Haworth College of Business

Black-eyed Susans are blooming outside the Haworth College of Business

Career Pathway: Advertising and promotion

If you're a creative strategic thinker with a passion for communicating, the advertising and promotion major at the Haworth College of Business is the right choice for you. Focusing on hands-on learning with courses emphasizing experiential learning and portfolio-development opportunities, the program boasts small class sizes and faculty that bring real-world experience into the classroom. It is also among only 10 percent of advertising education housed within a business college, offering a unique mix of marketing, communication and business fundamentals to help land that dream position.

Haworth College of Business
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5457 USA
Main office: (269) 387-5050
Advising office: (269) 387-5075

Start by making an appointment with the Zhang Career Center, which can assist you in discovering your career interests and values. The advertising and promotion industry includes employees who tend to be artistic, conventional and enterprising. They value achievement, independence and working conditions according to O*Net. Find out if your work preferences match careers in advertising and promotion by taking the Focus2 assessment.

What is advertising and promotion?

Technical skills are part of what is required for a job in advertising and promotion and may be developed in your major coursework. Strong technical skills, as well as experience with understanding social media, internet dynamics, Adobe Create Suite, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft programs and ERP software.

Interpersonal skills enable you to succeed and are often developed outside of the classroom. These skills include social perceptiveness, persuasion, active listening, complex problem solving, negotiating, service orientation, systems analysis and evaluation and collaboration. 

What careers involve these advertising and promotion skills?

There are many different ways to acquire an internship, online or in person. Visiting the Internship Catalog and the Career Outcomes Report can help you learn about the companies that have previously employed advertising students.

Handshake is WMU’s employment website. All students should set up an account and publish a resume. Resumes made public by the student are searchable by employers.

Students use their Handshake accounts to view internship and full-time job opportunities posted by employers and sign up for on-campus interviews. For more information, visit the Zhang Career Center.

Advertising and promotion student groups include Ad Club and American Marketing Association. Other organizations include Business Association of Mentors, DECA at WMU, Delta Sigma Pi, Leadership and Business Strategy, Phi Chi Theta and Women's Business Network.

Events supporting the advertising and promotion major include the following:

  • Business Career Day
  • Marketing, Sales and Food Marketing Career Night

The Zhang Career Center at the Haworth College of Business empowers learners to launch successful business careers by engaging them in innovative programming focused on professional readiness, while developing partnerships with global, regional and local leaders who hire students. As pioneers in career readiness programs and experts in customer service, staff members in the career center strive to meet the needs of all students and employers.

Career readiness competencies include:

  • Career and self-development
  • Communication
  • Critical thinking
  • Equity and inclusion
  • Leadership
  • Professionalism
  • Teamwork
  • Technology

Visit the NACE competencies online to learn more.

Tasks and processes in advertising and promotion

Account management, brand management, category management, competitive market analysis, consumer affairs, contract management and negotiations, customer retention, customer loyalty, customer service, market analysis, market research, market segment, marketing model, marketing plans, needs assessment, point-of-sale, portfolio management, product positioning, relationship building, social media marketing, target marketing.

Careers in advertising and promotion:

Advertising and promotion manager:

  • Account executive
  • Account manager
  • Advertising sales manager
  • Marketing and promotions manager
  • Retail advertising sales manager

Advertising sales agent:

  • Advertising account representative
  • Advertising consultant
  • Advertising sales representative
  • Marketing consultant
  • Sales representative

Art director (visual communications):

  • Creative director
  • Creative guru
  • Design director
  • Designer
  • Director of creative services
  • Consumer products
  • Group art supervisor
  • Production manager

Copywriter:

  • Advertising copywriter
  • Advertising writer
  • Communications specialist
  • Web content writer
  • Production director
  • Freelance copywriter

Business Externship opportunities

The Business Externship Program provides career exploration opportunities that connect students in Western Michigan University's Haworth College of Business with mentors, many of whom are WMU alumni. Current advertising and promotion externship opportunities include Arbor Financial, Consumers Credit Union, Donor, Haworth and many more. Learn more about the program.

Zhang Career Center

To schedule an appointment, book with online portal or call (269) 387-2711 today.
Book an appointment