Do I need a degree, what is the pay like, what are the hours of work, how diverse is the advertising community and many other questions answered.
No. There are many routes into the industry, and having a degree is just one of them.
Though it varies by agency, it’s often the case that individual agencies have their own work placement programmes which may lead to full time roles, or they may be one of the many that take on apprentices.
There is lots of advice on starting your search for the perfect role. But here are some top methods.
These are all entry level roles:
Please view detailed job descriptions and see where each of those roles leads as you move through your career.
Most agencies participate in the annual IPA salary survey to make sure that they are in keeping with the market. Currently entry level salaries for an apprentice or graduate would start at £21,000. Like all businesses, agencies work to a salary budget and will endeavor to pay for performance.
Most agencies, like all other organisations have core working hours. Sometimes though, you may have to work outside of these hours depending on what is going on in the agency at any given time. If there is a lot of new business activity going on, you may find yourself supporting the teams as they prepare for the pitch. The pitch may run simultaneously with a high workload. Agencies are known for their collaboration and people will support each other’s teams to deliver quality work at this time.
The latest IPA Census found that there are many opportunities for hybrid or remote working in agencies. 83% of agencies are being flexible, for example, three days in the office and two at home
It is a myth that advertising and marketing want only rich, private school, southern, white, ‘bank of mum and dad’ kids. In fact, we crave diversity because it leads to better business results. We’ve made big strides – now up to 24% of IPA employees are from non white backgrounds (IPA Census 2024), versus 14% national figure. And according to The Advertising Association 2025 All In Census, women make up 46% of the top roles. However, only 10.5% of the top roles are held by non white employees. These figures are encouraging but underline the need to keep supporting as diverse a range of young people as possible into the industry.
Established in 2020 and run in partnership with Campaign, the IPA iList honours inclusivity gamechangers, giving them a platform to share best practice, thought leadership and to provide tangible solutions to help improve the overall diversity and inclusion of the ad industry.
This year’s iList individuals work in disciplines ranging from creative and production to strategy and client services and come from all levels of seniority. Highlights of their inclusivity activity include encouraging intergenerational conversations, tackling transphobia and classism within the creative industries, removing any stigma that disability means inability, and fighting for LGBTQIA+ inclusion and gender and race equity.
As Dentsu’s Hiroshi Igarashi says ‘Without diversity, creativity becomes an echo chamber’.
The World Health Organisation estimates about 20% of the world’s population is neurodiverse, so first it makes business sense that some of our people understand and can advertise successfully to this group. In fact, some estimate that about 25% of people who already work in advertising are ND and we’d like more of them given the various strengths they possess such as ability to think outside the box, able to relentlessly solve complexities and challenges or high levels of energy. To help ND people reach their potential, agencies are already making changes that help, for example noise-cancelling headphones, quiet spaces, commuting in quieter times, areas without fluorescent lights...
If you need any adjustments to where/when they interview you, please tell the talent acquisition person in advance.
Some larger agencies are primarily in London but there are also agencies around the UK. Some of these are independent and some are part of the larger group networks. A full list of these can be found on the IPA members' agencies finder that includes agencies in Birmingham, Manchester, Solihull, Liverpool, Newcastle, Bristol, Cardiff, North Devon, Edinburgh, Brighton, Bournemouth and Leeds.
A media agency will typically focus on the placement of the created content into the many channels. Their media buyers will negotiate and trade TV/Radio/Cinema/Print/Digital space for the optimum placement and impact.
However, some media agencies also have a content studio. Some creative agencies have media buying teams - it can be a blended mix.
Creative agencies typically do as it suggests; they create the content. This may be a film, a script, a photography asset, interactive posters, and sound recordings to name but a few.
You may only see a jacket on pitch day! Agencies are relaxed places where smart T shirts and jeans are the order of the day. You don’t need to spend money on a suit or a blazer, unless you would like to of course.
Industry publications which cover advertising, media, marketing, tech, design, innovation, and digital include: The Drum, AdAge, Campaign, Little Black Book, Adweek, How Magazine, Fast Company, The Next Web, Digiday, Inc. and Forbes. But don’t feel you have to read all these or take out subscriptions, but do glance at what you can get for free to get a sense of the industry. And here are a few popular sites, blogs, videos and publications that you might find interesting:
All agencies in IPA membership have to make sure you receive a minimum of 24 hours of learning a year, if they want to stay in membership! This learning can be anything you do to educate yourself, or others, about something useful to the business. But it doesn’t just have to be courses and qualifications your agency send you on, you should be seeking out any relevant opportunities via blogs, videos, podcasts, books, visiting art galleries, being mentored, quizzes, talks…
Look at the role above the entry level one and think about what you need to learn to progress.
You can but it may mean you don’t stand out.
Increasingly, agencies will set you a question/task to answer/do, for example, ‘Argue why someone you disagree with should be heard’. If everyone put it into the same generator, the agency will be looking desperately for something different.