The Rise of Soft Skills: What Agencies Seek From Entry Level Employees in the Age of AI

Many advertising programs within colleges and universities struggle to find the balance between a liberal arts-focus and a professional, vocational curriculum. We conducted twenty in-depth interviews with top-tier, US-based advertising agency and brand executives involved in hiring decisions. We find evidence of a shift from professional vocational skills to more general cultural awareness, with many interviewees citing multiple “soft skills” and learning orientations as the top ones needed for entry-level employees. Specifically, the most important traits ad agencies look for are curiosity, interpersonal skills, social media and cultural expertise, and an understanding of how advertising agencies (and the ad business) work. We speculate that liberal arts educational outcomes like curiosity are highly desirable now more than ever because of the rapid technological changes in the industry. We discuss the theoretical implications for advertising education and practical implications for classroom curriculum.