Advertising, Marketing and PR

Advertising, Marketing and PR sit at the intersection of creativity, strategy and commercial thinking; between them, they touch almost every organisation and industry you can think of. That includes consumer brands, technology and finance, as well as charities, universities, government and the arts. You could work in-house for a single organisation or for an agency that works across multiple clients.

The field brings together a broad mix of roles. Creative work sits alongside research, data analysis, strategy, project management and client relationships. Digital marketing has further widened the range of opportunities. Employers now use audience analytics, social media, search, content, customer data tools and AI (for personalisation, content generation and campaign measurement) to understand audiences and track results. Job titles can overlap, particularly in smaller organisations where one role may cover several areas.

There is no single route in, and graduates enter from a wide range of subjects. Larger employers and agency groups offer graduate schemes, while smaller organisations tend to recruit directly for entry-level roles. Relevant experience is well worth building, whether through internships, student societies, volunteering, running social media or supporting campus campaigns and events. Introductory courses through LinkedIn Learning or work simulations on sites like Forage can also provide a useful first step into understanding the field.

Example job titles in advertising, marketing & PR

Useful websites for researching advertising, marketing and PR careers

• Prospects: Marketing, Advertising and PR: a good starting point for exploring the sector, individual job profiles, graduate schemes, internships and routes into digital marketing and PR.
• Campaign: industry news, campaigns, agencies and jobs across advertising, media and marketing.
• Marketing Week: useful for understanding current marketing campaigns, employers, industry issues and trends, alongside its specialist jobs section.
• The Drum: news and analysis covering advertising, marketing, digital, media, brands and agencies.
• PRWeek: specialist news, analysis and jobs for the PR and communications industry.
• IPA: Careers in Advertising – useful for understanding advertising agencies, the different teams within them and routes into the profession.
• CIM How to get started in marketing: careers information from the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
• CIPR Careers in Public Relations: useful for exploring PR roles, entry routes and professional development