Sales and Related · Holland code ECA
Advertising Sales Agents
Sell or solicit advertising space, time, or media in publications, signage, TV, radio, or Internet establishments or public spaces.
Also called: Advertising Account Executive, Advertising Representative, Advertising Sales Representative (Ad Sales Representative), Media Consultant, Advertising Account Representative, Advertising Consultant, Directory Advertising Sales Representative (Directory Advertising Sales Rep), Display Advertising Sales Representative (Display Advertising Sales Rep).
O*NET 41-3011.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $64,820
- Middle half earn $47,020 to $99,990. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 3 of 5
- Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
- US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034
- -6% · Decline
- 103,700 jobs in 2024, projected 97,100. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Advertising sales agents".
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Explain to customers how specific types of advertising will help promote their products or services in the most effective way possible.
- Prepare and deliver sales presentations to new and existing customers to sell new advertising programs and to protect and increase existing advertising.
- Obtain and study information about clients' products, needs, problems, advertising history, and business practices to offer effective sales presentations and appropriate product assistance.
- Provide clients with estimates of the costs of advertising products or services.
- Maintain assigned account bases while developing new accounts.
- Recommend appropriate sizes and formats for advertising, depending on medium used.
- Locate and contact potential clients to offer advertising services.
- Draw up contracts for advertising work, and collect payments due.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Speaking4.1 / 5
- Active Listening4.0 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.6 / 5
- Writing3.3 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.3 / 5
- Monitoring3.1 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Sales and Marketing4.8 / 5
- English Language4.3 / 5
- Customer and Personal Service4.2 / 5
- Communications and Media4.1 / 5
- Computers and Electronics3.5 / 5
- Administrative3.4 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic3
- Investigative9
- Artistic44
- Social33
- Enterprising94
- Conventional56
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- advertising sales agent · DE Anzeigenverkäufer/Anzeigenverkäuferin · FR commercial vendeur d’espaces publicitaires/commerciale vendeuse d’espaces publicitaires
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Managers and directors in the creative industries (1255)67,300 employed
- Estate agents and auctioneers (3555)52,700 employed
- Sales related occupations n.e.c. (7129)64,900 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €50,992 |
| Austria | €46,986 |
| Germany | €44,473 |
| Netherlands | €42,448 |
| Ireland | €41,613 |
| Sweden | €41,155 |
| Italy | €34,882 |
| France | €34,816 |
| Spain | €29,757 |
| Portugal | €18,080 |
| Poland | €12,108 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.16. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (41-3011).
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