How To Become A Media Associate: What It Is and Career Path

What is a media associate and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Experts

Steve Boddy,

Dr. Tom Hallaq

A media associate manages an organization's media-related activities and performs various duties in this regard. In this position, you are responsible for the company's social media content and developing content for websites and other editorial channels. You will create captivating and engaging content to communicate with a company's clients or convert new potential customers.

The media associate also analyzes data relating to a company's media and communication and uses this to develop sound communication strategies. You may also be in charge of managing the editorial calendar and may also support a company's media marketing efforts.

A bachelor's degree in journalism, communications, and other related fields is a requirement for this role. You also need to have excellent written and oral communication skills. Solid knowledge of social media management and marketing is also necessary for this position. You should also be great at using simple Microsoft office tools and manage email marketing campaigns. On average, media associates earn $40,820 per year.

What general advice would you give to a Media Associate?

Steve Boddy

Content Director, WorldatWork

Graduates should expect fewer full-time employment opportunities. In some cases these opportunities will be accompanied by enhanced well-being benefits but lower salaries. There may be more contract and seasonal opportunities in the short term, which typically will not offer highly valued benefits like health insurance, retirement, and paid time off.

Full-time employment opportunities and competitive hiring wages are expected in high growth industries like technology, health care, logistics and distribution, and other essential jobs. These are most often accompanied with full benefits, which most recently has included increased offerings in well-being, remote work opportunities, and flexible schedules. However, most other organizations will offer fewer full time employment opportunities and potentially lower wages in job offers (due to supply of jobs and abundance of grads). Other reasons for downward pressure on salaries may include the graduates willingness to accept lower rates in favor of the option to work from home or desired geography. Lastly, more college grads are taking seasonal/contract roles, and may miss out on critical benefit offerings that are reserved for employees only (which often account for ~25 - 35% of their total rewards package).

So why does it matter? In all likelihood, new graduates may not start on the career path they envisioned for themselves, and will likely see slower wage growth over time. According to the WorldatWork 2020-2021 Salary Budget Survey released in August of this year, "The national total salary budget increase average fell this year - dropping to 2.9% - notably sudden, and somewhat expected, due to economic uncertainty. This decline represents a pronounced departure from the anticipated increase to 3.3% projected for 2020 a year ago." This is a tough time to be entering the workforce. The key is to be flexible in their job search. Graduates may have to sacrifice some benefits like healthcare and retirement in order to get "their foot in the door." The current reality is new college graduates are facing the worst job market in over a decade with more competition and lower salaries.

ScoreMedia AssociateUS Average

Salary

3.4

Avg. Salary $43,646

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.3

Growth Rate 8%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.59%

Asian 5.30%

Black or African American 10.07%

Hispanic or Latino 11.96%

Unknown 5.09%

White 67.00%

Gender

female 51.49%

male 48.51%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress Level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.8

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

3.8

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

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Key steps to become a media associate

Explore media associate education requirements

Most common media associate degrees

Bachelor's

79.8 %

Master's

8.8 %

Associate

6.2 %

Start to develop specific media associate skills

Skills	Percentages
Digital Marketing	11.13%
PowerPoint	9.45%
Facebook	6.15%
Press Releases	5.83%
Media Planning	4.99%

Complete relevant media associate training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New media associates learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a media associate based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real media associate resumes.

Research media associate duties and responsibilities

Manage Facebook page and Etsy shop.
Manage blogs and microsites using best practices for SEO.
Assist managing social platforms and initiate the most popular weekly post on the company s Facebook page.
Participate in brainstorming sessions, proofread and edit marketing materials, manage magazine inventory.

Prepare your media associate resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your media associate resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a media associate resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Media Associate Resume templates

Build a professional Media Associate resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Media Associate resume.

Apply for media associate jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a media associate job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do media associates rate their job?

-/5

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Media Associate reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019

Pros

The opportunity to listen to a variety of opinions added to the intrigues.

Cons

The insults and the unnecessary propaganda.