Blending knowledge with applied skills, vocational workers form the backbone of our economy. Whether they're creating homes or repairing vehicles, the work of these individuals is essential. If you have natural skills or simply an interest in pursuing a vocational career, consider yourself lucky. Training programs for these careers are usually fairly affordable, and the high demand for qualified workers in many vocational fields can make your job search a cinch.

What's Involved in a Vocational Career?

One of the best words to describe the range of career paths that fall under the vocational category is diverse. Whether they're driving an eighteen-wheeler, teaching an aerobics class, or installing a hot water heater, vocational workers get to use a variety of skills on the job. While it's difficult to generalize among the wide array of vocational careers, most are hands-on and many involve direct contact with clients.

What are the Benefits of a Vocational Career?

Individuals employed in a vocational career enjoy a myriad of benefits, depending on their area of expertise. Consider some of the following examples:

• Due to the ever-increasing number of vehicles on the road, employment of auto mechanics is expected to grow by fourteen percent through 2016. Average hourly wages for mechanics topped $17.50 in 2007. In addition to steady earnings and good job prospects, skilled mechanics can go into business for themselves, adding independence and flexibility to an already attractive career.

• If surrounding themselves with beautiful flowers wasn't appealing enough, one-third of floral designers are also self-employed. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the need for many new replacement workers in this field, and average hourly pay was nearly $12 in 2007.

• Heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) technicians should have excellent job prospects through 2016. Median annual earnings approach $40,000 in this field and many HVACR employers offer company vans, tools, and uniforms as well as health insurance and pension plans.

How Can I Get Trained to Enter a Vocational Career?

Training for vocational careers differs from occupation to occupation. In general the training requirements fall into one of the following categories:

• On-the-Job Training. In fields such as child care and truck driving some employers may offer on-site training to new hires.

• Certificate Programs. For topics ranging from aviation technology to welding, these training programs can usually be completed in six months to one year.

• Associate's & Bachelor's Degrees. In some of the more skilled vocational professions, such as diesel mechanics or fitness training, you may need to complete an associate's or bachelor's degree to be considered for the most competitive positions, vocations, vocational careers, jobs, and careers.


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One of the key jobs in advertising is an advertising management job. In this job, you manage a team of advertising and marketing specialists, to come up with the right marketing or advertising campaign. The marketing advertising job involves a team of people who will be in need of a leader but will also be looking to have their own ideas heard and considered. If you work well with people and have great organization skills, then you might want to consider aspiring to this position. You often have to start with an advertising sales job or any other lower lever advertising job, but you can work your way up to management position.

Because you'll be working with creative type of personalities, you'll need to know how to manage them. Creative people are a little harder to manage at times because they are a little more personally attached to their ideas. If you turn down one of their ideas, they might take it personally and drama will ensue. Creative people are also a little more moody and dramatic due to their creative and artistic nature. They'll be looking to express themselves with their ideas and if their ideas aren't heard, considered, and used, then they'll feel slightly worthless. They won't feel like they're contributing to the team and might leave the team because of it. So you'll need to be able to handle these personality types and make them all feel like they're a part of the team and are contributing to the overall finished product.

Ad management jobs entail all kinds of creative processes. You are heading a team of creative people to come up with the next best ad campaign or strategy. Or you'll be in charge of managing currently successful campaigns and keeping them alive and working. So you will be working with a team of people in charge of coming up with ideas and presenting them to you. As a manager, it's your job to look at and consider everyone's ideas, and choose the one you think will be the most effective. There's a lot of pressure in this decision making process. Your decision could be the deal maker or the deal breaker between your ad firm and a client. If it's a really important client, you might feel a little more pressure. Your decision is what matters most. Your team is responsible for presenting you with great ideas, and if they don't present you with any, then you don't have much to work with. You can always do a recall and start all over with a new direction. If your team isn't coming up with good ideas, it's often because you're not giving them an accurate direction to go with. You need to be the one who can come up with a wide variety of examples, so they know which direction you want them to go. If the pitch fails and the clients decide to go with someone else, it's your fault and not your team's, so you take the fall. If they take the pitch, then you get the praise and get to feel good about keeping your job.

Advertising management is similar to most other managing jobs in that you have to take control and lead a group of people. You need to know the strengths and weaknesses of each member of your team so you can make the best use of their talents. It's your job to create synergy among the group, so you need to find ways to bring out the best in everyone and make them all eager and excited to work on the project. You need to motivate them to put something personal into their own ideas, so they feel a sense of pride in their work. This is what Spielberg does. It's what he's known for. People look to Spielberg as the iconic figure for collaboration and synergy. He finds the best talent and brings out the best in all of them. That's what he does and that's why his films are always so successful. It's not because he's the most talented and artistic director. He's, no doubt, a very talented director, but he started out as just an average director who knew how to network and get the best crew and cast together for a project. He had enough talent to give a project some credibility, which was enough to get the right crew and cast interested in the film. This is similar to what you will need to accomplish as manager of advertising. You'll need to find the best talent, hire them for your team, and bring out the best in them. The better you are at this, the more successful you'll be, and the more clients your firm will receive.



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