Rejection's A Bastard..

Great illustration. Via AnnieMatronic. Usual rules apply.

...but it really, really doesn't matter.

By now, the acceptances and rejections will be coming thick and fast. Some will have gotten to a first round interview in the places they really wanted to. Others won't have been so lucky, and will be wondering why, and what they could've done differently.

This post is trying to help people make sense of rejection.

Firstly, as we've tried to say, a lot of agencies don't do graduate recruitment very well; there an awful lot of agency staffers roped into it. But then, don't expect wonders - agencies aren't PWC or Deloitte, they don't have whole teams plotting and planning your psychographic profile. They're human, they make mistakes. I'm sure there were thousands of applications, and maybe you misspelled something. Who knows?

Secondly...my advice is just don't worry about it. Here's a little story for you. When I first came out of University, being a lazy arse who didn't think to apply for any grad schemes in his final year, I noticed them all opening. I thought that i'd better think a little and try to get on with it.

Starting to be a little more fastidious, I blanketed them all. My first application was a success, and I started to think that this advertising application lark was pretty straightforward. Not so.

I then got rejected (without any real explanation, to be honest) from the rest. And I didn't get any further than a first rounder with the one interview I got. Bollocks.

I set about getting a spot of work experience - working at home in the Midlands to afford to come to London to do some ad agency bits and pieces. I then reapplied the following year, getting to every first rounder (work experience does make a difference). Got through to a few second round days as well, but didn't get on any schemes.

Well, bugger that. Kept blogging, kept coming down to London to meet people and eventually got hired as a baby planner by United London.

Which then went bust. You could say rejection was a bit of a bastard by this stage. There's nothing quite like being told your agency is going to close a few months into the job. Happily, I was able to find some freelance and then my current job. Which, amusingly, had rejected me when I was a grad without explaining why.

So honestly - don't take it personally. Retrenchment, grad rejection - they are part and parcel of the industry. It's very competitive, and I hope Ad Grads can help people get in without all of the faff I went through.

But if you have to go through it as well...don't worry. It's just another way in.

I Got Some Bad News..

Even though you know it's bound to happen, it still stings..

9:25am Friday morning, and the email account I've reserved for all things application-flavored gives the little squeaky sound effect. You got mail. I open up the mail and it's the first rejection of the year from McCann. And despite the fact that I knew this was definitely going to happen with some of my applications, I felt miserable.

But the 'thanks but no thanks' message will no doubt be given to the grand majority of us applying at some point, and the best thing is to pick yourself up and get back to it. I'm a big fan of the groups on Facebook that allow us to let everyone know who's heard what from where. Yeah it's not going to change any decisions that are made, but it's easier to take waiting when you know others are waiting.

I really believe we're all in this together, it's not easy to get into advertising and I really believe that everyone who wants it enough will get in. I don't see the point and think it's so petty to sit in a corner and not share what's happening with others. If you're confident in yourself (which we all should be) then telling someone who's got an interview a day after yours what the format was isn't a big deal. One thing that's very noticeable is that people in advertising are very open to giving out advice and sharing experiences with others, our star stories are a testament to that. And all us applicants are by and large, sharing our experiences with forms and interviews, which I think is awesome.

I realise that this post has turned into a bit of a rant, because of a message I got from someone who asked what was the point in telling people about what format my RKCR interview took. Rather than send a sarcasm-laden message back to that person about how they needed to grow up, it's all come out here. I hope it kinda makes sense.

Your Greatest Weapon

My rejection letter from Saatchis.

Right. I'm totally wired right now and Firefox just crashed so I've lost what I wrote. So as I try to remember what it was that got me to write something in the first place I'll apologize because this post might make less sense than usual.

Your greatest weapon in trying to break into this industry is people telling you that you can't. It's that simple. So you can quit reading this now. Still here? Well then I better tell you a story about how I got to this conclusion.

Earlier this summer I applied for the Saatchi summer scheme. I had a totally rockingly awesome idea for the application. Note how I didn't say 'I think I had' because I know my idea was awesome. Like feel-it-in-my-bones-at-4am-even-though-I'm-totally-tired-and-wired-and-I'm-writing-this-for-the-second-time know. The sob story is here and here, but what I'm trying to tell you is that when I got the letter in the picture above I was pretty much devastated. Like I'd been kicked in the gut. By a horse. But it was the best thing that's happened to me. Honestly. Failure and rejection makes you question yourself. And the one thing most people (and I'm talking about in general here) lack is a true measure of what they're about.

Failure makes you look in the damn mirror and ask yourself 'Am I really, positively sure this is what I want to do?'. Agencies will often ask, in their application forms for a lot of effort from you. And you'll get the standard letter with your name and address mail-merged in if they don't like what you do. It's pretty soul-destroying at first. But what you need to do when it happens - and chances are it will happen to each and every one of us at some point on this graduate recruitment trail, is really use it as opportunity to re-focus. Think about why you want to do this. Why you're choosing to pursue a career in advertising. It won't be the money at this stage, no chance. Not the hours either. But each and everyone of us has a reason they want to do this. Find that reason and harness it. And use that rejection to make you a little more determined.

The people that apply to grad recruitment schemes are by and large, shit. Sorry but they are, agency staff will tell you and Campaign will tell you. That's why you'll see mostly the same faces doing the rounds come interview time. It's the truth, ask Anton and Will and JB. The people who really want careers in this industry are the ones who get them ultimately. Not the people who think having champagne for lunch in Cannes is a career because (and write this down) it's not what advertising is about now, in 2007. You might have champagne for lunch in Cannes but only after having busted your ass to get into an agency and then busted it some more to convince finance and your boss that you're worthy of blowing some cash on.

The ad industry in 2007 is, in some agencies still fighting the future and in all cases trying to figure out how to grab the attention of the person on the street in this maze of communication that is modern life. You have to want to be there.

Ultimately experience, degree subject and a thousand other things are just branches of the 'applicant desirability' tree, the trunk of that baby is desire. You have to want it. And if you do, then that pile of rejection letters will become your muse, it will drive you on. And you'll feel like writing a reply to every single one, saying 'Thank you, you've made me realize how much I want a job in this industry, how good I am going to be, and how wrong you are for not taking me on because I don't tick your boxes. Thank you'

Grad season is about to begin. When you get those rejection letters remember why you want a career in advertising. And remember, all it takes is one agency to say yes, and it won't matter how many letters you had telling you that you weren't good enough, because you'll have proved them all wrong.