Where a creative director can go next
5 destinations recorded, ranked by how much of the target role a creative director already meets. The closer to the top of Table 1, the less there is to learn.
Creative directors manage the team that is responsible for the creation of advertisements and commercials. They oversee the whole creation process. Creative directors pitch the designs of their team to the client.
Also known as advertising director, chief design officer, executive creative director, creative manager, creative services manager, design strategist, design director, creative coordinator.
Professionals 39 skills on file 5 career moves 0 above 60% overlap Closest: advertising copywriter, 51%
- 70% and above · short step
- 50 to 70% · real move
- Below 50% · substantial retraining
Table 2 · A bigger jump
Possible, but expect real retraining rather than a sideways step.
Table 3 · What the job itself asks for
A creative director needs 18 required skills and areas of knowledge. These 10 are the ones fewest other jobs share, so they say the most about the work.
- select artwork developed by staff members communication, collaboration and creativity
- assess each stage of the creative process communication, collaboration and creativity
- manage creative department management skills
- brainstorm ideas communication, collaboration and creativity
- examine advertisement layout information skills
- provide input to collaborators to guide their work communication, collaboration and creativity
- meet expectations of target audience information skills
- manage workflow processes communication, collaboration and creativity
- define creative components communication, collaboration and creativity
- coordinate advertising campaigns management skills
Table 4 · Jobs that lead here
The reverse view: occupations whose skills already cover much of what a creative director does. The figure is how much of this job each one brings.
- advertising specialist 55% covered · difficulty 49
- public relations manager 53% covered · difficulty 50.7
- advertising manager 52% covered · difficulty 51.9
- advertising copywriter 48% covered · difficulty 54.9
- graphic designer 40% covered · difficulty 61
- advertising media planner 35% covered · difficulty 65.7
- advertising assistant 32% covered · difficulty 67.6
- advertising media buyer 32% covered · difficulty 67.9
- promotion assistant 19% covered · difficulty 78.6
Look up another occupation
Creative director is filed under Professionals, ISCO major group 2. The full index lists all ten groups.
How these figures were compiled
Overlap is how much of the target role is already part of a creative director’s work. It is directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. Every entry above opens the full comparison for that move: what carries over, what is missing, and where to start. The full method.