Education · 1 of 5

The path

No license, no exam, no required degree. A portfolio is the qualification.

  1. 1

    High school

    Grade 12

    Write constantly and read advertising critically. Notice which lines made you want something.

  2. 2

    A degree, or not

    0 to 4 years

    English, advertising, marketing, journalism and communications are the usual majors. Plenty of working copywriters studied none of them.

  3. 3

    Build a portfolio of 6 to 10 pieces

    3 to 12 months

    Real work if you can get it, invented campaigns for real brands if you cannot. It must show thinking, not just words.

  4. 4

    Internship or junior role

    1 to 2 years

    Agencies hire juniors in pairs with an art director. In-house teams hire you to write email, web pages and product copy.

  5. 5

    Senior copywriter

    4 to 7 years in

    You own campaigns, brief others, and present the work to clients who will argue with it.