There's only one problem. The overwhelming majority of the jobs listed in the Times are for positions available in New York, so if you don't live there and don't want to move there, the Times won't be much help. And even if you would move there, you can't get the Sunday Times employment section unless you get the New York edition of the paper-which you can't buy anywhere outside of the New York Metropolitan area. So if you go to a newsstand in South Bend for a Sunday Times, you'll find a paper all right, but it won't have an employment section in it.
What it all boils down to is this. If you're just starting out and want to work in New York, you should probably move there first, then worry about finding a job after you're there.
If you don't want to move to New York, there are plenty of other places with newspapers, and all of those newspapers have employment sections with lists of advertising jobs available.
Then too, there are smaller cities and towns with one or two large and successful advertisers and agencies, along with a few other growing places to work, which are run by very talented people. There are nationally famous advertising people living in places like Charlotte, Richmond, Hartford, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and Omaha. They've spent their entire careers in cities of that size, and they're perfectly happy. If you think awards are any indication of success, there are people in more than one of those cities who long ago ran out of wall space on which to hang the awards they've won.
So, if you aren't in love with the idea of leaving home, don't let it bother you. There are lots of places you can look for a job without moving.
When you finish with the newspapers, you can start opening the advertising trade publications. There are trade papers and magazines for everybody in the business, for people who work for advertisers, and for those in virtually every department of an agency. The people who work for those publications know more about what's going on in the business than you could ever hope to. They know who's hiring now, what positions they're trying to fill, who's been promoted, and which account moved where. Consequently, they also know who's likely to be hiring for which positions in the near future, and the best part is that they let everybody else in on it.
There are entire sections in those trade pubs which list jobs that advertisers and agencies are trying to fill. And, like the newspapers, the trade pubs always tell you how to apply and how much money the job pays. Sometimes they even include a job description. To give you a start, here's a list of the leading trade magazines and papers.
Advertising Age is a weekly magazine published at 740 Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60611. It contains all the latest news of the advertising business, inside stories behind the latest campaigns, and articles about marketing and media. It also includes a complete list of advertiser and agency people who were promoted, along with a list of which accounts moved to which agency.
Ad Age also has one of the most complete employment sections you'll find anywhere, and it's usually filled with pages and pages of job openings from all over the country. Once in a while, you'll even find a few for positions abroad. It lists openings for advertising jobs of all kinds, for ad-vertisers of all kinds, for agencies of all sizes. The employment section of Ad Age boasts some of the most complete job descriptions you'll find anywhere. You're also given salary ranges and directions on how to apply.
To get a copy, check your school or public library. If they don't have one, call a friendly neighborhood advertising agency. If you're friendly and neighborly and explain what you want, they might let you drop by to take a look at one of their copies. But do this only as a last resort; not all advertising agencies are friendly and nice, and they could turn you down flat.
Ad Day, the national newsletter of advertising and marketing, is published weekly by Ed Buxton, 400 East 54th Street, New York, New York 10022. It contains all of the latest advertiser and agency news in capsulized form, along with a list of promotions, account switches, and pending account switches, plus a very interesting and informative collection of editorials.
The part you'll be interested in is usually found at the very bottom of the front page. That's where all of the job openings are listed. All you'll find is a job title and salary range. The positions listed are usually for experienced professionals, but check it out anyway. There's always a chance you'll find something for yourself. If you should find yourself in an advertiser's or agency's waiting room where Ad Day is delivered, just explain why you'd like to see it, and ask for the latest copy.
