Four is a magic number?

Hi gang.

As an addition to the reasonably exhaustive 2011 grad scheme post, there's a further four graduate opportunities that have winged their way to me here at AdGrads towers. So, without further ado:

Albion London:

"Albion London is a dynamic independent advertising agency based in Shoreditch with clients such as Air New Zealand, Jose Cuervo and Epson. They are looking to recruit an assistant for their marketing team, one who will be excited about the company and keen to develop and progress their role as the company grows. Candidates will be involved in every stage of the pitch process and help promote Albion (through day-to-day PR and events such as Albion Society) as well as ensuring smooth running of the office. Additionally, there is also the opportunity to work closely with the CEO. Albion are conducting interviews over the next two weeks with a view to starting as soon as possible after this so if you’re interested please contact jobs at albionlondon.com for the full job description with your CV and a covering letter."

There is no formal deadline, but the guys are looking to hire as soon as possible, so get involved - they want someone to start in early November.

Clemmow Hornby Inge:

CHI's grad scheme has opened. Check it out here. The deadline's the 25th of November, and they will let you know by the 2nd of December whether you've got an interview.

The Communication Agency:

"The Communications Agency (TCA) is looking for an intern for a 3-month placement, starting immediately, working in our partnerships team. You will help us to brainstorm, sell in and activate brand partnerships for a prestigious portfolio of film and leisure clients including Universal Studios and British Airways. For the right candidate, this could even lead to a permanent graduate role. Go to tcalondon.com and email your CV to the recruitment email address, subject "Partnerships Intern". TCA is a vibrant and award-winning, independent integrated agency whose clients include American Express, Argos, British Airways, The Balvenie, Royal Bank of Scotland, Universal Studios, Warner Bros and Momentum Pictures".

Again, there's no set deadline for this one - it's to start ASAP.

ZenithOptimedia:

ZenithOptimedia (MediaWeek agency of the year 2010) are recruiting graduates to work in a variety of roles including media planning and buying, branded content, digital, search and strategic insights. We have a raft of fantastic clients you would potentially be working on such as L'Oreal, O2, Mars, Molsoon Coors, British Airways and Compare The Market, amongst others. As a graduate at ZenithOptimedia you would also have the opportunity to study toward IPA and Google GAP professional qualifications, as well as being part of an industry renowned graduate programme. We hire all year round (we don't have set intake dates - though one of the questions on the talent hub asking when you can next start/only giving a few fixed dates. Any applicants should answer this question with the date closest to when they can begin.

There's no deadline for this one - and there are a multitude of roles.

So gang, get applying. And, good luck.

Ad Agency Grad Schemes - 2011/12...

Some of these folks may end up working in adland....

Hi all.

This is (probably) the post you've been waiting for, if you're a regular reader of the site. The list of ad agencies that are running graduate schemes in the second half of 2011 are below. I'm sure I've missed one or two - do let me know in the comments:

AMV:

Shortly to open in October 2011 (here). You can keep an eye on the latest comings and goings by following their twitter account.

BBH:

BBH have no ‘formal’ graduate scheme running at the moment; instead, they have two initiatives – one of which is a ten week internship (the twitter’s here), though it appears the deadline’s past (and I’m unclear about whether it is US only or UK and US – does anyone from BBH London want to comment?), and another which is a formalised placement scheme. Check them out.

BMB:

BMB are running a ‘non grad grad scheme’, which is shortly to open. Whether you have a degree or not, you can apply. Keep an eye on it – it reportedly opens on the 1^st of November.

CHI:

CHI’s grad scheme is due to open in December 2011. Watch this page like a hawk, as well as their twitter-stream.

Chime:

The Chime group (which comprises of Ad Agencies - VCCP - design and PR) are shortly to open their scheme. The page should be fully functional/open in November 2011.

Dare:

Dare’s grad scheme has yet to re-open this year. However, their Facebook page (which they used to recruit last year) hints that the graduate scheme is going to open in the Autumn. Their twitter streams (both for main agency and the graduates) should provide a hint as to when it’s going to open.

DAS Accelerate:

The DAS scheme has just launched. It shuts on the 3^rd of January 2012. You can find out more about it on the DAS link above, or go straight to the application page here. Alternatively, you can check out their twitter here.

DLKW Lowe:

My old agency is looking for bright grads to come and join. You can find more details here. You’ll have to apply before midday on the 9^th of November.

Elvis:

Elvis are shortly to announce their 2011 graduate scheme. Any activity will take place on their Facebook wall, which you can see here. Applications will open in Autumn.

JWT London:

JWT's graduate scheme is happening this year - find out more here and on the Facebook page (and the twitter stream). Applications shut on the 2nd of November.

Leo Burnett:

Leo’s have just launched their new graduate scheme, called ‘The Foundry’, aimed at both account handlers and planners. You can find out more about it here. (UPDATE - THE FACEBOOK PAGE IS NOW LIVE. ). Their twitter stream is here. Applications close on Friday 28^th of October.

M&C Saatchi:

M&C’s site indicates that they are going to be recruiting graduates this year, but the link re-directs to a broken email link. They’ve recruited every year since I’ve written AdGrads, so it’s worth keeping your eyes peeled.

Ogilvy:

Ogilvy have a bumper crop of schemes that are shortly to open. They've been in touch. Both the Ogilvy Fellowship and Planning Fellowship open on the 14th of November, and will close on the 8th of January 2012. There's also a two month 'Summer Fellowship', which is going to open in early 2012. You can find out more about the Ogilvy Fellows by looking at their Facebook page, their twitter account or by looking on Youtube. Also, they are launching a competition on Monday (10th of October) for potential applicants to their open night, where top speakers from the group will be chatting. To get a place, you should write a tweet explaining why, and hashtagging it #OgilvyOpenNight.

RKCR/Y&R:

UPDATED: Rainey's grad scheme (for account management) is now live. It closes on the 28th of October.

WPP Fellowship:

WPP's 'golden ticket', 3 year, multiple country and marketing discipline scheme is now open. It shuts Thursday 10th of November at midday, GMT.

Good luck with all of these, guys. Again, let me know if I've missed any.

Behind the scenes at SCA2....

The class of 2010/11.

Hello gang. Apologies for the radio silence in the last few weeks; I've been on hols and busy with a spot of work.

Anyway, this post is a guest one from Samantha Jenkins, a recently graduated student from the School of Communication Arts 2.0.

I will let her explain more, but suffice to say, the School is after a 2011 intake. If you like the sound of a creative career, you should definitely read on.

Anyway. Here's Sam:

"Some people believe in luck, fate, a big-break, chance, destiny and fortune.

It’s where you’ve come from, who you know, your lot in life.

Others trust in sheer determined hard work and tireless perseverance.

Ball-breaking, back-aching commitment.

Some people regard phenomenal genius, which needs neither rabbit’s feet nor elbow grease, enough to propel one’s vision into a world of desperate anticipation and quivering awe.

One thing’s for certain. All people have hope.

Hope that one day lady luck will whisper sweet nothings, promising everything.

Hope that sweat and tears will turn to rain, drenching the drought of dreams fulfilled.

Hope that raw talent will be plucked whilst ripe and bursting with vitality.

Hope that after studying for years to earn the perceived right into the Promised Land of employment, one does not end up circling in and out of the spiraling, rotary doors of the dole office.

After quitting my A-Levels in the hope that I did not need them, I discovered I was right after securing a place at university.

After quitting degree course, after degree course in the hope that I did not need them, I discovered I was right after securing a place in the dole queue, even after eventually obtaining the highly desired graduation photo.

Something had gone pretty wrong – or had it?

Degree in hand, I was meant to get a job; and I did.

Bartender. Quit. Retail Assistant. Quit. Telesales Operative. Quit. Receptionist. Quit. Tour Guide. Quit. Bungy-jump Coordinator. Quit. Gallery Assistant. Quit. Online Marketing Assistant. Quit.

All of the above merely a small handful of the job opportunities given to me as an Applied Arts graduate, hopping from country to country trying to discover who on earth I was; what, for heaven’s sake, I wanted to do with myself; but more importantly, how the hell was I to get there.

The church was my saviour.

The house of worshipping creative freedom that is The School of Communication Arts 2.0 happens to exist within a Methodist church in Vauxhall, South London.

Having now completed study at SCA 2.0, I now realise that the Job Centre was the best possible place for me as I walked through its doors little over a year ago. It was here, at what should have been the lowest point of my career’s journey - signing on to my weekly giro - when I signed out of my old way of thinking.

A state of mind that had crippled me by a rigid set of rules which led me nowhere; the same brain washed mind-set that leaves young creative people unemployed or in jobs that they despise all over the country - the belief that spending 3 years within the UK creative education system will result in a career.

A-Levels and degrees are not needed to become a creative.

Once realising my degree meant jack shit, I just started to do stuff I wanted to do.

It was this stuff that got me noticed and this stuff that started my journey of luck, fate, hard graft, perseverance and self-belief that has, in just a year, earned me a work placement in the Amsterdam based creative agency, Strawberry Frog.

Stuff. Looking at stuff. Being interested in stuff. Caring about stuff. Finding stuff. Sharing stuff. Creating stuff. Being stuff.

HAVING IDEAS AND DOING SOMETHING ABOUT THEM.

How can these ideas bring value to a brand and therefore bring value to an agency?

The SCA accepts students because they are creative and then shows them how to translate their ideas into a format that agencies will want to hire. Have a look at some of the work here.

The people that work within these agencies have written the entire curriculum that is available for anyone to view. Here, take a look.

This curriculum is taught to students by the very minds that wrote it – the industry itself.

The school only has a handful of employed staff. Creative professionals visit the school everyday, delivering the curriculum, giving talks and workshops, imparting tips and advice, helping develop ideas, critiquing work, offering mentorship and friendship.

Additionally, the networking opportunities offered at SCA are unrivaled. With over 400 mentors and only 30 students, there is plenty of time and attention spent on the needs of every individual.

Students get to work on live briefs for real clients, getting to see their work become a reality before even stepping foot inside an agency.

And step foot they shall as the course offers every student guaranteed 6 month work placements in some of the top advertising agencies.

The SCA 2.0 changed my life.

To all of you who’ve just received your A-Level results…

Pass or fail – YOU DON”T NEED THEM!"

I hope that was helpful to anyone considering a creative career. Good luck with your applications, guys.

More grad schemes: McCademy's open

Something to get your attention.

Hi all.

We're rapidly entering into grad recruitment season, and the good folks at McCann London have begun recruiting for their new graduate intake. It closes on the 1st of August and you can apply here, on the Facebook page. The twitter account has been set up for any questions you may have.

Below is the official blurb.

"You’re about to graduate and want to get a job in advertising? Great. But you’ll only get on in advertising, if advertising is where you want to get on. Not banking. Not law. Not accountancy. Not hedging your bets by applying for all of them. It’s an old cliché, but advertising is all about selling the dream. But not always living it.

If you think it’s all parties, shoots and long client lunches you’re in for a rude awakening. You’ll be found out faster than you can say 'Lipsmackingtimewastinguselesspieceofbadreputationmakinggoandgetajobinbanking'.

You still in? Good.

How are you on honesty? Well, just like people don’t fall for ads that over-promise, Grads shouldn’t fall for agencies that over-promise. So we don’t. We just want you to be yourself when you apply. No-one’s expecting you to be Don Draper or Roger Sterling. Not on day one anyway. But if you don’t know who comes from Meerkovo, we could be in trouble.

And one more thing. Don’t try and be too clever. Because you know what comes after clever?Dick. Know what you’re letting yourself in for? Well it’s not going to be so much Mad Men as Tea Boys. And Girls. You’ll be expected to photocopy. Fetch. Carry. Buy the train tickets. Do the dirty work. But that’s where everybody starts. All today’s big names were once very small fry. More than anything, you’ll be expected to listen and learn. And that could take you anywhere.

It’s not just about TV ads, you know. You could be a producer, creative technologist, programmer, researcher, account manager. Or even a job we haven’t created yet.

If you’ve got talent, we’ll spot it. We know that good ideas can come from anywhere. And pretty soon you’ll learn it’s a fantastic job to have. How often do you hear your mates talking about spreadsheets and base rates down the pub? You don’t. But, you do hear them talking about ads.

If you’re lucky, your ads. Because what you do is seen by millions everyday. In the break on Coronation Street. In the pages of The Sun. Posted up on YouTube, spread via Facebook and on the poster site near where your nan lives. Sent round as a ‘have you seen this?’ email.

You’ll be able to say ‘I did that’. And sure, for every Drumming Gorilla there’s a thousand Toilet Ducks. Just like for every graduate job there’ll be thousands of applicants.

But if it were easy, it wouldn’t be worth having.

Good luck, gang.

TBWA's (almost) away...

There may be a spot of this.

Hello gang.

There's another new graduate scheme to tell you about. TBWA London are on the verge of opening up theirs. It kicks off on the 5th of May. Keep your eyes peeled here.

Best of luck with it.

Karmarama are open for business...

Maybe there will be this kind of karma. Maybe.

Hello gang.

I have been alerted by Lucy Minton (who works at Karmarama) that the blighters have gone and opened their graduate scheme.

You can find it here, on Facebook. You need to fill out their questions by the 17th of April.

You need to be free in late April/early May for an interview, and if successful (you'll be told on the 20th of May) you will take part in a summer internship with two others across the summer - across July, August and September.

The successful grad will then be offered a job in Account Management.

Best of luck.

Final lot of Grad schemes...

One final grad scheme post, to get to those I've forgotten about.

Beattie McGuinness Bungay's graduate/non graduate scheme/alternate grad scheme is also open. To apply, email recruitment@bmbagency.com with your CV, answering the following question:

"How would you promote a forlorn, forgtotten, unloved shop on your high street? Reinvent and revive it; be Mary Queen of Shops for a day. Think about how it'll look, what it'll be like and how it'll thrive.

We're not looking for theory and jargon. We want you to think about it as if it was something you were really going to do. Speak to local shoppers, think about the environment, the community, and show us how it would work.

Tell us your idea however you choose - a blog, a film, an essay, an interpretative dance or something else entirely - and remember that presentation can be an idea in itself.

We'll be looking for business brains, creative flair and a risk or two to reach us by the 31st of December 2010. Go on - surprise us."

Finally, Elvis's grad scheme has opened too. More information can be found here, or here's the application form. The scheme closes on the 31st of December.

I think that's the lot. Shout if there are more/some we've missed.

Two more graduate roles....

I don't think either agency will require you to dress like this. Honest.

More and more graduate schemes have come out of the ether. These may be the last two, but I just don't know.

1) Dare/MCBD: These guys have combined their graduate scheme/s into one. Apply through their Facebook page here. The closing date's the 15th of November.

2) DLKW Lowe: My former employer is recruiting. Find out more here. The deadline's the 12th of November.

Phew. The schemes are certainly coming thick and fast.

An Amend, & A Final Countdown...

Dee dee. Dee tee dee tee dee.

Ah, hair rock. Lovely.

Anyway, three things have just happened:

1) AMV have a new graduate scheme link, which is here. The details are just the same, though their twitter stream (@amvacademy) will hopefully keep you updated.

2) Leo Burnett's grad scheme is about to close (this Friday night, the 1st of October). So get those apps in.

3) M&C Saatchi's grad scheme IS open. I've been on a search to try and find it, and it does exist. Here 'tis. It closes on the 5th of November.

Here's hoping those are useful. Let us know how you get on, or if there are any other schemes out there which we've missed.

2011 Grad Schemes: The List

You will not (happily) be working with these people.

Hi gang.

As it’s graduate recruitment season, I thought it would be a good idea to run down which agencies are (currently) doing what, and provide some helpful links.

This list is by no means exhaustive, and for any agencies who are reading this and want to promote their grad scheme (little or large, UK or not), shoot me an email.

AMV-BBDO: Their graduate page is here, with some details about the 2011 scheme – it will open in mid September 2010. First round interviews will be on Wednesday 24th, Thursday 25th and Friday 26th November 2010. Final round interviews will be on Friday 10th December 2010.

BBH: No graduate scheme this yearas to this year’s intake, but keep an eye on their London office’s twitter here.

BMB: Their site says they are finalising bits and bobs, but keep an eye here for the opening date.

CHI: Their page has a graduate page, but no news as yet. It should open soon, if recent years are anything to go by.

Dare: Their 2011 grad scheme has yet to be announced, but keep an eye on the Facebook page – it should be announced nearer December/January time if they run one next year.

DDB London: These guys have just opened their grad scheme, with the details here and the Facebook group here. Applications close 29th of October.

Engine: As noted in the comments, these guys have opened their grad scheme now. Applications close on 20th November 2010. They'll contact you by the end of December to let you know whether you've been selected to attend a first interview.

JWT London: Their scheme has opened, and you can see more details here. In short the deadline is Wednesday 3rd November 2010, with interviews the week commencing 22nd November 2010. If you’re successful at interview, they’ll invite you to a two day seminar on Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th December 2010.

Ogilvy: The graduate scheme is here. Sadly, the 2010 intake has closed, but you can sign up to follow their twitter here.

Leo Burnett: Check the Facebook page out here, or click on the link to their site. The recent grads have a newly minted blog too, which is here, and if you have any further questions of the Grad team,
email them. Their deadline is midnight on the 1st of October, for a start date early 2011. Get your skates on.

Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe: Their page is unusually quiet, but it’s worth watching their blog for more details.

McCann London: Their McAcademy has ended this year, but if it is run next year (too early to tell – their site hasn’t been updated to say whether or not), it applications will open from July/August time.

MCBD: I can’t see any evidence of a grad scheme this year, but it’s worth keeping an eye on their Facebook page, which should liven up soon if they’re recruiting this year.

Publicis London: No news on the new summer school, but it is due to launch soon, if their Facebook page is to be believed.

VCCP London: Their site appears not to be working (?), but here’s their twitter stream.

WPP Fellowship: The fellowship is open now, and you can click here to find out more. Essentially, the deadline is 12 noon (GMT) on Thursday 11^th of November.

I hope those are all helpful.