's also the most rewarding."
He notes, however, you have to "have a thick skin" to survive in the field because you are "always going to be evaluated and critiqued."
Easy out
Ardoin notes there is one other advantage to an advertising degree: flexibility.
If you decide after graduating that the field isn't right for you, he said, you can always defect into public relations or graphic design.
There's a significant crossover between the fields of advertising and public relations. PR managers, however, generally operate on a larger scale determining how compatible an advertising campaign is with ongoing efforts to push the client's political or sales agenda. They also generally draft internal news releases, write speeches and arrange interviews with the media.
Others, especially those looking to climb the account management ladder, parlay their undergraduate degree into a master's degree in business administration. Such a degree, regardless of the professional field, adds roughly 10 percent to an employee's earnings potential.
(Click here for a story on the costs and benefits of obtaining an MBA.)
On the job
The good news is, no matter which side of the advertising fence you fall on, the job market remains strong.
Overall, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the industry will grow 21 to 35 percent through 2008, which is faster than the average for all occupations.
Jobs opportunities will climb even faster -- 36 percent or more - for advertising, marketing and public relations managers in the computer and data processing services industry, along with management and public relations firms.
To improve your chances of landing a job, the BLS "highly recommends" students study courses in management and complete an internship while still in school. Finely tuned computer skills are also vital in today's increasingly high-tech work environment, especially when it comes to Computer Aided  Design, CAD.
"Internships play a vital role because all these [advertising] agencies want someone with experience, and even the limited experience you get as an intern is valuable," Ardoin said. "A number of students use their internships to get a job. Even if there are no openings at that company, if they've done well, people will recommend them to others."
Paycheck check-up
As for salaries, Donahue said they're getting better.
"Advertising has become a very popular place for women to come, more so on the account and business side than the creative, because in the late 1970s a lot of male graduates went to work on Wall Street," he said. "It just paid a lot more. Today, salaries are still not nearly as high as they should be, but over the last couple of years, agencies have realized that they have to pay more to get better talent."
A lot of the students who, just a few years ago, flocked to stock-option-touting dot.coms have seen their paper wealth wither away in the recent tech sector pull-back. Those 80-hour workweeks no longer seem attractive.
Starting offers for advertising majors last year averaged about $26,600, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). That compares with offers in the $32,000 range for marketing majors.
And overall, for all advertising, marketing and public relations professionals in the field, the BLS notes the average annual salaries were about $57,000 in 1998 - the most recent year for which data are available. The lowest 10 percent earned $28,000 and the highest 10 percent earned $116,000.
Many, however, also receive performance bonuses of 10 percent or more that add significantly to their annual compensation package.
What to expect
If you're planning to pursue a career in advertising, you should know it's a demanding job.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that almost 40 percent of advertising, marketing and PR managers work 50 hours or more each week. That compares to 15 percent who work that many hours amid the overall working population.
Deadlines and last-minute schedule changes are frequent. As are late nights when a new account is pitched. There also is a good deal of traveling involved to meet with clients and pitch to prospective clients.
So who's best suited for a job in advertising?
"You have to be a team player and to be able to get along with others because all of your work is done in a team framework," Ardoin said. "You have to know how to compromise and have a sense of humor." 
-- Click here to send e-mail to Shelly K. Schwartz
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