20/01/2024
How do you know if you have the aptitude to start a career in advertising & communications?
Honestly, I didn’t know till the day I finished my first month at MICA | The School of Ideas. I was lucky, and I am sure you would be too, as I try to share my ideas to understand our interest in communication.
Of course, this won’t be an exhaustive list. They are just a few points from my experience of being passionate in advertising & communications.
1) Are you opinionated?
Yes having opinions and the ability / confidence to develop them and express them is surely one ✔️ mark in favour of advertising as a career option.
The keyword here is ‘develop’ - the earnestness to read, discuss and listen to strengthen our opinions. Blind opinions can only lead you to angry brawls, not advertising.
2) Are you logical?
Yes, although sense of advertising & communications are often thought as ‘common sense’, yet I want to stress that common people hardly have any interest in the science and art behind communications.
Communications is not only about solving marketing problems but also about executing the solution in multiple media right from BTL to the Internet. Unless you have a sound logical mind to derive a solution and execute the same, you won’t find communications easy and interesting.
Logic is a particular way of thinking that is reasonable and based on good judgment. It is a formal scientific method of examining, finding inference or thinking about ideas with sound arguments.
3) Are you creative?
Creativity in advertising is about having an imagination that is rooted to solve a communication problem. We don’t sell the creative per se but the object in that creative piece.
Creative people tend to have a lot of energy, curiosity, risk taking abilities, persistence, intuition, and are self aware to reflect on their own strengths and weaknesses.
Most of all, creative people have vivid imaginations and are able to think outside the box. They are not constrained by conventional thinking and are able to come up with novel and innovative ideas.
4) Are you curious?
This is perhaps the key element to decide if you should opt for communications. It is not necessary that one needs to be curious in all subjects. But one needs to have the energy and patience to be curious about many things in life, study them, and have an opinion about them.
Conclusion:
If you think you have the above four attributes, and still want to figure out more about your interest in communications, you may leave a comment. I shall try to address your confusion. It’s great to be confused.
