Skills Will Open Doors

The Age

Wednesday April 20, 2005

Claire Halliday

Jobs can be found in Melbourne's advertising industry if you have some specific skills. By Claire Halliday.

THE advertising industry is perceived as one of high glamour, limitless opportunities and soaring pay packets. But according to the general manager of agency giant J. Walter Thompson, David Crothers, employment in the Melbourne market is relatively flat and has been for about three or four years.

Although there has been some growth in the industry, Mr Crothers says that it has tightened in terms of the number of people it employs.

"What will turn it around is agencies winning more business," he says.

Opportunities in some areas, though, still abound.

"I find it most difficult to fill people in the strategy planning area," Mr Crothers says. "There is a shortage of quality people who develop communications and strategies behind campaigns and the people who manage the research process."

Pay for such a position can vary from $50,000 up to $200,000 for what Mr Crothers describes as "the thinking powerhouse behind the senior end of advertising".

Agency-led training in these areas, Mr Crothers says, has been lacking and positions have been filled from Britain. The ideal background includes degrees in business or marketing.

Other skill shortages exist in account management. Entry-level positions start at about $30,000 and salaries can exceed $100,000.

"There is always a need for creative people too," Mr Crothers says. Jobs in copywriting usually follow on from an advertising degree or qualifications and experience in journalism, with "a good command of the English language" being critical to success.

The advertising employment market is strongest in Sydney where there is more client movement.

Employment in the industry has always been transient, with international and local people passing through from agency to agency.

While opportunities exist overseas, Mr Crothers believes that, although any international experience would help a CV, employers would look more closely at the category experience, rather than the international market experience.

With advertising working across a variety of media including print, television and radio, Mr Crothers says that there are growing opportunities in non-traditional areas, such as online marketing and direct marketing. "It is a different way to market to an audience and is becoming bigger."