I was wondering what the percentage of top copy-writers have college degrees?

Do most have/learned by:
* college degree, marketing or business
* learned from a mentor
* self taught

I know Dan Kennedy, in his words regarding a degree, "ain't got one of those." Not sure about the rest.

I'm not in that group but if I make it I'll let you know. Just kidding, I "ain't" got one of those, marketing or business degree, either. Like some others here, I probably did it the hard, time-consuming and expensive way by reading and listening a lot, making expensive (aka money left on the table when there was a table) mistakes and trying to combat my ignorance with a good dose of knowledge. This board helps in that fight because ignorance is a worthy foe. Cheers.

The reason I ask is: I see some copy-writing jobs that are looking for someone who went to college.

And I ask myself, what does that have to do with writing copy or persuasion skills?

I see. My sister has a journalism degree and does copywriting duties but doesn't have that title. Those kind of jobs may be from bosses who also have degrees and want to support their brethren or believes that it's a necessary life experience. Just a guess.

Might be a good counter question for the interviewers, "No, do you?" Just call it market research. They might appreciate the initiative.

You must be talking about the on-site copywriting jobs you find on Craigslist, etc.

These people ask for degrees in communication, journalism and English literature, 3-5 years of agency experience and so many other useless things.

I don't know any good copywriters who have degrees in marketing . . .

I'm sure there are some bad ones, though.

Most of the folks I know who have chops learned by getting beat up by a mentor. (or 2 or 3)

I know I certainly did.

Yes, I have an English degree and a postgrad certification in direct response copywriting. A lot of good it did me, though. I recently applied for a copywriting job at the local radio station. The interviewer seemed impressed by my credentials, experience and portfolio. Do you think I got the job?

Not a chance.

They gave it to some who had worked as a journalist! It seems a lot of people still think that having a journalism degree somehow better qualifies you for a copywrititing job than a copywriting diploma! Go figure...

I think you mean, "Other than Michel Fortin..."

Nothing. That's what.

I will see some of these job listings and just laugh. My favorites are companies who are looking for marketing copywriters who also know how to use Excel, Powerpoint, blah, blah, blah. So really, they don't want a copywriter, they want an office techie.

Do they really want someone who can do a whizbang spreadsheet, or do they want someone who can sell?

I'll try to find and post a great job classified I found a couple of years ago that was a great lead generation ad itself (it's on my hard drive somewhere). It basically asked the applicants to sell themselves for the job.

When we all know that getting a journalism degree today doesn't even qualify you to be a freakin' journalist!