Working For an Agency Vs. an In-House Marketing Team

When getting started in the advertising marketing world you may think, “I don’t care what kind it is, I just want a job!” But you would be making a grievous career mistake from the onset that could alter the course of your professional development.

At the start of your creative career, it is relatively simple to move between the two sides; however, once your career is more established, many companies on both in-house side and agency-side are reluctant to employ professionals from the other side of the divide.

Allow us to point out some key differences and considerations to take when working for an agency versus an in-house creative team.

What Is The Difference Between A Company Creative Team And An Agency?

• A company’s in-house creative team knows the ins and outs of the company and gives its clients and products the attention they demand. You tend to work across a broad range of projects but within one sector so your experience will become very specialized.

• An agency is its own company, which serves as an intermediary between clients, other companies, or individuals. Here, you may find yourself working across a whole range of projects across different industries.

For example, if you work for a cruise ship line’s internal marketing team, you only create campaigns for that cruise line, and thus you work in the travel industry. If you work for an agency, a cruise ship line may be one of your clients with several projects, but you can also have a restaurant chain or local retail store, broadening your industries to travel, commerce, and food.

How to decide between an In-House Creative Team and an Independent Agency?

Consider some of the aspects of the work culture and opportunity that each provides:

At an agency, it’s more important to stay on top of new technologies and trends to stay competitive. This is partially made easier since you’ll be working with lots of creative minds of different specialisms and skillsets. You’ll not only work alongside these people, but you’ll also have the opportunity to network with them giving you lots of great opportunities to talk to them about what’s going on in the industry.

Working in-house generally have shorter hours and tends to be more structured with a larger support network. In-house your role is a crucial part of the business structure and so you’ll be more exposed to how your role sits in the organizational structure and hierarchy with more stability.

You will have to learn to work alongside different departments – sales, commercial, business development, strategy, finance, operations, and product management. With this, you’ll gain a greater awareness of how business functions with marketing altogether.

Learn Now, Decide Your Career Path Later

In order to reflect its commitment to advancing the future of the advertising industry, the FIU School of Communication + Journalism (SCJ) extends its Global Strategic Communications (GSC) program by offering a Creative Track option that focuses on developing a global perspective in strategic communications through the development of trained art directors and copywriters, social media experts, and creative strategists. In tandem with the world-renown Miami Ad School, this unique program blends disciplines and schools to create an exceptional graduate program.

For more information on the GSC program, contact Grizelle De Los Reyes, Director of the FIU-MAS Creative Track program at gdelosre@fiu.edu.