<p>Thanks, Katliamom! I copied your post and emailed it to my daughter. I think will do some talking and researching this weekend.</p>
<p>One disadvantage my daughter has is that she will graduate HS next year and will also have her AA. That seemed like a great advantage at one point but now I see that she will need to come up with a major and hit the ground running with those specific classes when she starts at the university. She won’t have that first year or two to try out a class here or there in a few different majors while she takes her general ed classes.</p>
<p>“department of a large, in-house advertising agency at a major corporation”…</p>
<p>Uniman: as posted earlier, in-house advertising usually hires business major and MBA’s as katliamom had stated…</p>
<p>Advertising agencies (less and less of them independent, but rather now part of larger conglomerates) , often hire communication and advertising majors from schools known for that…creative side come from art, design, or even specialized advertising programs that concentrate on the creative side; account side comes from primarily advertising and marketing majors…</p>
<p>Both are difficult to “break into”…but rarely, if ever, require a masters</p>
<p>Btw, there is also media buying/planning that also draws from similar majors…</p>
<p>Not sure what other info you are looking for…</p>
<p>I’m not going to argue with Katalia because many of the things said are correct. I’ve been in the business for 34 years. 18 with agencies including some of the hottest agencies at the time, almost a decade managing an in-house and now the “client side.” Somewhere along the way I picked up an MBA. Very few fellow employees “studied” advertising, although I taught Advertising 101 for a number of years so I know that schools “teach it.” The industry is changing so fast it takes your breadth away and anyone serious about journalism, marketing, PR, advertising or communication better have some experience and understanding about the digital world…not only how to execute but about emerging trends and incorporation as a strategy and don’t forget mobile technology. There is nothing “practical” about adv/mktg/PR/comm, my dad would have much, much rather seen me become an engineer like my siblings, but I’ve sure had alot of fun along the way. Get a master’s when someone else (like a company you work for) will help pay for the degree. As far as a degree in “advertising” I don’t think it matters too much. The creative side is going to sink or swim based on the portfolio and the account side is going to sink or swim based on the interview. We just had the sharpest intern I’ve ever met (graduating after putting self through college over 6 years at the local directional U while bartending every night) majoring in PR just interview over the phone for and get an offer from Blizzard Entertainment in Corporate Communication. Whoot whoot go intern go. Interning is the absolute best thing you can do for your resume.</p>
<p>I wonder what will happen to media planning? What is it anymore? Is it the spine for integrated marketing planning? Is paid search media? Is a buzz campaign media? Is free publicity media? Is a sports promotion media? Is it simply buying and placing TV, radio, billboards and what’s left of print and newspaper advertising? I don’t know but I know many media buyers and it’s interesting to see how they are adapting to the changing world.</p>
<p>Yep, it doesn’t matter what you study. S is studying advertising and the advertising classes are for building a portfolio and getting contacts in the industry. It doesn’t matter what his degree says. I would love him to study something else, but he is passionate about the work. Because of his passion for the work, he has been able to distinguish himself. Therefore OP, go and discover your passion and stop asking on an anonymous message board what is practical.</p>
<p>Ha, ha rodney. I am actually thrilled that S is studying advertising as he loves it. But, I would have loved to have a kid who wanted to be an engineer or a nurse.</p>
<p>^^You HAVE to be totally passionate. I fell into advertising back in college totally on accident. I wanted to work on a political campaign (and was a poli science major) and it was a non-election year. The only internship that I could find that wanted me was an advertising agency. Somewhere in the middle of the five months I knew this was absolutely what I wanted to do. I did get to sit on the steering committee of a state senatorial campaign a decade ago…as the “advertising” consultant…most fun I’ve had in ages. So yes, don’t go into this unless you have stamina and enthusiasm and hopefully you’ll still have stamina and enthusiasm when you’re as old as I am.</p>
<p>I’ve been in Corp Comm/PR for 25 years and have had many opportunities to work beside the advertising folks. One thing that always impressed me is the market research and data analysis that go on behind every campaign. </p>
<p>If I were going to advise my kids on how to enter the advertising field, I’d recommend a Statistics minor. Learn how to write a valid survey, conduct focus groups, cut the data, and analyze them. Become intimate with the US Census. Learn all you can about demographics. Take sociology and psychology. Market Research is found in every ad agency. Plus, it’s kinda practical, too.</p>
<p>Corporate Communications is generally a group comprised of specialists and generalists. The upside to corporate communications as opposed to working in an agency is that companies tend to be a tad bit more stable and you really “learn” the business of wherever you are working. The downside is the same things occur every year so after your 10th vision week, grand opening or road show if you are publicly traded or whatever, you want to slit your wrists. In an agency, clients come and go and you are always learning a new business. The upside is for people who are lifetime learners (like me) you are constantly learning about industries, businesses, the industry of marketing and communications and whatever it is that you are marketing or communicating. As a consummate “manager” of all the boys that live in my house, getting people to “do something” or “think something” or “understand something” comes naturally. The quant side of me loves to measure and justify and speculate. Many, many people that find themselves in the industry can honestly claim to be half left-brain half right-brain.</p>
<p>Yes, uniman, if you studied those subjects, you’d be prepared for corp comm. They’re the same things I studied. </p>
<p>Here’s the evolution of my corp comm career, just for perspective: media relations intern → media relations staff → community relations staff → employee communications staff → employee communications manager → website staff → intranet project manager → employee communications manager at a regional company–> employee/electronic comm manager at global company.</p>
<p>Agree with DougBetsy…do your best at some point to secure an internship and make sure you have some quantifiable digital experience, volunteer or work with your college channels or join a group to beef up those areas.</p>