TL;DR: You don’t need a set qualification to get a job in PPC. Learn how paid ads work, pass the Google Ads Search certification, and show you can read campaign data and decide what to change. Pay rises with experience, and an agency is a good place to build breadth quickly.
PPC, or pay-per-click, means running paid ads on platforms such as Google Ads and paying when someone clicks. Because the results show up in the data quickly, the clearest way to stand out when you apply is to show you can read that data and act on it.
Do I need a degree to work in PPC?
No single qualification is required. The National Careers Service lists several routes into marketing roles: a degree or foundation degree, a college course, an apprenticeship, starting as a marketing assistant, or applying directly with skills from sales or customer service. A relevant degree helps, but it is only one way in, and the sections below cover what else you can show.
If you are still choosing between marketing disciplines, our guide to starting a career in digital marketing covers the wider picture.
What skills do PPC employers look for?
PPC sits inside the wider marketing mix, so skills from other roles carry over. These matter most:
- Marketing funnel awareness: knowing where someone is in the buying journey shapes how you target and retarget them.
- Understanding the user journey: what happens once someone lands on a page is often the difference between a good campaign and a great one.
- A/B testing: across ad copy, landing pages, placements and creative.
- Data analysis: reading a trend and explaining the story behind it, not just reporting the number.
Start with the core numbers, which our guide to the main KPIs of PPC explains in plain English. If paid search itself is new to you, our explainer on search advertising is a good place to begin. You will also need to present findings and justify decisions, so clear writing and speaking count as much as the technical side.
Which certifications should I get?
Start with Google. Google Skillshop offers free online training, and its Google Ads certifications include Search, Display, Video, Shopping and Apps.
To pass an assessment, you need 80% or more. A Google Ads certification stays valid for one year, so you retake the assessment to renew it. Put the date in your calendar when you pass.
We recommend starting with Search, then adding Shopping or Display if the roles you want use them. Agencies have a reason to care, because individual certifications are one of the requirements for Google Partner status.
Meta has its own training hub, Meta Blueprint, for its advertising platforms. It is worth a look if you want paid social roles.
How do I show I can do the job without experience?
A certificate shows you have learned the platform. It does not show how you think, which is what an interviewer will want to find out. Good evidence can be small: a personal project, freelance work for a local business, or a written review of an existing campaign.
Top Tip: Pick a local business you know that runs search ads and write one page on what you would test first. Say whether it is the ad wording, the landing page or the keywords, and name the single number (click-through rate, conversion rate or cost per conversion) that would tell you it worked. A page like that gives an interviewer something concrete to question you on, which a certificate on its own does not.
Should I start at an agency or in-house?
Agency: you work across a wide mix of clients and industries, which is a fast way to build breadth early. The pace is usually quicker because you manage several accounts at once.
In-house: you go deep on one brand you care about. Teams are often smaller, so you may do a broader mix of marketing tasks and build PPC-specific experience more slowly.
For most people starting out, we would lean towards an agency for the breadth. If you already know the brand or industry you want to work in, in-house can be the better fit.
How did our PPC team get into PPC?
There is no single route in. Here is how three members of our PPC team are described on our Meet the Team page.
Libby Oldale joined Wildcat in 2021 as our first PPC hire, after a degree and master’s in digital media and a background in social media management.
Tom Brookes came from sales and customer service. He developed his interest in digital marketing through personal projects and freelance work, and has since gained PPC and social media certifications.
Alex Hickling joined in December 2024 as a Senior PPC Executive, with a business and marketing degree, Google Ads certifications and earlier roles at two Leeds agencies.
Between the three, the routes include a degree, postgraduate study, certifications, freelance work and time at other agencies.
One thing I wish I’d known: how many free courses are actually available to keep you up to date with both PPC and general marketing. There is also a considerable overlap between SEO / PPC, so keeping up to date with these industries is really beneficial. Doing the online courses that Google and Meta have available to learn the basics of campaigns definitely helped with the learning curve, and I felt that I was able to communicate with clients better because I actually knew what I was talking about.
I was a junior hire for PPC and learnt the basics through just doing and testing. I made a lot of mistakes, but I think you need to make mistakes to know what not to do next time. – Libby Oldale, PPC Team Leader
What is the Career Path of a PPC Executive?
Most people start by supporting Account Managers while they learn the platforms and campaign types. Job titles vary between agencies, so search for PPC executive, PPC analyst, paid search and paid media roles.
As you progress, you get your own accounts, then bigger accounts and bigger budgets. In time you can specialise in paid search, paid social or a format such as Shopping, video or display, or move into leading a team of Executives and Account Managers. At Wildcat, our PPC team works across paid search, Shopping, display, video and paid social for clients.
Is PPC a good career, and what does it pay?
It suits people who like having data to back up a creative decision. A broad campaign might show that one audience segment clicks through at a clearly higher rate. That is your cue to build a dedicated campaign with creative and copy tailored to that group.
Pay varies by employer, location and specialism, and there is no single official PPC figure. For a broader reference point, the National Careers Service gives a starter salary of £23,000 and £50,000 for experienced marketing executives. For PPC specifically, Glassdoor’s UK estimate for paid social and PPC managers was an average total pay of about £46,300 a year when we checked in October 2026, with a range of roughly £30,600 to £79,100. Glassdoor’s figures come from user submissions, so treat them as a guide rather than an offer.
Will AI replace PPC jobs?
Google’s Smart Bidding strategies already use Google AI to optimise for conversions or conversion value in every auction. In our view, that moves the job away from manual bid adjustments and towards strategy, creative direction and judging what the data is telling you, which are the skills above.
Join Wildcat Team as a PPC Executive
We are always looking for new talent here at Wildcat Digital. If you’re interested in PPC, apply for one of our vacancies today.
With us, you’ll get:
- A strong salary
- Career development potential
- Large focus on training & development
- Hybrid working with flexible working hours
and so much more.
We are an award-winning digital marketing agency helping businesses punch above their weight online. Take a walk on the wild side and get in touch with us today.
Libby Oldale
Senior PPC Account Manager
