Advertising, marketing and PR

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

Overview of the UK’s marketing, advertising and PR sector from Prospects
Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)

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

AI in the marketing sector

AI is increasingly important in the marketing sector, and is used in content creation, data analytics and audience segmentation, personalisation and campaign optimisation. However, ethical considerations, together with the need for creativity, emotional intelligence and factual accuracy mean there is still demand for marketing professionals. (See CIM: AI in marketing course; Pareto: Why AI won’t replace marketing jobs May 2024 and look for recent articles on this topic.)

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
digital literacy and use of AI tools

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.

For more information about professional skills and how to develop them, see the York Strengths Professional Skills page.

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 from Careers and Placements.
Look into doing a placement year - you'll learn more about the sector and increase your 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.

Find jobs

Jobs are advertised on:

websites like Campaign, Marketing Week, PR Week and The Drum
Graduates jobs and schemes in marketing and PR (Bright Network)
Creative careers club advertises "starting out" or "moving up" roles in the creative industries, including advertising and social media
on company and recruitment agency websites and social media profiles. The Marketists, based in Leeds, aim to offer helpful advice and support to people starting out in marketing.
through word of mouth, making networking very important.

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:

Apply for an internship through Handshake - York Internships advertise summer internships exclusively for York students.
Consider volunteering in the local community. We advertise events and marketing opportunities each year for students interested in developing their skills.
Join a student society and get involved - as well as having fun, you'll be developing skills such as teamwork, organisation, project management and more.
Keep an eye out for events organised by Careers and Placements, including recruitment fairs and talks by employers.
Start making connections - see the next section for suggestions.

More resources: people to follow, podcasts, blogs

Connect with York graduates

Join York for Life to connect with our global network of alumni. Start building your own network - find people from your course, look at different careers, ask questions and request a mentor.

Use LinkedIn to make connections, follow organisations of interest, and find out what York graduates are doing. Find out more about using LinkedIn and networking.

Podcasts

Keep up to date with the sector and learn about the types of jobs available with these podcasts.