Hey CC!
Just wanting to know / connect with anyone else on here who is interested in going into the exciting field of advertising, or who is in that field now! I’m a HS senior, but I have my eyes on BBDO or Ogilvy in New York. Gotta get there.
So, let me know if you’re interested in the same. I’d love to talk to you!
Thanks!!
I moved to Chicago right out of college (UW-Madison) and one of my first interviews was with BBDO, for a job as a media planner. I didn’t get that job. I ended up spending a year with Newspaper Services of America (print planning & buying) before going back home for a year of home cooking. Then I went to business school.
My “first real job” mistakes were 1) living downtown and getting a job an hour away in the suburbs and 2) moving to Chicago (period) before attaining employment. Money became tight quickly!
Still, those were exciting times.
I still love Advertising. Today I manage the Marketing department of a medium-sized company.
That’s so cool!! I’m really happy for you!! My dream job is to be a Creative Director… Do you recommend business school or a graduate program for a Masters of Communication. Just wondering. I heard that both work, if you’re trying to get to where I want to get. 
Well, i’m old – I graduated from UW in 1998 and left Chicago in 1999. Finished up my MBA in 2003. I worked a couple of jobs as an analyst before taking this job in Marketing.
My BA was in Journalism. I imagine a MA or MS in Communications would be like my BA on steroids. So you might focus on the Advertising/PR side of Marketing. You might also have core courses in Newswriting, Editing, Broadcast, Media Research Methods, (general) Mass Communications. Check out some programs and see what they require; also check out electives to see how much is available in Advertising/PR.
An MBA is going to teach you how to start and manage a business. As such, it really is an all-around business education. Core courses will likely include Finance, Accounting, Marketing (all four P’s, not just Promotion), Operations Mgmt, Economics, Cost/Price, Organizational Behavior, International Business, Business Law, and some type of Entrepreneurial course.
The MBA will set you up to know at least a little bit about every aspect of funding and managing a firm. But you could take every Marketing elective available, and the MA/MS in Communications still will probably drill down more deeply into the particular topics of Advertising and PR. The advantage the MBA has, aside from overall business breadth, is that you will learn how Advertising works within the overall Marketing plan, and how Marketing works with other departments and within the overall corporate strategy.
You could probably end up as Creative Director with either the Master’s in Communications or the MBA; maybe a slight advantage to Communications, especially if it helps you to put together a strong portfolio of creative work.
To be a CEO, or CFO, or any other C-level, probably the MBA is better. At that level, it helps to know how the independent parts work together to achieve the company’s goals.