Interview with Marta Perlado - Spain
Tell us about your career path
I studied a bachelor's degree in Information Sciences and in the final years of my degree I joined the Clarín agency as a trainee. Later I worked at the advertising agencies: Publicidad 96, Valmorisco Asociados and AGR Agropubli.
My interest in academic topics and research also led me to start my doctorate, and in 1999 I defended my thesis, specializing in the field of the media and media planning.
Since 1995 I have been a professor at Universidad Nebrija as I have always had a strong teaching and research vocation, which I have been able to combine with my career.
Currently I am the Dean of the Facultad de la Ciencias de la Comunicación at Universidad Nebrija.
How did you discover that you wanted to develop your career in the field of Communication?
My family has always belonged to this world, especially journalism. My paternal grandfather was Director of Radio Zaragoza and my father has for years been a correspondent for leading media outlets, a great journalist, as well as an excellent professor at the Facultad de CC.II. de la Complutense de Madrid. As a result, the world of communication has felt familiar to me since I was young.
What motivated you to study Communication, Advertising and Public Relations?
Although in general the whole field of communication attracted me, more than journalism and fiction and entertainment, I felt comfortable with advertising communication and RR.PP. I liked the creative side, the versatile profile that professionals in this area of communication have, the work in advertising agencies, the event organization part, corporate communication in organizations. It is a field with many and very varied career opportunities.
Which subject was a challenge for you at the start of your degree?
In my first year the subject of Communication Theory was perhaps hard for me, but I loved Literature.
I fondly remember having to read two books a month. That made me more disciplined and demanding, and opened me up to debate and reflection with my classmates and those around me.
Other subjects that won me over included Creativity, Audience Research, Marketing, Media Planning and RR.PP., among others.
What do you think is the most important thing to succeed in Communication?
I don't know what is important to "succeed", but I think that work, effort, dedication, passion and vocation, wanting to do things well, and not just anyhow, and feeling at ease with yourself and with what you do, is a good path to getting somewhere.
Today I would also add the ability to adapt and versatility to be able to work in this field, and lifelong learning, constant updating.
Is Communication Sciences a career that allows you to travel the world?
Of course, and today even more so, in a globalized world it is essential to have views from all angles that undoubtedly enrich your life and your career. It is a sector in which there is mobility and it is also highly advisable that there is.
Is learning other languages important to work in Communication?
It is essential. Today knowing English in this career is like knowing how to read. If you don't master a language, your ability to grow is limited.
How did new technologies affect communication?
They are affecting it enormously, they are transforming the career, but the truth is that little by little we have been adapting to the changes and we keep communicating, although in a different way as we are in a change of era, in the digital age
Young people ask us "The world is full of communicators. So, is it a bad idea to study to be a journalist?"
Communication is essential and today more than ever. Nowadays, not only the media or agencies need communicators, any organization, of whatever type, requires professionals to organize and orchestrate the entity's communication, its reputation.
What satisfactions has your career given you? And what disappointments?
I love my career and I am lucky to forget the bad and always remember the good, so everything or almost everything has been satisfactions.
Perhaps combining academic/teaching/research work with professional work has been the hardest thing to fit together, but for some years I managed it and with good results.
What advice could you give to a person who is thinking about studying Communication Sciences? Is it a degree with a future?
Of course, it is a field with a great future, and if you prepare well, know languages, like to work with passion, without watching the clock..., it is a wonderful career in which to show all your talents. That said, you have to dedicate hours to it.
Young people ask us about job opportunities. Was it very hard for you to get work in your field? How did you manage it?
In my time I got it easily, today everything is more difficult, but I insist, with work and dedication, with effort, it is achieved. I don't believe in luck, I believe in the determination to achieve something.
Dreams come true if you firmly believe in them and work to achieve them; then they come true almost always.
About annual salaries and compensation, what range would a Communication Sciences Professional with 5 years of experience be in?
from 25,000 to 30,000 American Dollars
