Please advise me on a career in advertising. What are the professional courses available and the prospects after graduation?

-- Manoj Pant, Ghaziabad

In the past few years, advertising has become both a dynamic and exciting career. Within the overall gambit of advertising, you can make further choices, depending upon your aptitude. The programme selected, however, must deal with operations in the executive sphere, involving client servicing, handling exhibitions, event management, PR, etc. Choosing from the professional courses available would, therefore, depend upon your desire to pursue a particular facet of advertising. Some of the recognised institutes for courses in advertising and PR are: the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi; Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Delhi; National Institute of Advertising (NIA), Delhi; YMCA, Delhi, and the Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad. The minimum qualification is graduation and the courses vary in duration from one to two years. A two-year course earns a diploma in advertising.

I have a Master's in geography and am working with an advertising agency. I'm also doing a part-time MBA with specialisation in marketing from the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). I already have two years of work experience and by the time I finish my MBA, I would have put in four years in my job. After MBA, I want to move on to a consumer durables company (preferably an MNC). Will the MBA and work experience help me in my quest?

--Aslam Khan, Delhi

The answer is yes. Your experience in the advertising agency, whether in the creative department, or in client servicing, will give you immense exposure in marketing and product promotion. The MBA course, which you are pursuing, will further sharpen your concepts and skills in marketing. Hence, with the MBA qualification and four years of advertising experience, you will be ready to take on a marketing assignment. You should, however, not restrict yourself to looking only at consumer durable companies or only an MNC. FMCG companies should also be considered as well as good, professionally run Indian companies. The idea should be to enter into a product management position first, and then work your way up from there.

I'm a history graduate and have made two unsuccessful attempts at the civil service. I don't want to take the exam again and am looking at a career in management. I'm 25 and have an offer of a sales job with a publishing house. Will a part-time MBA or a diploma in sales and marketing from NIS help me further my career prospects? Please advise.

--T V Raghuram, Chennai

It is unfortunate that you have not been able to clear the civil service examination. I think it would be a good idea to take up the sales assignment with the publishing house. Regarding your choice of pursuing an MBA programme or a sales and marketing diploma from NIS, this would depend on your longterm objectives. While an MBA programme would give you overall exposure in management techniques, a diploma in sales would essentially upgrade your skills and concepts in the area of sales and marketing. The latter would thus have a limited role in your career prospects. I, therefore, suggest you to take up a recognised MBA programme.

I'm a journalist working with a fashion magazine. I want to undertake a course in fashion appreciation, which will also teach me about fabric development and textile designing. Are there any short-term courses available for professionals like me?

--Poonam Saxena, Chandigarh

Your idea of pursuing a course in textile designing and fabric development is sound and worth pursuing. I do not know if any institutes in Chandigarh offer the course you are looking for, but there are some institutes in Delhi such as the South Delhi Polytechnic for Women and Institute of Polytechnic, which offer one-year courses. These courses, being well structured and quite comprehensive, should be ideal for working professionals such as you. Furthermore, being run by the government, these institutes offer their courses at very reasonable rates.

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