To become an advertising media planner, you'll usually need a foundation degree, higher national diploma or degree in a subject like:

• advertising and marketing
• statistics or operational research
• communication and media studies
• business or management
• psychology

You can apply for graduate roles in advertising agencies like junior media planner if you have a degree.

Some employers combine the roles of media planner and media buyer which means you could get a wide range of experience before specialising in planning.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 1 or 2 A levels, or equivalent, for a foundation degree or higher national diploma
• 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree

You could start on an advertising and media executive advanced apprenticeship. 

If you also get some advertising experience, you can apply for jobs as a media planner.

This usually takes 18 months to complete and is a mix of learning in the workplace and study.

Entry requirements

Employers will set their own entry requirements.

You might be able to start in a junior position at a small advertising agency in a position like admin assistant.

You can then work your way up as your experience in advertising grows.

Experience will help you understand advertising and allow you to meet new people who may help you find paid work.

You could try:

• work experience
• internships
• temporary employment

You could contact agencies directly to ask about volunteering opportunities. You could also make contacts on social media channels like LinkedIn.

You could take the advertising Foundation Certificate to get some of the skills you need to get a paid job in advertising.

The course is offered by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and is open to anyone with less than one year of experience in an advertising, marketing or communications role.

You'll need:

• knowledge of media production and communication
• the ability to use your initiative
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• to be flexible and open to change
• customer service skills
• the ability to come up with new ways of doing things
• the ability to sell products and services
• excellent verbal communication skills
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

In this role you could:

• research and analyse data to find out how people use different media
• create a media plan of how, when and where to advertise
• work out costs with a media buyer
• present plans and costs to clients and book advertising space
• monitor the effectiveness of campaigns
• work closely with creative teams, researchers and other media organisations

You could work in an office or at a client's business.