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Advertising, marketing and PR

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Discover other sectors

This sector not for you?  Don't worry, there are plenty of others to explore.

This broad sector is a popular career area for many as it welcomes graduates from many different degree disciplines. Understanding people and why they make the choices they do, then putting an effective strategy in place to influence those choices is at the heart of marketing.

A key decision will be whether you would prefer to work "in house" within a marketing department, or for an agency offering marketing services to a number of clients. Although the tasks may be similar, working relationships will be very different and will require different sets of skills.

Find out about advertising, marketing and PR

Key resources

Research the sector and keep up with current issues by reading:

  • trade news from Campaign, Marketing Week and The Drum
  • social media accounts of marketing, advertising and PR companies, who often post about sector developments

What skills do I need?

There are many different jobs in this sector, but these skills are common requirements:

  • communication
  • negotiation
  • using your initiative
  • problem solving
  • time management and ability to work well under pressure
  • organisation
  • numeracy
  • creativity and innovation
  • commercial awareness
  • IT

You don’t need a degree in marketing, advertising or PR to work in this sector, as many employers value your skills and experiences over what you’ve studied.

However, a relevant degree, including any that develops your creativity and communication skills, could help you demonstrate your skills and interest in the sector.

Work experience

Competition for graduate schemes and graduate level jobs in this sector is high, so getting work experience while you study is essential. It doesn't just have to be an internship. Read more about different types of work experience. You could:

  • Consider a summer internship - many of the large graduate recruiters in the sector also offer internships, as well as York Internships in Careers and Placements.
  • Look into doing a placement year - you'll learn more about the sector and increase you chances of getting a graduate job.
  • Send speculative applications to small firms - many smaller companies don’t advertise formal internships but are willing to offer work experience if you impress them with your CV.
  • Volunteer in your local community - there are many opportunities to develop your marketing and communications skills.

Finding jobs

Jobs are advertised on:

You will find major graduate schemes advertised on Handshake and other graduate job websites like Target Jobs and Prospects Jobs.

What can I do at York?

Use your time at York to develop your skills and experience to help you get a job in this sector. You could:

More resources: people to follow, podcasts, event recordings