Media jobs is the kind of vague group into which a lot of office-based careers are now classed under. There used to be a time when the word media was the single property of the major media-based professions: if you work in TV, radio, or publishing, you worked in media. If you didn’t, you weren’t - it was that simple.

If you were to take all the media jobs London has to offer which are at present being presented under the appearance of ‘media’ however, write the name of each one on a scrap of paper and play a game of lucky dip, who knows where you could end up? You could go for the role of Integrated Designer and be successful and obtain a £40k salary to boot. On the other hand, you might come across yourself as a puffed up clerk, lumped in with the media crowd because you have the delight of filing papers in a digital media office. All in all then, it’s almost certainly wise not to base your next London media job on a name which you pulled from a bag.

What if you were to take a less random approach, and actually try searching for a media job in London which you would really like, one you could face the thought of carrying out for the next five years? (Don’t worry - you’re not fixed with that career for life, should you afterwards make a decision that being an Account Director is not for you. The ‘job for life’ is a notion that died in the region of the time of dial-up.)

In the middle of the countless London media jobs at present filling job boards and recruitment sites, including field sales jobs and graduate media jobs, here’s a small example of the type of careers you may desire to think about:

A Digital Copywriter: Why does the word ‘digital’ have to be put at the start of every media job title to demonstrate how tech-savvy and web 2.0-compliant it is? Stop thinking about the digital part - all it means is that the copy you’re writing will end up on the internet - the place where everything ends up these days. Still, realistic pay, all the ‘SEO-friendly’ work you can handle and you get to split your time between your house and your place of work. Could be worse.

A Social Media Manager: You don’t have to be youthful and fashionable to land a social media job - though it could help, even if it doesn’t openly state this in the job description. Overseeing clients’ social media accounts and helping companies embrace the potential it affords for openly interacting with customers, social media can be a rewarding job in many ways - none of them financial. Still, it sounds excellent on your LinkedIn profile.

An Advertising Sales: If you were born to sell, there’ll always be companies seeking out your convincing talents. Whether in print or digital media, there’s a solid demand for advertisers accomplished in selling ad space across several platforms. How much can you expect to earn in London? That’s largely up to you. If you’re enthusiastic and put in the hours and don’t mind the more recurring aspects of the job, your commission-based take-home pay will rocket.

Good luck in your job search!

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About the Author:
Barry Magennis blogs on media jobs, design and graphic design jobs.

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