Media Buyer Jobs - What Do You Need to Get Into Media Buying ?

For graduates looking for media buyer jobs, here are a few guidelines.

- Try and get some sales experience under your belt. Media buying is about getting the best value for media advertising space or slots. So some sales experience would be a great asset.

- There is no point in buying media space or slots if what you buy turns out to be a dud for your client. If you are starting off in media buying then you will most likely have to do media planning as well. Media planning involves understanding the audience as well as being being lateral-minded, good at research and numbers, strategic-minded and more. You can pick up some of these skills by research on the internet, by networking and getting to meet people who work in media planning, by reading books, but above all, by doing some work experience for a media or advertising agency that has media planning / buying as one of its disciplines.

- It is also important to learn something about the world of digital media planning and buying and new media, in general. Even if the company, you are applying to for a job, is still heavily focused on traditional media, knowing about, and being interested, in new media will demonstrate commitment and interest to media buying.

- You will need to research, carefully, each of the companies you apply to for media buying jobs. Are they more focused on traditional or new media? What sort of clients do they have? How are they different from other companies? And so on.