Salary&Working Conditions by Don and Akina

Working Conditions
Advertising, marketing, and public relations managers are provided with offices close to top managers. Long hours, including evenings and weekends, are common. Almost 40 percent of advertising, marketing, and public relations managers worked 50 hours or more a week, compared to 15 percent for all occupations. Working under pressure is unavoidable when schedules change and problems arise, but deadlines and goals must still be met.
Substantial travel may be involved. For example, attendance at meetings sponsored by associations or industries is often mandatory. Sales managers travel to national, regional, and local offices and to various dealers and distributors. Advertising and promotion managers may travel to meet with clients or representatives of communications media. At times, public relations managers travel to meet with special interest groups or government officials. Job transfers between headquarters and regional offices are common, particularly among sales managers.

Salary
Median annual earnings of advertising, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales managers in 1998 were $57,300. The middle 50 percent earned between $38,230 and $84,950 a year. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $28,190 and the highest 10 percent earned more than $116,160 a year. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest number of advertising, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales managers in 1997 were as follows:

Professional and Commercial Equipment	$69,800
Telephone Communications	64,100
Computer and Data Processing Services	60,800
Advertising	54,300
Management and Public Relations	51,100

According to a National Association of Colleges and Employers survey, starting salaries for marketing majors graduating in 1999 averaged about $31,900; advertising majors, about $26,600.
Salary levels vary substantially depending upon the level of managerial responsibility, length of service, education, firm size, location, and industry. For example, manufacturing firms usually pay advertising, marketing, and public relations managers higher salaries than nonmanufacturing firms do. For sales managers, the size of their sales territory is another important determinant of salary. Many managers earn bonuses equal to 10 percent or more of their salaries.

(http://www.collegegrad.com/career/advertisingcareer.shtml)