How to Transition Into Advertising from Another Industry

Looking to make the switch to advertising? Let's talk about things you can do to make a smooth transition from another industry to a traditional advertising agency. And yes, it's possible to make this career change even without previous marketing or advertising experience!

Education

If you want a leg up on creative roles, portfolio school is an option. Although, it can be SUPER expensive. If you still want a more structured way of learning, there are much cheaper options.

AdHouse: 10-week online classes, usually around $600 per class, taught by ad pros

SVA: Continued education courses, typically $200-500 per class, online

How to translate your skills

Take the bullet points of the job description and find parallels between those responsibilities and what you do in your current role.

Find someone in the role you’re interested in and chat! Ask them about their day-to-day tasks and make connections with your own experience.

Use your unique experience to your advantage

Look for an agency with a relevant vertical. Say you've been working at a hotel, look for an agency with hospitality clients. Or if you've been working a government job, an agency with government clients.

If you want to be a creative, make a portfolio

Craft a solid collection of spec work to fill up what you can of a portfolio. Aim for six campaigns or projects. More is strongly encouraged, but any less than six usually won’t give the agency enough to determine if you have the potential to succeed in the role.

See if your company has any related roles

A lot of bigger companies have a marketing department or even in-house agencies that have similar roles to that of a traditional advertising agency. Check for opportunities to move into one of those roles. It could be a great step between your current job and the jump over to the agency world.

Be patient

Don’t feel discouraged! It’s hard to start fresh, especially when you’ll most likely need to start in an entry-level position. But remember, what you may lack in agency experience, you have in life experience or maybe even management experience. Once you get going, you’ll probably be able to move up the ladder fairly quickly.