War of the Words...

You could be one of these folks...

Hello gang.

There will be very shortly be a round up of all of the grad schemes. Honest. In the meantime, the lovely people at Brand Republic have been in touch to talk to me about the forthcoming War of the Words event.

It's squarely aimed at you, AdGrads folks. Sadly, for the studenty types, going along to see it will cost a bit of cash, but there are other opportunities (see the bold type) which you should try to get involved with.

Here's some of the blurb:

"Campaign's War of the Words, in association with The Huffington Post UK, is a new half-day, fast-paced event where speakers (all aged 30 or under), will present ideas that may shape the future in profound ways.

Like the Advertising Association's Front Foot Initiative, it will show the industry the reality of the world in which these speakers - advertising's future - have grown up.

Each speaker will be drawn from different disciplines and territories. Each will present for 15 minutes maximum. Speakers will address how creativity, planning, brands and media might change the face of advertising, and the way it works.
The X Factor-style judges will be Nikki Crumpton, the chief strategy officer of McCann London, David Hackworthy, a founding partner at The Red Brick Road, and Johnny Hornby, a co-founder of CHI & Partners.

There will also be an open-mic strand, open to agency talent of 25 or under, students and any madly hungry young people. In this section, promoted by The Huffington Post UK, ten people will be asked to pitch an idea that can be expressed with a statement starting with two words: "I believe." They will explore their idea in just three minutes."

You wouldn't usually get access to the likes of those big, advertising names usually. To apply for one of the ten open mic places, email wotw at huffingtonpost.com (EMAIL ADDRESS CHANGED) with a piece of up to 500 words on one of things you're most passionate about by (UPDATED DATE) the 31st of October. Creative submissions are actively encouraged, and then Campaign and the Huffington Post will ask the best to submit their 'I believe' 3 minute presentation, and the final ten will be asked to speak at the event.

FURTHER UPDATE: AdGrads readers can now get discounted tickets. The first fifty can buy tickets for £50 plus VAT when they email.

FINAL UPDATE: There's just a few tickets yet....get 'em now.

I hope many AdGrads readers get involved.

Brand bothering, and how it can help...

Yes, it can begin this early.

Hi all.

I tend, these days, to post just job or internship opportunities. When AdGrads was first formed, we tried to write more useful posts about how best to get into the business, but in recent years, it's been a bit job-specific.

So, with that in mind, I've decided to write a post on the topic of personal branding and how to make yourself stand out from the crowd.

With the rise of potential employers googling your name (and some of the more locked down searching Facebook), personal branding is something of a hot topic, and has been for the past few years...particularly when you're considering a career in communications, where opinions on branding (and indeed, people who like making themselves heard) are ten-a-penny.

My stock advice used to be 'start a blog, express your opinions' (particularly for those who wanted to get into planning). Now, given that most communications students/new ad folk have blogs or twitter accounts, the grad market is overrun with opinions.

Not a problem, you might claim; my opinion is good enough to get me a job/get me noticed. Well, I'd claim that it probably isn't enough any more. No, in order to truly stand out, you should try and cultivate a wealth of pre-job examples of where you've personally made a difference by improving/changing/helping someone with their communications.

Think about it - was there a local band you helped promote? Have you done something in social media? Created a character/persona who is widely followed? What did you learn? How could this experience help the businesses you're thinking of joining?

Or, for more specific job roles - have you proven how well organised you are when putting on a play at University? (This looks good for an account management role). Have you taken part in the 'Account Planning School of the Web'? (It's open to anyone, but it's good practice/a viable way of improving your strategic chops).

There are people in Advertising/Comms who have done some of these, and many of those things discussed above are the sorts of things that require the same skills to tackle situations they have to deal with daily.

Don't just talk about how important it is to be aware of digital and communicate well - live it, point to it before you interview and demonstrate your skills.

You've got a blank canvas out there to impress the industry. Who knows - if you do a good enough job, you may just get onto Brand Republic and secure that first graduate role without ever having to go on a grad scheme.

Lambie-Nairn need YOU..

You might be someone who thinks like this...

Hi all.

The lovely Lambie-Nairn are after a full time intern to start in November. I'll let the blurb explain more:

"We are looking for a full-time intern to start in November 2011 to support the marketing, communications and new business team. Activities will include processing weekly business development reports, research and analysis of sectors, monitoring of press for client teams and general administrative support.

The individual needs to have a positive flexible attitude, strong attention to detail and, most importantly, be an excellent communicator.

The internship would be on a rolling monthly basis and it's a great chance for the right person to gain indispensable experience in the world of branding.

People who are doing a year in industry are welcome but as it's a full-time position they must be able to do a full working week.

Applicants will need to send a CV and covering letter to careers at lambie-nairn.com with the subject header "Internship 2011"."

Is this you? Get in touch, and good luck, guys and gals.