---
title: Why agency life will make your marketing career
description: Agency or in-house? Why agency life builds marketing careers faster, what you actually learn at a recruitment marketing agency and how to join Kitto.
---

[Articles](https://www.wearekitto.com/articles)

# [Why agency life will make your marketing career](https://www.wearekitto.com/articles/agency-marketing-career)

 Written by [Amity Watts](https://www.wearekitto.com/articles/author/amity-watts) | Oct 29, 2026, 3:01:09 PM

### **Almost everything I know about marketing, I learned in an agency. Everything else was context.**

I'm the most "seasoned" member of the Kitto team by a few years, so I've seen marketing from both sides of the fence. Here's why I'd tell anyone building a marketing career to spend serious time agency-side.

**In short:** agency life gives you more variety, faster feedback and broader skills than most in-house roles, especially early in your career. You work across multiple clients, channels and disciplines at once, and that range is what employers notice on your CV.

### Agency or in-house: which is better for your marketing career?

I spent my entire twenties in a marketing agency in a different sector. Everything agencies are famous for was true: fast-paced, agile, high-performance and completely addictive. I loved it, and I was convinced it was the only way to work.

Back then, I'd look over the fence at in-house marketers and think: not for me.

When life changed (I had children), I moved in-house for a few years. I worked for brilliant leaders, learned how recruitment businesses make their money and got a crash course in sales, resilience and business development. I was part of some top teams and had a good laugh along the way.

That chapter taught me the business. Agency life taught me the craft. The variety, the pace and the depth of marketing knowledge all came from agency work, and I haven't found them anywhere else.

### What do you actually learn at a marketing agency?

At Kitto, no two days look the same. Our work spans strategy and execution, digital and in-person, creative and commercial.

In any given week, the team might be working across social strategy, event management, copywriting, design, video production, reporting and new business pitches, with our specialist partners on paid and web. Recently that meant filming a 200 person industry event party in central London... during the World Cup semi-final... whilst the team at the office launched a client rebrand the very same day.

There is no "colouring in" here. Everything connects to something.

The skills you build:

- **Project management:** running multiple briefs, deadlines and stakeholders at once
- **Commercial thinking:** understanding how marketing drives a client's growth
- **Creative range:** working across copy, design, video and social, not just one lane
- **Client confidence:** presenting ideas, handling feedback and owning outcomes
- **Pace and prioritisation:** knowing what matters today and what can wait

Is it a lot? Yes! Anyone on my team will tell you that. But let's talk about comfort zones for a moment.

You don't learn anything sitting inside yours. The moments that change you are the ones where you think your way through something uncomfortable and come out the other side. Agency life gives you those moments regularly. That's not a warning. It's the point.

### Why agency experience stands out on your CV

My CV is longer than it probably should be at this point. But do you know which section always gets the most attention in interviews? The agency chapter, every time.

Agencies only succeed with speed, consistency and process. That teaches you to manage any project, at work or outside it. The time management, the organisation and the ability to hold several briefs in your head without dropping any of them: those skills follow you everywhere.

### What's it like working at a recruitment marketing agency?

If you're a people person, agency life is brilliant. On most days I speak to over twenty people across a similar number of tasks. The collaboration is constant, and it gives me energy.

At Kitto, that means working alongside designers, copywriters, social execs, operators, videographers, editors and animators who are excellent at what they do. Your creativity gets stretched every day just by being around them.

My own team, client services, own day-to-day delivery and the client experience end to end. Watching them get promoted, hit their goals and grow into the marketers they want to be is one of my favourite parts of this job. In the last few months three have been promoted, which I think speaks for itself.

### Why build your career in recruitment marketing?

Recruitment is a fascinating place to build a marketing career. It's intensely competitive, commercially driven and accountable in a way that keeps you sharp. The people you work with and for are high achievers, and often inspiring characters.

If you want to learn fast, gain broad experience and work somewhere that treats marketing as a commercial function rather than a nice-to-have, this is it.

### Join the team

We're growing fast, and we're hiring people who want to grow with us: curious, a bit restless and happy to be stretched.

See our [open roles](https://www.wearekitto.com/join-us) or send your CV to [careers@kitto.uk](mailto:careers@kitto.uk) with a line on the piece of work you're proudest of, and how it relates to my love for the game. We'd love to hear from you.

[*Privacy Notice*](https://www.wearekitto.com/privacy-policy)

## About the author

[Amity](https://www.linkedin.com/in/amity-watts-marketing/) is our Client Services Director at Kitto, she leads the commercial side of the business and the team that owns client delivery end to end. She has 20 years of marketing in the bag: over a decade agency-side, running brand campaigns for national retailers, followed by in-house marketing leadership at a range of leading and scaling recruitment businesses.

## Things I often get asked (FAQ, if you will)

**Is agency or in-house better for a marketing career?** Agency roles usually give you broader experience faster, because you work across several clients, channels and disciplines at once. In-house roles go deeper into one business. Many marketers do both, and agency experience early on tends to make the in-house move easier.

**What skills do you learn at a marketing agency?** Project management, prioritisation, commercial thinking, client communication and creative range across copy, design, video and social.

**What does a recruitment marketing agency do?** It helps recruitment businesses and in-house talent teams attract clients and candidates, through employer brand, social strategy, content, video and campaigns. At Kitto, we work in three ways: as a fully outsourced marketing team, as support or lead for an in-house marketing team, or on a project basis to hit a specific objective.

**What is it like to work at Kitto?** Fast-paced, varied and collaborative. You'll work alongside designers, copywriters, social execs, videographers and editors on work for recruitment businesses across the UK and beyond. See \[meet the team\] for more.

 

[View full post](https://www.wearekitto.com/articles/agency-marketing-career)

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