• by John Hallenborg , June 21, 2002

As the Internet economy grows, and more jobs are created, media professionals are finally in a unique and enviable position—they are in demand. But where do you find that next career-launching job?

Major newspapers like The New York Times are still a key source, but they tend to list mid- and entry level positions. ADWEEK and MEDIAWEEK own the magazine sector. Online, there are a growing number of very advantageous sites that list thousands of jobs. You just have to filter the listings using the tools available. Again, the jobs listed are generally mid- and entry level, but occasionally a company will post a top position. Most top jobs are still filled through referrals and through executive recruiters.

If you’re looking for six figures, register with the top two executive search firms, Korn/Ferry International (kornferry.com), and Heidrick & Struggles (heidrick.com). Of course, the largest cities will be rife with other search firms that usually run space ads in Sunday newspapers. Resources follow, listed in order of usefulness.

ADWEEK and MEDIAWEEK magazines: Fresh postings in all areas of media, and top to bottom coverage regarding positions. Whether you are a planner or a salesperson, every week there are fine opportunities listed. As with most pubs though, most of the jobs are mid-level. A recent issue had 14 pages of help wanted ads, including postings for Online Media Supervisor, Media Manager, etc. See also ADWEEK.com, where you can not only search ads, but you can create and post your resume.

Monster.com: A very comprehensive site, with more than 300,000 listings at any given time. Many features to help the beleaguered job seeker, including searches simultaneously filtered by location and job category. A national search keying on subset “media buyer” within the category “advertising/marketing/PR” pulled up 63 hits, including Asst. Media Buyer, Direct Response Media Buyer and Asst. Broadcast Buyer. Also, one can browse jobs by other specific parameters, including entry level only, international, and by company.

The New York Times: A clearinghouse for jobs around the country. The Sunday edition is the one to peruse, although with thousands of ads each week, it’s much easier to get a password at nytimes.com and access the ads that way, filtering listings according to job title. Perhaps 80% of job posts are for spots in the New York Metro area.

Flipdog.com: For this survey, keywords “media buyer” resulted in 133 hits nationwide. You can also search more broadly by location, job type and by employer. Resume posting service, prizes, monthly job market reports, database of 45,000 employers, advice section, salary surveys, relocation tools, networking opportunities and training/testing tools round out the site.

Advertising Age: Widely read pub features better, but few, positions around the country. Classifieds are actually display ads of varying sizes. International scope. See also AdAge.com, which has a job/resume posting service and a link to monster.com.

Electronic Media Magazine: Typical issue has 20-30 ads for all sorts of media jobs, some of which are for buyers, planners and especially sales. Occasionally, a high level position appears. Useful mostly for gathering the contact names and addresses of hiring companies. See also EMOnline.com.

Hotjobs.com: Search via their Career Channels feature, or by a keyword prompt. “Media buyer” hit on 42 jobs nationwide, but predictably, most were in New York. International filter also.

Headhunter.net: Strong resource for companies looking to hire, so add your resume to the more than 450,000 already using this service. Keywords “media buyer” resulted in 24 hits. Multiple filters include job type, industry, salary range, location.

Mediapost.com, the publisher of Media magazine, also lists jobs on its site and in its “Jumps and Jobs” weekly email newsletter. — John Hallenborg