This week, book180 spoke to AdAge about what the entry-level advertising market trends.

We know juniors have so many questions when they’re trying to break into this industry.
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“What are jobs in advertising?”
“Are copywriting jobs in danger?”
“What should I expect as an entry-level salary?”

These questions are so normal, and with layoffs featured on LinkedIn every week, it can be scary to think about breaking into this industry!

But on the flip side, we’re seeing top-tiered agencies hiring new talent all the time.

Many agencies want to tap into the tech-savvy insights that GenZ brings to the table, and there’s so much juniors can do to stand out. Given the need for young talent with their pulse on social and digital trends, we’re seeing a lot of juniors being brought on for content creation roles. We’ve also seen a lot more interest from agencies for talent from non-traditional advertising backgrounds because they bring a unique perspective to the content they create.

For aspiring junior copywriters and junior art directors, having a strong portfolio is key to breaking in for aspiring junior creatives. There are many ways to go about making a strong book— from attending a portfolio school, to producing quality work in undergraduate programs, to creating spec work with like-minded creatives on LinkedIn or Reddit. There are amazing free resources out there for mentorship and learning opportunities to check out like Talk to a Creative Director, Ad Agency Creatives, Stuff About Advertising and more. At book180, we offer free seminars throughout the year to answer aspiring creatives’ questions about this industry! Even juniors who are interested in account or media can put their best foot forward by having a strong online presence highlighting who they are and what they can bring to the table.

We spoke to AdAge a lot about junior salaries. Our book180 art direction and copywriting grads are starting in New York and LA at salaries between $65,000 and $75,000 a year. Chicago hires are more in the range of $55,000 to $65,000 a year. We’ve also seen that agencies in cities outside of major ad hubs, like Atlanta, St. Louis, Richmond and Austin, will occasionally offer a very competitive salary of $65,000-$70,000 in order to retain good talent.

Networking is also so important to your job search. The right person can internally push your portfolio through to the recruiter, or put in a good word for you to the hiring creative directors. One of the biggest things we encourage our grads to do is to network laterally, not just vertically. Don’t just connect with recruiters– reach out to juniors who already work at the agencies you want to break into, and ask if they could give you any feedback on your website, meet you for coffee to talk about their job search process, or broker introductions to other peers or mentors. This is an inter-connected industry and every contact is a possibility.

book180 is a 6-month advertising portfolio school that's helped over 75 junior art directors and junior copywriters build their professional portfolios in the last 2 years. Check out one of our art direction and copywriting programs.

Click here to read the full AdAge article for more insights into the current state of the entry-level advertising market.


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