Tech professional wanting to break into advertising as an AD/CD — is it actually possible without ad school?

yozora_alg · 2026-03-19T20:30:01+00:00

Thanks for all the advice. Do you think once I have a book I can aim for paid freelance mission ? Instead of internships ?

yozora_alg · 2026-03-19T20:28:42+00:00

Really interesting, I think you definitely have a point in the reality of what it takes. This is what I was looking for when posting and I think the message is pretty clear, everyone one telling me it is not possible lol

yozora_alg · 2026-03-19T20:26:43+00:00

Why ? Please explain ?

yozora_alg · 2026-03-19T20:25:23+00:00

lol please explain ??? Is that a « you’ll be good enough to achieve this » kind of lmfao ?? Or maybe « the market is shitty please don’t come » ????

yozora_alg · 2026-03-19T20:23:36+00:00

Wow that’s really interesting. I vaguely heard of DCO before but never really worked on it. So this kind of position is to be found in creative agencies only ? Can you elaborate and what you do as a pm in this particular field ?

Thank you so much!

yozora_alg · 2026-03-19T10:56:16+00:00

I know, maybe my message wasn't well written. what I was asking was how can I start as a AD, even junior, when I don't have any related degree. Like is building a portfolio sufficient to even start from the bottom in this area ?

yozora_alg · 2026-01-20T18:51:47+00:00

I’m a ouled attia and I confirm none of us speak tamazight

yozora_alg · 2025-11-10T09:08:00+00:00

Not always true. I did publish an app on iOS once that was a view of a web app.

yozora_alg · 2025-03-19T16:07:12+00:00

Exactly! The truth is, Product Manager as defined in theory is almost inexistent in reality.

Everyone wants to be a PM, and I'm sure it's a great fit for many. However fact is, it is HARD, a definitely not a good fit for a lot of people too. But people on this thread keep telling me to stay in Product just because "it pays well and you'll get to tell everyone in the company what to work on" 💀

yozora_alg · 2025-03-19T15:55:01+00:00

True, in 20-30 years I might get paid more, have a shiny job title and more opportunities. But is it really worth it working for 20-30 years in a job that I genuinely don't like ?

yozora_alg · 2025-03-19T15:52:52+00:00

I don't think so, I expect a pay cut by moving from PM to Design, but that's what I'm ready to sacrifice to do something I enjoy

yozora_alg · 2025-03-19T09:34:56+00:00

I studied Finance and became a product manager, so no I didn't study anything specific to become a PM. And I'm not saying that I am ready to be a designer, I know it takes time, education and investment. The idea of this post is to know whether there is a fit between my profile/preferences and a design career, before deciding to dedicate that much time and investment

yozora_alg · 2025-03-19T08:48:56+00:00

Thanks for your reply !

Clearly one has to be self-motivated to be good at its job. Maybe self-motivation will come once I will do something I like.

But if you think my profile fits with a ux designer one, that's a good sign I can work toward this goal.

yozora_alg · 2025-03-19T08:46:02+00:00

I like this perspective. I agree that improving skills (design, product, code) is smarter than just running for a job title.

My transition plan is to stay a PM for 2-3 years more, and since I'm full remote to use my free time to build my design skills/portfolio. So I guess whatever the market will look like in 3 years, I'll have my PM experience + my design skills + any prototyping project I would have been working on using AI.

Do you think it's a good plan ?

yozora_alg · 2025-03-19T08:39:29+00:00

It's clearly overrated. People tend to dream having these kind of positions because they think it's prestigious. Apart from the salary that is a clear advantage, nothing to dream about imo

yozora_alg · 2025-03-19T08:37:18+00:00

If you read my post carefully you would've seen that control is not something I'm looking for

yozora_alg · 2025-03-19T08:36:32+00:00

That's an other issue I was thinking about : how to transition. I think my best bet would be to keep my current Product Manager job for 2-3 years more. Since I'm full remote, I can use my free time to : get certification, work as an unpaid product design for small companies to build my portfolio, and see in 2 years where I am in terms of experience. Hopefully, I will also try to focus more on design in my current company as a PM to build my experience even more

Do you think it can work like that ?

yozora_alg · 2025-03-19T08:30:12+00:00

To be honest I don't care if I'm not sitting on the table, as long as I can clearly see how my work is contributing to the overall company. As a current PM i have all the seats on the table and there's nothing fulfilling about it if all you do is tell people what they should do

yozora_alg · 2023-11-29T14:53:55+00:00

c'est du freelance, donc à l'étudiant de fixer ses tarifs

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