I want to make this blog post short for you, but I have to start at the beginning.
I started the University of South Carolina in the Fall of 2001. I went in as an undeclared/humanities major.
My freshman roommate was a Journalism major and she convinced me to be a Journalism/Mass Comm major as well. "You don't have to take any math or science classes." SOLD! I was so horrible at math and science was my 2nd least favorite school subject.
Out of the majors in the Journalism & Mass Communications college I chose Advertising. It seemed fun.
I spent numerous hours in that building above. It was the location of the Journalism & Mass Communications college and about a 15 minute walk from the rest of campus. #FML
I graduated in August 2005. Worked odd part-time jobs for 3 years until I finally got a job that actually put my well earned degree to use. I worked in Columbia, SC, Charlotte, NC, and then finally settled in Greenville, SC.
While I was in college, the professors would suggest advertising agencies to work for after graduation. It was always a dream of mine to live in Greenville, SC and work for one of the biggest ad agencies in the Southeast.
It took 5 years and over 7 interviews, but I finally got a job at the place I've always dreamed of working.
When I tell people i'm a Media Buyer they usually just give me a confused look and normally they don't ask any further questions about my job.
It's not as confusing as some people think.
But I will say this...Media Buying was my most despised class in college. I hated it. It involved too much math and I knew that was something I did not want to do.
Now here I am...into my 5th year of doing Media Buying as a profession.
In short, Media Buyers buy radio and TV ad space.
The client has a budget for radio and/or TV and as a media buyer I take that budget, work and negotiated with the radio and TV stations to get the best possible ad schedule for the client that is within their budget.
There is math involved but nothing I can't do on a calculator. There is also a lot of me saying to sales reps "No, this won't work. Do better." And eventually I get my way and the client is happy.
So, that's currently how I'm making my moo-lah. I hope you weren't completely bored.
23 comments:
Even though I know what you do, this was interesting and you made it even clearer. I'm still very happy for you and your dream job! I know how many freaking interviews that required! Persistence certainly pays off.
side note - 15 min walk to the mass comm building? Um, no.
Your job sounds interesting! I'm in a similar boat - my job is almost all Chemistry - which was my worst class in undergrad
do you buy tv or radio? i'm a national and dr cable tv rep!! small world!
This was so interesting! I just graduated with a degree in Marketing and have always dreamed of working at an Agency. Yes, Mad Men may have played a apart in that at one time.. but now it's been a couple months since graduation and I am just working part time at a boutique but am also able to do their Social Media which is what I would love to do with my future. So it is a stepping stone which will hopefully give me enough experience to find a job somewhere larger!
so cool! i have a lot of friends who got a degree in advertising but weren't able to find a job in that field (including my bestie who is currently a behavior analyst at a home for autistic adults...hellooo 180!)
also, i had to walk across campus inbetween EVERY.SINGLE.CLASS. my senior year and it was basically hell on earth. by the time i got to class i was sweating through my clothes, sticking to my chair and i always had to sit in the front bc, as the last person to arrive, all the seats in the back were gonnee! d'oh!
This was awesome to read! I love knowing info about communication jobs!
It sounds like a fun job and really unique!
All of my classes were in that damn coliseum, too! I was a HRTM major and so wish I would have done something else now...
This sounds like an awesome job! One of my best friends went to COC, so I visited her in Charleston a few years ago. South Carolina is such a great place to go to college! I know she missed it a lottt.
Your job sounds so interesting!! Thanks for sharing!
I have a confession to make: I was always secretly jealous of those individuals who have a marketing brain.
I so wanted to be in the marketing field, but alas, ended up in accounting {which I do love, but obviously isn't as cool as marketing, or media buying, as it were}.
I'm glad that you have your dream job - because of that, I'm positive you will go far :)
Sounds interesting!! I, too, didn't want any Math or Science classes so I majored in Psychology. I did, however, have to take like one stats class and as for science? Astronomy and geology :)
sounds cool!
great blog you have!
Loved that we didn't have to take math or science as a mass comm major. I barley passed my one required math class but totally aced video editing and play writing!
Im thinking of a marketing major but that job seems up my alley! I am your newest follower. I cannot wait to read more of your posts and hope that maybe you can return the favor and follow The Preppy Student. I always comment for every comment left on my page and hope to start a friendly relationship with your wonderful blog! Have a happy Monday:)
Way to go on finally getting that dream job! It's always nice to know not everyone just gets their dream job straight out of college because geez, it sure seemed that way when I was like the ONLY person applying for odd jobs. But hey, it works out in the end!
I always thought media buying sounded interesting since I was a comm major and took a lot of those media courses. Never really considered the math though, ha :)
So awesome you get to work for your dream company! I loved reading your post. Shows that it might take awhile, but dedication will get you there!
OMG do you work for erwin penland?! i wanted to work there sooo bad! i interviewed there once and the interviewee asked me to tell a joke...and all i could think of was a racist joke involving abe lincoln....fail! notice you don't see me roaming the halls there ;)
i spent countless hours in that building too - only PR but plenty of advertising classes too! SC rocks!...and so does media buying - i did that briefly at my old job - kinda fun! :)
First of all, cuuuuute blog {found you through BB}.
Second, one of my good friends left me in CLT to go work in Greenville doing the same thing, media buying, for Infinity marketing, then left and went to EP.
Third, I am a new {redhead} follower. :)
I also work in Advertising. I worked at an acency for a year and a half and it was so much fun! I work on the client side now which is a little bit more boring, but not nearly as stressful as my previous job! I love finding other people that work in advertising :)
That seems like such a fun job! Getting to work with all different companies and organizations would be so much fun and seems like it wouldn't get too boring on a day to day basis! I'm so glad you got your dream job and get to live where you want!
how neat! I never even thought about this type of job when I was profession shopping. Just call me a science nerd lol! I despise math as well. glad you love your job!
This was enlightening! I've always wanted to know what a media buyer does. I'm a journalism major, too... and currently looking for a job since I just graduated, so it was fun to hear about yours!
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