Graduate Jobs in Advertising
So I’m on the train, heading to an interview at a large advertising company. Chesney Hawkes’s I am the One and Only is playing on my i-pod, and I’m wearing my lucky red socks. I’ve applied for loads of jobs since finishing university and have had several interviews, which are like glowing carrots in the sticky wilderness of graduate job hunting. My lecturers told me that jobs are scarce and competition is fierce, so I was half expecting to be clad in armour and sent into a gladiator style death match when I reached interview. Actually, a search on relevant job sites yields loads of graduate jobs in advertising and every interview is a learning opportunity. It’s just a question of making yourself stand out from the crowd.
I’m not going for the Advertising Accounts Executive position (although in the future, who knows). No, I long to be part of the creative process and have been honing my skills as a copywriter. A lot of people think this is something to do with the little ‘c’ you find next to logos, but it’s not, it’s a lot more interesting. Copywriting is the actual writing of things like advertorial slogans, text and dialogue scripts. Along with graphic designers, they make up the wing known as ‘creative advertising’.
Having graduated with a degree in creative advertising, I’m hoping my chances are high. It’s not essential to have a related degree, but it has helped me to understand the industry and build up a specialist skill set. In the end it depends a lot on your actual talent and experience. I’ve consequently been building up a varied portfolio and making sure I have loads of work experience on my CV.
I’ve also been developing my CV with each job I’ve applied for. Every version has been tailored to a specific job based on the person specification they sent me. I’ve become more comfortable with selling myself- if you want to create strong brands for other things then you need to be able to do the same for yourself. Be the luxury Belgian truffle selection, not the barrel of broken biscuits.
I’ve also made sure that I’ve read up on the company and know a bit about their history, just so that I can drop some insightful comments in and don’t sound like I’ve wandered in to the wrong office. Past interviews have increased my ability to talk confidently about my work and experiences. The same questions come up at different firms.
If you’re interested in getting into advertising yourself but aren’t into the creative aspects, then there are a number of other positions which require different skills. Marketing, brand management and PR are all important aspects of advertising. Jobs like ‘assistant brand manager’ are perfect for graduates, and a lot of advertising firms have a few specific graduate positions. Search and apply early for these so as not to be disappointed.
