Career path advice - Advertising Industry

[iamlookingforadvice]

Hello.

A couple of years ago, after graduating college in another country, I got married and moved to the United States. That was late 2010. I graduated with a degree in international relations/international business (the name of my degree is international relations, but really my coursework was equivalent to an international business degree and that's what most of my colleagues went into after college). Anyway, I moved to the US and after a few months started looking for an entry-level job in in marketing/advertising. After a couple of months I gave up and decided to go back to a local college to pursue a second Bachelor's degree in Marketing (after validating my classes, I learned that it would take me about 2 years to complete the additional degree.) What I really wanted was to get my MBA, however I wanted to go to a good, reputable school and I knew that without work experience I wouldn't be able to get into the only decent program in my area (a top private university).

Well, I went to school for a semester while still passively looking for a job, I hoped maybe something would come up as I knew having work experience would be better in the long run than pursing a useless additional bachelor's degree.

After a semester, I found a job as an executive assistant at a marketing/advertising firm. I have been in this job now for 5-6 months. I'm making pretty good money and have good benefits. It's a wonderful place to work, but I'm not doing much in terms of marketing/advertising. I just figured it would be a good stepping stone/foot in the door.

The issue is: I'm just getting discouraged, because I don't when or if I will be able to move up. It's a small company and the possibilities of moving up are few and far in between.

What I want to know is: is this good experience for when I possibly move to a different company? Or will everyone just ever see me an executive assistant and I won't be able to break into the field? I planned/plan on becoming an advertising account executive and going down that path.

Thanks in advance.

[CleeIB]

Hi iamlookingforadvice,

It's true that being an executive assistant isn't the most direct path to becoming an advertising account executive. But you can still use the experience towards that goal.

For example, you can use your position to scope out the industry/competition/etc. You may have greater visibility than most as to when competitors or other companies are hiring. And/or you might have professional connections that can help get you onto the marketing/advertising path. Try meeting or interacting with other people in the industry. If you don't have a LinkedIn account, start one and start formalizing your professional connections that way.

Also, at your current job, see if you can start doing more marketing/advertising. Maybe you can assist coworkers who are doing those things. Or simply ask your boss to work on those kinds of projects.

Good luck!