Marketing and communications (including advertising and PR)

Marketing and communications are interconnected fields that work together to promote products, services, organisations, and ideas. While each has its own focus and functions, both share the common goal of effectively reaching, engaging, and influencing target audiences to achieve organisational objectives. This page provides an overview of careers in marketing and communications, including typical job roles, the skills and qualifications required, entry routes into the profession, job search advice, and useful resources.

Drawing from diverse fields such as behavioural psychology, neuroscience, sociology, economics and design, roles across the sector are varied in their focus but generally require a combination of creativity, analytical and critical thinking skills and commercial awareness.

If you have an interest in human behaviour (e.g. what motivates us, what our needs are), culture (e.g. what the latest societal trends are, how the world around us impacts the decisions we make), data (whether that be in the form of words, imagery or numbers), engaging people through storytelling, or converting complex ideas or information to bring simplicity and clarity – this could be a sector worth exploring. And with the UK a global hub for marketing services, and London as an international centre for excellence, the sector provides lots of opportunity for graduates.

Marketing is the overarching business function that disciplines including branding, communications, advertising and PR feed into. There are a wide variety of roles to explore—some lean more heavily towards certain skills (whether that be creative, strategic, or analytical) while others offer more of a blend.

Jobs are found either within companies (in-house), where there is responsibility for developing the company’s brand(s), or in agencies or consultancies that work with multiple client companies. The opportunity to work on a freelance basis is also an option, especially as a more experienced professional. Some of the most common roles in the industry are listed below, along with the type of work involved. Each company may refer to these roles with slightly different job titles and in many cases a role may combine two or more areas, particularly in smaller companies.

While the wider economic, political and geopolitical uncertainty that is impacting all businesses is also putting pressure on marketing budgets, there are signs of growth in the sector, and demand for skilled professionals is high. In this ever evolving and highly innovative sector, there is growth in areas such as spend on digital marketing and trends such as the rise of influencer marketing and personalised communications. Read more guidance on U nderst andin g t h e Job an d Emp lo yment M arket.

Sector information

Expand all

Marketing

Marketing encompasses a broad set of activities aimed at identifying and satisfying customer needs and preferences. It is the job of a marketing team to understand consumer behaviours and market trends to develop strategies that drive sales and brand awareness for a company. Key marketing activities can support more strategic, longer-term work (e.g. conducting market analysis, new product development or pricing strategies) or more tactical, shorter-term work (e.g. developing a promotional campaign or event). Generalist marketers collaborate closely with other marketing and communications professionals – such as those listed below– to implement their strategies.

Generalist marketing graduate jobs, where you work across multiple marketing activities, can be found in organisations that have their own marketing teams. Or they can be found in a generalist marketing agency.

Example generalist roles

Marketing Assistant/Officer: assists the team with all marketing related administration and support.
Marketing Manager/Director: leads marketing teams, develops marketing strategies, and manages marketing campaigns. Drives marketing efforts for specific products or services, including market research, positioning, and promotion.

Branding

Brand building focuses on developing and executing the key elements of a brand (including the brand vision, values, positioning, visual identity, brand guidelines and brand campaigns) with the aim of increasing the brand awareness, recognition, reputation, and equity. Research, insight and analytics (see more below) is essential to informing brand strategy by providing an understanding of the market, the target audience, competitors and how the brand is performing.

In-house branding roles focus on the management of a brand or multiple brands (in companies that own a portfolio of brands), agency roles tend to focus more on brand strategy and helping clients to develop and execute their brand strategies.

Example roles

Brand Manager/Assistant Brand Manager: manages/supports the development of the brand of an organisation or product overseeing all key brand elements and associated activities (from insight to design), often working with specialists to achieve the desired outcomes.
Product Manager: manages a product across its whole lifecycle from idea to launch and ongoing development – understanding the needs of users, the dynamics of marketplace in which it will enter, the production process and developing marketing campaigns.
Brand Consultant: agency-side or freelance role that involves supporting clients with their brand strategy, making recommendations linked to key activities such as consumer or market insight, brand positioning or brand identity.

Research, insight and analytics

Research, insight and analytics provide the foundation of informed decision-making across commercial, social and political domains. Insight into the likes of stakeholder opinions and needs, competitor landscapes and market dynamics can provide essential intelligence that can make the difference between success and failure of an idea, product, service, campaign or organisation. Qualitative and/or quantitative techniques are used to generate insights drawing on applied social, behavioural and data sciences, statistical principles and theory.

Roles can be in-house, where there is involvement in multiple insight programmes within an organisation, or agency side where roles are likely to specialise in a particular type of research and sector(s) depending on the agency.

Example roles

Market Research Analyst/ Research or Insight Executive: collects and analyses data to understand market trends, customer preferences, and competitive landscapes. Likely to specialise in either qualitative or quantitative research.
Insight Consultant: agency or freelance role that involves supporting clients by conducting research (qualitative and/or quantitative), analysing data and making recommendations that will feed into marketing, branding or advertising strategies or campaigns.
Insight Manager/ Head of Insight: in-house role that manages/oversees the generation and application of insight relating to a specific organisation or brand with the aim of ensuring all business decisions are informed by a robust understanding of customers/stakeholders, market dynamics or cultural contexts.
User Experience (UX) Researcher: conducts research (via methods such as interviews, usability testing and A/B testing) to understand user needs, behaviours and preferences to help optimise digital products or services.

The Market Research Society (MRS) have a useful tool for exploring careers in this field.

Communications

Communications professionals focus on conveying information, building awareness and relationships, and maintaining a positive public image for an organisation, brand or individual. Effective communication is essential for conveying messages both internally to employees and externally to customers, stakeholders, and the public. Communication activities include advertising, creating content for websites and social media, designing and circulating external and internal newsletters, planning events and engaging with the public through various communication channels.

Roles within communications are incredibly varied in their focus and requirements for subject-matter knowledge (whether that be science, politics or consumer goods) but all require excellent written and verbal communications skills.

Generalist communications roles

Communications Assistant/Manager: manage/support the planning and execution of internal (via newsletters, events etc) and external (via campaigns, press releases etc) communications. Likely to involve liaising with internal marketing and PR teams and/or external agencies
Head of Corporate Communications: responsible for developing and driving the overarching communications strategy for an organisation, including internal and external communications, ensuring that every message sent out supports the strategic vision. Activities such as speechwriting, media responses and investor briefings are also likely to be a part of this role.

Marketing communications roles

Digital Marketing Specialist: focuses on online marketing channels, including SEO, SEM, social media, and email marketing. May also include content creation.
Content or Copy Writer/Editor: develops and executes internal and external communication strategies for the organization. Creates written content for various communication channels, including websites, newsletters, and social media.
Social Media Assistant/Officer/Manager: manages the organization's social media presence, develops content, and engages with the online community.

Advertising

Working in advertising involves the process of developing strategies through to producing a creative idea via one or multiple medias (including TV, radio, print, digital media, or outdoor advertising). The main goal is to capture the attention of a target audience and persuade them to take a specific action, such as making a purchase. Roles in advertising either lean more towards the strategic/business side (e.g. planning campaigns, managing client relationships, buying media space) or creative side (creating campaigns via copy, design, filming etc). Advertising roles are usually found within advertising agencies rather than in-house.

Example roles

Account Executive/Manager: Responsible for managing client relationships, understanding their needs, and ensuring that advertising campaigns meet their objectives.
Creative Director/Art Director: Involved in the creative process, developing advertising concepts, and crafting compelling ad content.
Data Analyst/Strategist: Analyses data to measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and provides insights for optimization.
Media Planner/Buyer: Focuses on selecting the right media channels and negotiating ad placements to reach the target audience effectively.

Public Relations (PR) and Public Affairs

Public Relations professionals focus on managing an organisation's reputation and building positive relationships with the public, media, and other stakeholders. PR is often concerned with maintaining a positive public image and handling crises effectively. PR activities include drafting press releases, organising publicity events and conferences, managing media inquiries, conducting reputation management, and developing crisis communication plans.

Example roles

Public Relations Assistant/Manager/Director: manages the reputation of an organisation by crafting and distributing press releases, organising events, and handling media relations.
Crisis Communications Specialist: manages and mitigates communication during crisis situations to protect the organisation's reputation.
Event Planner/Coordinator: organises and manages PR events, press conferences, and product launches.
Media Relations Specialist: focuses on building and maintaining relationships with media outlets and securing positive media coverage.

Skills needed

The skills required for roles in the sector are as varied as the industry itself. Certain skills are broadly common to all work within the sector, but some will depend on the role in question:

General skills:

Creative thinking
- Ability to link a creative solution to a business problem.
- A rigorous and creative approach to problem solving.
Critical thinking
- Strong lateral and logical thinking skills
- Ability to focus on detail yet also see the bigger picture
Curiosity – demonstrating an open and enquiring mind
Commercial awareness – understanding how businesses work
Entrepreneurial skills – such as the ability to identify opportunities, overcome challenges and make things happen
Excellent communications skills – verbally and in writing and the ability to communicate with people at all levels, often in a persuasive and diplomatic way
Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines – this is a fast-paced sector
Well-organised – you will likely have to work across several different projects at the same time
Team working and interpersonal skills – this is a very collaborative and social sector
Resilience – you will receive lots of feedback on your actions, ideas and work from colleagues and clients and will need to be able to move forward when this feedback isn’t positive
Tech-savvy – digital tools and methods, including AI, are a big part of work in this sector so you need to understand them and know how to use them to good effect

Specialist skills:

Digital marketing and media skills
Research and data skills – qualitative and/or quantitative
Creative design skills/qualifications (for creative roles)

Gaining Experience and Knowledge

Having an underlying interest, and being able to demonstrate that interest, in people, culture and the media. Recruiters will want evidence of your interest in these areas, and work experience is central to this.
Get involved in activities at university such as writing for student publications, raising funds and organising events for your college, a charity, drama or sports group.
Keep up to date with what is going on in the industry and regularly read Campaign, the weekly industry journal for a list of jobs.
Engage with recent campaigns and be ready to comment on them. It does not matter whether you like an advertisement or not, or whether you would buy the product. What matters is that you should be able to prove that you have thought critically and intelligently about the campaign. You could even write a blog to review recent campaigns, try using WordPress or Tumblr to get you started.
Make use of forums and blogs. You will be expected to have a good understanding of different social networks and media, so finding advertising blogs is a great way to do some research.
The understanding and use of different forms of social media is essential, so get involved in producing your own blog, Twitter feeds, podcasts, and join discussion groups on LinkedIn.

Work experience

Many firms offer work experience placements throughout the year, or summer internships.

Careers, University of Oxford offers a number of advertising, communication, marketing and PR related opportunities through the Micro-Internship Programme and Summer Internship Programme and use CareerConnect to find opportunities. There is a commitment to increase diversity in the profession and there are a number of organisations that are proactive in this. See Equality, Diversity & Positive Action section for more information.

There is often confusion about whether you should be paid to do an internship or work experience. Internships and summer jobs are governed in the UK by National Minimum Wage law, which means that if you are carrying out activities that class you as a 'worker' by the employer, then you should be paid. Full details of Employment Rights and Pay for Interns are published by the government.

If you are undertaking a learning and development opportunity such as a micro-internship, or volunteering for a charity or statuary body, or shadowing or observing, then you may not be eligible for the National Minimum Wage. The organisation may reimburse you for your travel and/or lunch expenses but they are not obliged to do so

Relevant Student Societies

Oxford University Advertising Society
Oxford University Media Society
Oxford Wildlife Photography and Film-Making Society
Oxford University Marketing Society
Oxford Behavioural Insights Group: OxBIG Official: Instagram | Linktree

Entry points can vary within the sector. Below is a list of organisations that regularly hire graduates either through graduate schemes or entry level roles.

It’s worth noting that agency-side there are several big agency networks, sometimes referred to as the ‘big five’, made up of smaller agencies that offer a variety of marketing, branding and communications services to their clients. Note that some of these have centralised HR teams that oversee the recruitment process for the agencies that belong to the network. The big five agency networks include:

WPP: WPP careers | Global opportunities in creativity, media & technology | WPP
Omnicom: Capability-advertising - Omnicom
Publicis Groupe: Careers | Publicis Groupe
Havas: Our careers - Havas
Dentsu: dentsu

Marketing

Michaelmas Term is an important time for those wanting a role on a marketing graduate scheme. Some recruitment deadlines are as early as October and November. Some smaller marketing consultancies (not necessarily restricted to graduates), may become available throughout the year. Examples of those companies that offer graduate schemes and regularly hire entry level roles are below – note the diversity of industries in which these roles exist – FMCG, tech, finance etc (please do your own research, this list is not exhaustive).

Prospects also have a useful summary of Marketing graduate schemes | Prospects.ac.uk

Branding

In-house brand roles tend to be found via the types of organisations and schemes listed above under ‘Marketing’ as the marketing and branding functions within organisations work very closely together.

Brand consulting roles exist in agencies such as those listed below. Some are more involved in the creative/visual side of branding than others.

Research, Insight and Analytics

The majority of positions are in market research agencies or consultancies ranging from small agencies with only two members of staff offering a specialist service, to the largest companies employing several hundred individuals, so your choices are wide and varied. Most market research firms do not plan their recruitment more than six months in advance and a number recruit all year round. A list of those who offer graduate schemes and regularly hire entry level roles include:

The Market Research Society publishes The Research Buyer’s Guide. This contains details of the majority of UK market research agencies including their size and area of specialisation – useful for speculative applications. Job vacancies can be found on our website, on the Prospects website, Indeed.co.uk and the Guardian. Jobs are also advertised in Marketing Week and on the website of the Social Research Association.

A student level of membership (reduced fees) is available with the Market Research Society.

Advertising

Alongside CareerConnect, the job section of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) website. You’ll find agency roles across all the different disciplines from client services to planning and creative, as well as the occasional client-side role.

Additionally, you can search for jobs in The Guardian’s Marketing & PR or Media sections and on Brand Republic, the online portal for industry titles such as Campaign, Marketing and Mediaweek.

Some of those who offer graduate schemes and regularly hire entry level roles include:

Wunderman Thompson Catalyst Academy (18month rotation in UK, Germany and Netherlands)
Ogilvy
Omnicom

PR and Communications

Stay up-to-date with the industry, companies and campaigns via online blogs and journals such as PRWeek Blog, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, The Drum, PR Moment and Campaign.

There are two principal PR trade associations in the UK: the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA). Use these links to research best practice and build up your knowledge of the PR industry. You could become a student member of the CIPR and register for the Foundation Certificate. Membership enables you to access training and networking events.

Alternatively...

Alternatively, look at opportunities to work as a advertising/communication/marketing/PR assistant, in smaller firms who do not have enough openings to warrant a formal graduate programme. These may be advertised on relevant careers sites (see external resources at the end of this briefing) or you can approach firms directly (see the separate briefing on making speculative approaches).

Using AI in applications

While employers look for tech-literate graduates, they also expect you to use AI ethically and appropriately. AI is used widely in a wide variety of organisations to speed up processes and improve efficiency according to professionals we’ve heard from at Careers, University of Oxford events. But before you are tempted to do the same during an application process, we advise that you:

Check the stance of companies you are targeting. Many have published their policies on AI on their websites.
Keep in mind that recruitment teams want you to be honest and authentic in your applications and it is difficult to achieve that if you use AI to draft your answers. In using generative AI, you risk sounding generic and uninteresting.
The view on AI varies hugely between employers. In the Careers, University of Oxford Annual Employer Survey conducted in May 2025, we asked recruiters: ‘Do you allow or encourage the use of AI tools in the application or assessment process?’. Only 15% answered “Yes”: half of employers replied “No”, they do not want you to use AI in your applications.
People hire people who demonstrate and articulate the skills outlined in their job descriptions – have faith in your own skills and be authentic.

We also recommend that you read the Careers, University of Oxford guidance on the Use of AI in Job Applications and Assessments and the University’s position on the use of generative AI Tools to support learning.

AI in the marketing world

AI is undeniably having a big impact on the sector, bringing both positive change and challenges. In a sector with humans at its heart; understanding the nuances of human behaviour and culture, and the power of human-led collaborative and creative processes to unlock new ideas, for now at least, the focus is on harnessing the power of AI in a supporting not dominant role.

Some of the sector-leading views on AI can be found here: