Sloth - The Greatest Sin in Ad-Land..

Hopefully not a potential grad..picture by pierre pouliquin, usual rules apply.

Anyone who reads this seen Se7en? Well, if you haven't break off and watch it now. It's a blinding film.

Done it? Good. You'll have noticed that one of the more unpleasant parts involves the untimely demise of someone who has been deemed to be slothful, one of the seven deadly sins.

While real life won't quite punish you in the same way as a very nuts Kevin Spacey, in the end, you'll see the benefit if you don't fall into the trap of assuming that by rocking up to an agency with a good degree and a few thoughts, you'll get a job. Nonsense.

Being lazy, but bright, only takes you so far. Christ knows I'm sure you've met enough people throughout your life that were quite a bit cleverer than you, but really disinterested in pushing the boundaries. Well, advertising, like a lot of communication disciplines, rewards those who aren't afraid to have a point of view (without being a nonce about it) and be proactive in following it up.

So, you are interested in the future of comms? Write a blog post about it, start a debate - think around the topic. Maybe that's not what you're getting into the business for - maybe you are in love with the idea of a music track to help tell a story. So, write a podcast, with all your tunes on it.

Just don't sit there and twiddle your thumbs. You might not, for reasons of finance or whatever, be able to do work experience in London. So, use whatever means you can to talk to people on the other side of the fence. Set up a Skype chat with a planner or a creative (or whatever your discipline) on the other side of the world. God knows you can do it easily enough now.

Also, don't expect a CV and a 3 paragraph email explaining why you are so 'passionate' about the business to prove your talent. It might get you an interview, maybe. But Christ, you are going into a business which rewards lateral thinking - entirely the antithesis of the sloth like behaviour you might have been practicing before you got out of university.

I think it was Gandhi who said 'You must be the change you want to see in the world'. And so it goes. Not willing to shake things up? You're going into the wrong business.

When What You Want Isn't What You're Getting

Grad recruitment isn't the be all and end all

We've all been quiet over the last week but in our defense we do have good excuses. Anton has (as usual) high-tailed it out to the Middle East for some winter sun, Alex is growing a classy tache (which you'll hear more about) and Will has been waist deep in the art of planning.

What about me? Well like a lot of us, I've had some first round interviews this week, I had JWT on Monday, M&C Saatchi on Wednesday and AMV on Thursday. I think they all went ok, but as is the nature of the beast, you only know how it went when you're told. And waiting is a big pain.

A lot of you have asked us for a post about other ways into the industry, and it's something that we'll go a little bit deeper into in the early part of next year, but as a starter, I hope this is useful.

Sam

There are nothing but rejection letters on your desk and in your inbox, your friends are asking in lectures how the interviews went, you have a dissertation to do and feel deflated or all you can see is another year ahead without a grad training job as you’ve held out for the previous round with no joy.

Well, it doesn’t have to be so shit. Firstly if you’re still at uni you will need to drag yourself up to focus on your finals, without a 2:1 it’ll be hard to find a grad training scheme anyway. If you’ve finished uni there is still a boat to catch.
There is an emerging trend where agencies don’t actually practice the usual grad recruitment which is the usual 2 stage interview process. Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett and Publicis now use their Summer Schools as grounds to recruit for their grad training schemes, so keep a close eye on their websites.

Also there is the other way which isn’t the traditional grad route. It’s to join an agency as a junior account exec. This is where you pretty much feel like you’re on work experience, don’t receive the training the grads get and usually paid a little less. But it is actually one of the best ways to enter the industry.

While the grads get pampered with training, you, as an account assistant, are thrown into the thick of it where you’re expected to be a strong support line to your account team. You’ll learn quicker than the grads and you’ll be under more pressure than the grads. If you’re worried that you’ll do twice as much work as the grads and not get promoted like they are think again. Agencies are very prude when making promotions and it usually is made on merit especially at the more junior levels so this is still a great chance to enter and climb the ladder of the ad industry.

So how do you go about becoming an account assistant if you’ve missed the grad recruitment boat? Well, firstly you need to have some kind of experience within agencies. Account assistants are usually hired because they were a close choice to being on the grad rounds and usually its experience that speaks volumes. So if you don’t have any get on the blower to some agencies and organise the odd 1 or 2 week stint or apply to the summer schools as you could still make a grad scheme. Once you have the experience and a paper reference from it, you can start approaching agencies.

Start by finding out which agencies have just won large accounts and jump on them straight away (large wins are usually screamed about in Campaign and at BrandRepublic). What usually happens with a large account win is that the agency will start to organise moving key people off other accounts to front the new one, it’s pretty much all hands on deck - a perfect opportunity for a budding account assistant who rings the agency, tells them they are ready to go to work and help out where needed. Don’t be disappointed if the first few say ‘no thank you’, like all things it’s a trail and error process. If you really want it you’ll come across an agency that is looking.

Sign up with some recruitment agencies (eg. Pathfinders), Google for the ones who specialise in advertising/marketing and be prepared to go with an agency in digital, marketing services, DM as well as the large networks.
The point being is that just because you didn’t get into a grad recruitment scheme it doesn’t have to mean that advertising isn’t for you. It could have been a number of things that just were not in your favour on the day and how can a lifelong career be judged simply off an interview that lasted maybe 30 mins?
Well….it can’t so if you really want it go about making it yours through whatever means necessary!

And don't give up.

It's Nice to be Nice...

Football's 'Mr Nice Guy'

Or, 'Why being an arsehole gets you nowhere'.

Picture the scene. You've managed to get into the industry, at long long last. And (quite rightly), you are dead chuffed.

Now, there are usually two reactions to this. You either 1) Become very humble, yet confident about your place in the industry or 2) Start acting like a little Hitler, believing that other people who haven't gotten in are inferior, and that you somehow have a God given right to preach mantras at others.

It's pretty obvious that the latter is only practiced by toss pieces. And I'm sure whoever that's reading this is thinking 'oh no, I've never acted like that'. Rubbish. We all have our little Hitler moments, when the ego's a little overinflated. The trick is to keep them to a minimum, helped out by recognising that we don't, in fact, know everything, and advertising is, after all, just a career, one of many - no more right or wrong than anything else.

But (and the reason for this post), you, Mr or Ms potential grad recruit, you should never ever act like option two before you get into the business. No, no acting like you know it all from the outset. You really don't know why that ad isn't very good - and why would you? It could have been client conflict or some form of agency self interest.

Be a pleasant person. There was an agency grad form of a few years ago which had a question about 'being on a train with someone', and how you'd keep fellow agency folk interested. Well, I'm not prescribing being the most 'interesting' person in the world, because God knows, enough supposed trendier agencies will make the mistake of equating trendy with good at your job. No, you'll be interesting by being a nice guy or gal, and by talking about what you're interested in - whether it's the Norwegian Leather Industry or the Gold Standard, or your Skydiving at the weekends.

And, God knows, this industry is small enough. I'm meeting people who interviewed me a year or so ago now; it's a damned echo chamber. Chances are, you'll end up working with those people. So be nice. It's always worth it in the long run.

NB: Being nice doesn't mean being boring though - be engaging, for God's sake. You don't want to get to interview and just nod and smile without getting your interviewer/s to talk. That's the worst thing in the world.

You aren't the University you went to..

Books you'll never have to read again (maybe). Thanks to muppetspanker. Usual rules apply.

This is going to be a post that can be split in half, so bear with me.

Sparked by a debate on the Brand Republic forums, I thought I should have a stab at debating the 'Which University' topic here.

Right, first and foremost, I'll briefly explain my University background. I went to Exeter, a fairly good red brick University, and did English Literature, doing pretty well.

Like a good deal of grads, I'd wager, I thought that my marks at University and at A Level (coupled with my father's experiences) would automatically get me a plum job on the grad schemes. I got an interview with Leo Burnett, then systematically bugger all afterwards.

So, lesson one for potential grads - doing well at University does NOT mean you'll automatically get in to a massive agency, and live the life of milk and honey. No way. You need to prove your thinking, and get a little lucky (anyone can just not hit it off with their interviewer on the day).

Let's flip this around, and imagine you went to a University which did advertising as a course, or maybe business. You know (or you think you know) how the industry is run, what's going to happen, and again, think you deserve a passage in. That's also bollocks, and let me explain why.

Knowing the theory behind something doesn't mean you can actually do it. I'm sure there will be a lot of marketing/advertising/business grads, come December, having been rejected from each grad scheme, asking why...

Well, it's fairly simple - you need to be able to point to something (whether you chose a more traditional academic subject, or the more vocational subjects in the case of the latter) that proves you can actually DO the job. Work experience is nice, but even multiple work experience placements doesn't guarantee you can actually do the job - especially as work experience tends to be doing simple work, or being shown the glamourous side of things. To be honest, if someone had a lot of placements, I'd question why they hadn't gotten in yet - surely one of them would have hired that person?

Let's imagine a third scenario. You went to Oxford or Cambridge, and are in the nation's elite when it comes to intelligence at your chosen subject. From my experiences, you're pretty likely to make the first round cull, and get to an interview - in fact, much more likely than those who either went to a red brick or an ex-polytechnic, in my experience.

But then, you bugger up the interview, despite seeming to know this is what you want to do...it doesn't seem to make sense, does it?

Well, let's take all of this 'Which University did you go to' thinking and chalk up a few truisms (and a few warnings):

1) If you went to Oxford or Cambridge you are more likely to get through the process.

It doesn't seem fair to those who applied from non-Oxbridge outfits, but think about it...if you are a HR person or an agency person who has to divvy up thousands of applications, how'd you do it? By University? Well, probably not just that, but it'll surely be a factor (and why not - you want the best and brightest to help win you business).

2) Advertising or more vocational courses don't guarantee you interviews.

Of course they don't. Advertising has always been about variety - if I'm interviewing you, I want to know about your life outside of advertising, not just that you have a vague notion of what a brand key is or somesuch. They are useful to help you get over early hurdles and to help you have an idea that this is what you want to do - but, speaking personally, I know agency people who actively distrust them; they could, after all, lead to rigid, 'course based' ways of thinking about business or branding problems. That said, knowing the business (to a point) IS important.

3) Work experience and knowing about the business helps a lot.

It proves you are keen, regardless of University. But it doesn't negate your University experiences or course; it's just another tick in your favour, and proves you have begun to get your hands dirty. But it's not everything, oh no. People who have an idea about where the business is going, what they'd recommend for certain clients (and can back it up), those people have the aces in the hole, regardless of the work experience they may or may not have accrued.

Right, I hope that was helpful. Ultimately, the graduate recruitment process is a bit of a duck hunt - sometimes you get lucky, and lots of offers; but sometimes your face doesn't fit, or you have a bad interview, or circumstances change beyond your control, regardless of seeming to do everything right. It's not fair, but for God's sake, don't blame anything. Just pick yourself up, and keep trying. And no bitching about your University.

My Story...

Yes, I've always looked this confused, unfortunately (photo courtesy of Sam).

Right then, let's have a stab at this... ahem. So, my journey in Ad Land..

It could be argued that my journey into advertising happened from birth, to be honest. My father is a 'suit'. He's an account handler, and the MD of a Cheltenham agency (after stints at Cogent and as a marketing manager of Kays catalogue). I must hasten to add that he knows bugger all people in London, before cries of 'nepotism' are heard.

So I've always been aware of the wider ad world; he'd come home, complain about certain clients, and revel when a pitch went well. As someone who's always been interested in English (both reading and writing), I thought I'd become a copywriter when I grew up.

All of this was forgotten when I went to University to read English, right up until the second year. I then began to realise that perhaps a career as a self financing author wouldn't be that financially lucrative. So it was time to look around.

Having the world's crappest careers library, I took to the t'internet. As well as Advertising, I considered Publishing (not well paid enough, potentially very dull), Law (sign your life away for a £60k starting salary), Journalism (having to start at the very very bottom didn't really appeal) or Editing (snore).

So Advertising it was. I'm a bit lucky; because of my Dad, I was given access to Campaign each week. Visions of long lunches and massive accounts began to form in my mind - I was going to be an account handler, and a bloody good one.

I only applied to two schemes in 2005 (Grey and the WPP Fellowship) in my final year, preferring to concentrate on getting a good final mark - which, I'm happy to say, worked out. I was a bit put off by Grey's process; it was all about making a DVD of yourself, going to a party in London, and THEN make an ad. Seemed like a lot of work, but it was fun...sadly, I didn't get in. The WPP scheme, by contrast, seemed like a golden ticket, the Charlie & The Chocolate Factory of the ad world. Got to a first round interview there, but sadly no further...

Regardless, my appetite was whetted. I needed to find out some more. I thought to myself that I could do with some work experience - not being from London, I had no funds to get myself down, nor people to stay with. So I took a temp job at home to pay for my excursions - and did a bit of account handling/the odd competitive review at Fallon and DLKW. The advantage of all of this was that it helped me figure out just where I'd fit in..or at least gave me some idea.

At this point, I decided to write a blog, after reading Russell's, Noisy Decent Graphics (who later wrote a very nice post about me here) & Adliterate. I didn't have much to say, but I thought that it'd be a useful in showcasing how I thought, and how I'd be a useful addition to the agency world.

Come summer time, I was able to successfully get onto the Saatchi & Saatchi Summer Scholarship (after doing an online account management task or three, a phone interview and the infamous final task). All of that, plus my experiences beforehand, and my blog, convinced them to allow me on.

Sadly, I was a rubbish, rubbish account man. Working at SaatchiX, I basically found out that looking after the minutae of an account (at least as a junior) was really not for me - this wasn't the constant client meeting or strategising that my father did. No, it was very admininstrative, with what seemed like constant demands..and it really wasn't playing to my strengths.

Throughly chastened, I finished the scheme and buggered off back home to do some more temping, and some more thinking. Maybe Advertising wasn't for me? Well...after briefly reconsidering Law, and being abused by the locals at the local council, I came to a conclusion. What did I enjoy the most? Strategy. Helping work out business problems, and solving them. It was under my nose the whole time.

Yep, I was a planner. I tried to convince various agency grad schemes that was the case, but wasn't able to do it. However, various conversations with Richard Huntington at United (the writer of Adliterate) were occuring in the whole process, and I went up to London to meet him. We got on like a house on fire, and I was hired in March 2007 as a junior planner.

After some enjoyable months, the agency was touted as merging (after losing £75m worth of SKY business) with Grey. Sadly, we didn't, and selected staff members from United joined up with them. Still, it was enough for me to know I was a planner - I'd assisted on a lot of the agency's business, and was told I got on really well.

But it could have been back to square one...no, happily, it wasn't. I made a book of all my planning thinking and work (along with various brand positionings of my own), and went around various agencies, picking up some useful advice, and some freelance positions.

And here I am today, freelancing and writing this blog and 'Confessions of a Wannabe Ad Man'. Phew, I hope that was useful for someone...