Rekha's favourite hobby as a child was to cut advertisements from magazines and newspapers and stick them in her scrapbook. This passion led her to Indore, where she pursued a diploma in advertising at the Indore University. After acquiring the diploma, she joined Swift Advertising, a small agency there. ``In a way,'' says Rekha, ``it was good that I joined a small agency because I was fresh out of college with no practical experience. I dabbled with a bit of everything, especially copywriting and client servicing.''

After stints with Swift and Uxhur Advertising, greater opportunities beckoned Rekha to Mumbai and she joined Chaitra Advertising. Three months later, Lintas approached her with an offer she couldn't resist. ``At Lintas, I handle the Clinic Plus account of Hindustan Lever,'' she says.

Rekha firmly believes that before making a foray into the profession, one must attend some kind of a foundation course like an intensive advertising workshop or a one-year diploma course. ``These familiarise a person with the profession in general and one figures out whether one has the aptitude for this line or not.''

The pay scale is very good but varies from agency to agency and depends to a large extent on the talent and capability of the copywriter. ``A small agency will probably pay a starting salary of Rs. 3,500. If it is a big agency like Lintas, a junior copywriter would be paid Rs. 8,000-10,000,'' says Rekha. ``Also, if a copywriter has proved his or her mettle and produced good work, he or she will be an asset to the agency and the agency would pay a high salary to keep him or her. One could say that in this line, a copywriter writes his or her own pay cheque!

Although recession has forced the advertising industry to retrench people and job opportunities are not easy to come by, Rekha believes that one must not give up. ``Either freelance or join any of the small agencies, if you are good, you are bound to shine through.'' A creative mind, a passion for initiative and innovation, these are the talents required of a copywriter to make it big in advertising. As for what is required to stay at the top, Rekha has some useful pointers: