Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Advertising copywriter to advertising media buyer

An advertising copywriter already meets 34% of what the advertising media buyer role asks for. The move turns on 8 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From advertising copywriter
34 % overlap
Distant match
To advertising media buyer
10 You already bring
8 Still to learn
32 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Substantial retraining

61.5/ 100

1 How much of what an advertising media buyer is expected to do is already part of an advertising copywriter’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the advertising media buyer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

An advertising media buyer role treats 5 of its required skills as things an advertising copywriter already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • copyright legislation
  • identify customer's needs
  • manage budgets
  • meet expectations of target audience
  • types of media

What stands in the way is 8 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 10 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An advertising media buyer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an advertising copywriter background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held meet expectations of target audience information skills
  • already held perform media outlets research information skills
  • already held evaluate advertising campaign information skills
  • already held types of media arts and humanities
  • already held coordinate advertising campaigns management skills
  • already held analyse consumer buying trends information skills

All 10 carried skills, including the 5 the advertising media buyer role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 22 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 communication, collaboration and creativity 5 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn buy advertising space required
  • still to learn develop professional network required
  • still to learn manage contracts required
  • still to learn negotiate terms with suppliers required
  • still to learn present arguments persuasively required
  • optional, not held develop online community plan optional
  • optional, not held negotiate buying conditions optional
02 arts and humanities 2 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn digital media required
  • still to learn media planning required
  • optional, not held interactive media optional
  • optional, not held media studies optional
03 information skills 1 required, 4 supplementary
  • still to learn study sales levels of products required
  • optional, not held document interviews optional
  • optional, not held draw conclusions from market research results optional
  • optional, not held monitor media industry research figures optional
  • optional, not held use analytics for commercial purposes optional
04 management skills 3 supplementary
  • optional, not held create media plan optional
  • optional, not held manage online communications optional
  • optional, not held create media schedule optional
05 business, administration and law 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held marketing principles optional
06 natural sciences, mathematics and statistics 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held polling techniques optional

1 further area in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries an advertising media buyer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 10 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held copyright legislation knowledge
  • already held identify customer's needs skill
  • already held manage budgets skill
  • already held meet expectations of target audience skill
  • already held types of media knowledge
  • already held advertising techniques knowledge
  • already held analyse consumer buying trends skill
  • already held coordinate advertising campaigns skill
  • already held evaluate advertising campaign skill
  • already held perform media outlets research skill
The 1 learning area not shown above
Skill to pick up Tier
07 social sciences, journalism and information 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held demography optional
14 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held create media plan optional
  • optional, not held develop online community plan optional
  • optional, not held manage online communications optional
  • optional, not held create media schedule optional
  • optional, not held demography optional
  • optional, not held document interviews optional
  • optional, not held draw conclusions from market research results optional
  • optional, not held interactive media optional
  • optional, not held marketing principles optional
  • optional, not held media studies optional
  • optional, not held monitor media industry research figures optional
  • optional, not held negotiate buying conditions optional
  • optional, not held polling techniques optional
  • optional, not held use analytics for commercial purposes optional
25 held skills the advertising media buyer role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role analyse cultural trends skill
  • not needed by the target role apply desktop publishing techniques skill
  • not needed by the target role apply grammar and spelling rules skill
  • not needed by the target role brainstorm ideas skill
  • not needed by the target role conduct search engine optimisation skill
  • not needed by the target role create advertisements skill
  • not needed by the target role create storyboards skill
  • not needed by the target role desktop publishing knowledge
  • not needed by the target role develop creative ideas skill
  • not needed by the target role develop digital content skill
  • not needed by the target role develop media strategy skill
  • not needed by the target role draft press releases skill
  • not needed by the target role evaluate writings in response to feedback skill
  • not needed by the target role follow a brief skill
  • not needed by the target role give live presentation skill
  • not needed by the target role lay out digital written content skill
  • not needed by the target role perform market research skill
  • not needed by the target role practice humour skill
  • not needed by the target role printing techniques knowledge
  • not needed by the target role product comprehension knowledge
  • not needed by the target role proofread text skill
  • not needed by the target role social media marketing techniques knowledge
  • not needed by the target role typography knowledge
  • not needed by the target role use word processing software skill
  • not needed by the target role write to a deadline skill
7 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • still to learn digital media required
  • still to learn media planning required
  • optional, not held demography optional
  • optional, not held interactive media optional
  • optional, not held marketing principles optional
  • optional, not held media studies optional
  • optional, not held polling techniques optional
Index

Other moves recorded from advertising copywriter

Full index of moves from advertising copywriter

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can an advertising copywriter become an advertising media buyer?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. An advertising copywriter already covers 34% of what an advertising media buyer is expected to do: 10 skills carry over, 5 of which the advertising media buyer role treats as required.

What skills does an advertising copywriter need to become an advertising media buyer?

8 required skills are missing, plus 14 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is buy advertising space.

How hard is the move from advertising copywriter to advertising media buyer?

Its learning distance is 61.5 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.