February – 2009 – Junior - Celebrating life at the bottom

Monthly Archives: February 2009

The Dear Junior Series // 03

simon

Getting a job. For some people it’s the most exciting thing in the world. The thrill of the chase! Picking your favourite studio, agency, magazine, firm, whatever of your choice and banging down their door until they give you a desk and some pens. For others, its a scary, dangerous and intimidating journey. The interviews, the phone calls, the waiting, the pain! Well, we hear you friends. So we’ve asked someone who actually does the hiring for a little bit of inside info on what to say. That someone is Simon Hakim, the Managing Director and all-round forward thinking guy at The Surgery (http://www NULL.thesurgery NULL.com NULL.au).

Junior: There are many juniors out in the world desperately trying to get a job right now, but having no luck. From the many years of hiring people, especially juniors, what advice do you have to help them finally land a job?

Simon: Basically, people should approach a prospective job and its company with some kind of plan.

I’ve been to lots of meetings of late with young and senior folk wanting a job in advertising and/or with The Surgery. After all the coffee, beer and talking, there seems to be one inherent theme that constantly worries me.

Yes we know you want a job.
Yes we know you want a job in advertising as a suit, creative, public relations person or as a digital person.
Yes we know you are qualified, have experience and think you’d be perfect for a role with The Surgery.
Yes we know you’ve done this before. Or haven’t done this before but think you’d be good at it.

But by the sounds of it all, you just want a job. You don’t really know why, other than you’d be good at whatever it is you are applying for. You just really want to work there or you kinda just need the money.

I won’t employ someone who doesn’t really know what they want or can offer me or my clients.

I want someone saying:

“You guys could soon be the hottest creative agency, but your work can be improved, and I’ll show you how to get there” or;

“I want to be creative director in five years time” or;

“Here are three ideas for three clients you have and this is why I think it would work and what the benefit to them would be. When can we present?”

Be proactive. Understand what you want and where you are going. Have a plan. Be creative and come up with ideas that benefit the agency or their clients. Give them a reason to employ you.

ADVERTISING, DEAR JUNIOR | Tags: COMMITMENT, DEAR JUNIOR, HUNGER, JOB HUNTING, RECESSION, SUCCESS

The Monday Morning WHIP // 17

whip17

What do you want from your career? Is it success? Recognition? Just to be ‘good’ at what you do? It’s an important question to ask. This week, Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com/) suggests that if you pick anything, pick being ‘great’ and pick it soon. Or else you’ll be older one day, and the only question you’ll ask is why you didn’t meet your own expectations.

As a youngster Aaron Fiora was a prodigious football talent, picked up in the first round of the AFL draft by Richmond.
His then coach Danny Frawley told him that with his natural talent he could easily play 150 games in his AFL career.

Frawley also said that if Fiora applied himself to become more than just a good player he could end up playing over 200 games.

Sadly like many talented young people, Fiora believed his own hype, and settled for being a good player.
But in football, as in any endeavour, good is the enemy of great.

So Fiora ended up being traded from Richmond to St Kilda. For a youngster not playing to his best, this should have been a wake up call. It wasn’t.

Thanks to his natural talent and abilities Aaron Fiora managed to notch up 140 games of football before being sacked by St Kilda.

He still had a year left on his contract and was just 27 years old.

Fiora didn’t make it to the 150 game mark. He never played in a Grand Final. He never made All Australian.
His talent got him so far. But it never took him to the top. Only persistence, passion and hard work can do that.

ADVERTISING, WHIP | Tags: FOOTBALL METAPHOR, SUCCESS

The Interview Series // 08

tomj

We’ve had a bunch of friends who just want to ‘go overseas and work’. It seems to be the holy grail of any creative graduate. You know, the thing that will mean once and for all, ‘you’ve made it’. But there are naysayers amongst us! People like parents and disgruntled seniors who never got to ‘live the dream’. Damn them to hell. But fear not young wayfarers! We found someone who said a solid ‘f**k you’ to all the naysaying wanabees and flew the coop to New York! Tom Jackson (http://www NULL.tomwritesgood NULL.com) now works as a copywriter at Hill Holiday, writing ads for AOL, Partnership for a Drugfree America and Dunkin’ friggin Donuts! He’s also just a really funny and clever guy. And who better than a funny and clever guy to fill us in on the ins and outs of coop flying and living the dream in the big apple.

Junior: Hello Tom! What are you up to at the moment? Writing funny ads and stuff?

Tom: I’m trying to write funny ads, but am distracted by this National Geographic Video Podcast called ‘Dangerous Encounters’. This over enthusiastic American in Khakis seems to spend every episode crawling recklessly through Crocodile lairs and Python caves, always so shocked when a pissed off animal attacks him. Did he learn nothing from Steve Irwin? But as soon as that is done, right back to ad making, I promise.

Jr: You’re in New York and you’re from Melbourne. Wtf? Fill in the blanks.

T: Well, I was working really hard at Cummins and Partners in Melbourne with my partner Tian. We got to work on some great clients and do some really good work. It was a really supportive environment and lots of fun, but I was busting my butt and getting exhausted. So I figured, why not bust my butt and get exhausted, but be in a big fun city like New York? So I saved some money, quit my job and hopped a jet over here.

In retrospect I probably should have got a job before I left, because it took me a few months to land one, once I arrived. But in a way this was probably a good thing, because it gave me a chance to unwind and reignite my hunger for work again. Plus I got to spend a summer in New York with lots of savings and time on my hands (something I recommend everyone do at least once in their life.)

Jr: Isn’t New York the centre of some serious global economic shit right now? That can’t be good.

T: Yes it’s a big weight dragging everyone down and I’m sick of hearing about it. ‘We get it CNN, the financial world is collapsing all around us, and Kevin Bacon’s broke! Now tell me something positive for fucks sake!?%^&?%^!

Jr: We saw David Byrne (http://www NULL.davidbyrne NULL.com/) last night. He’s amazing. We read somewhere that he rides bicycles around NYC. Ever seen him pass you on your morning bagel run?

T: If I ate an American bagel every morning I’d be larger than the Octuplet mum before she gave birth! And no I haven’t seen David Byrne. I did however see Terry Richardson (http://www NULL.terryrichardson NULL.com/) riding past the Patricia Field’s store on Bowery last summer. And like all true hipster dufusses, who seem to value looking sharp over their cognitive motor skills and ability to eat dinner without the assistance of a Ukrainian hospice nurse, he wasn’t wearing a helmet*.

*Please see helmets for hipsters (http://helmetsforhipsters NULL.blogspot NULL.com/) for more information.

Jr: Enough NY questions, let’s do the life changing stuff. So we’ve had this ongoing question raging for a little while here at Junior. It’s called the ‘grass is greener’ question, and it’s like this crazy banana peel of a question that gets answered differently by different people. Can you be the one to solve the banana peel mystery? Are you ready?

T: Yes, I am ready. Hit me with your best banana and banana peel related questions.

Jr: Is the grass greener for a creative in New York!? Or is it like being in Melbourne but with better galleries?

T: Well here’s the thing. It depends what you want out of life. If I really wanted the greenest grass as an ad creative I would have moved to Colorado and tried to get a job at Crispin (http://cpbgroup NULL.com/). Or I would have moved to London where the work, in general, is better than in the US. But I didn’t come here just for advertising. I also came here cos it’s a kick ass city and to find more opportunities as a writer. New York is such a mecca for so many creative industries that the opportunities for both advertising, and also writing work outside of advertising, are greater than I could find at home or really anywhere else.

Jr: Emma Hill told us, “don’t fall for the jobs that are easier to get in the bigger kinds of places. It will be much harder to get into Saatchi’s than McCann New York for example.” What do you think about this statement?

T: It’s totally true, but if you need a job to get you set up and pay the bills don’t be afraid to take it. That been said try your hardest not to settle for the worst/first thing available, as tough as that may be. It’s not that hard to get a job at McCann but it is hard to get a job after working at McCann.

Jr: Any final tips on planning for an overseas work jaunt? What are the things you forgot to do that you wish you had done?

T: Do everything you can to get work before you leave. It’s hard because you kind of have to be there to see people and get all up in their bizness, but just try and do everything possible from home.

Then once you’re there, hit the ground running and get to work.Use every contact you have, harass every person you know. Be as relentless as you possibly can. Call your recruiters everyday and annoy them so they don’t have a second to forget who you are. And finally when you have done everything that is humanly possible, let it go. I would always make sure that I spent half my day looking for a job and the other half seeing part of the city. The amount of top 10 lists I went through… I think I ate at every one of the ‘Top 10 Breakfast Spots in New York’ (number 1- Egg in Williamsburg- not so great). The point is you’re in an awesome city; so don’t forget to enjoy it.

ADVERTISING, THE INTERVIEW SERIES, WRITING | Tags: NEW YORK, OVERSEAS, THE INTERVIEW SERIES, TRAVEL

Monday Morning WHIP // 16

whip16

It’s that time of year again kiddies. School time. Which is all fun and drinking for some but don’t be fooled. Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com/) has a sobering thought to remind you what you’re in for.

Great news kids. The AWARD School (http://www NULL.awardschoolonline NULL.com/) has just announced the names of the 180 successful applicants for 2009.

If you’re one of them, congratulations. It’s never easy to get into AWARD School.

On a more sober note, consider this: There will soon be another 180 talented young creative people out there looking for a job.

Which means 180 more competitors for the handful of jobs that arise in the advertising and communications industry every year.

So if you think it’s tough now, it’s not going to get any easier. Sorry.

ADVERTISING, WHIP | Tags: AWARD SCHOOL, JOB HUNTING, WHIP

Dear Junior Series // 02

mail

Animators! They’re a crazy bunch. Sittin’ by their computers all day manipulating dimensions and shit. What a life. Bah! If you can get it that is. Well that’s exactly what our friend Cam Gough (http://dirtypuppet NULL.com/) did. He left his secure job at a studio to pursue his dream of working for himself. At only 25. What a legend. So this week, we ask Cam why the hell you would take the plunge, and ask for some tips for when (or if) we do.

Junior: Everyone wants to quit their job and work for themselves, no matter if they’re into photography, film, animation, design, writing… Hell, whatever. What’s your story? Why did you do it and was the transition as smooth as you would have liked?

Cam: I was reasonably satisfied with the job that I had, but I was craving more. I had always taken on freelance and independent projects outside of work hours, but found myself enjoying freelance a whole lot more than my daytime work. After gaining enough experience in a studio, and with my roster of freelance work slowly expanding, I felt that I was at the stage where the jobs that were once just small side projects could fuel a career in themselves. I knew there would be a market for what I do.

When working as part of a Animation Production team, you often have a task, or certain tasks to complete, and your work is then passed onto the next person who has their role and so on. I felt that the working process was sometimes a little convoluted, and managing the pipeline became too much of a task in itself, and like most people in the creative industry, I had a desire to work on the most creative and satisfying work possible. So it was time to move on.

I had two options, attempt to move on to a different creative studio, or start my own. I figured that if I tried to start my own, as long as there were low start-up costs involved, worst case scenario was that I would be exactly where I was anyway – with a folio and experience, looking for work at a different studio – so why not give it a shot. I had confidence that the quality of work I could produce and facilitate had a place in the industry and the strong passion for what I do would make working hard at it, well, easy.

It’s been just over a year now, and I can’t really imagine working for someone else. Things kind of fell into my lap one after another with the few contacts I had made, but the most fortunate thing was probably having other friends in the industry who were in a similar place. They were great to bounce ideas off, gave me advice on working for myself, shared studio space and pushed me creatively. I think I’ve been pretty lucky in how smooth the transition has been and I’m very appreciative of it.

Jr: Can you give us ten key points to consider before any one of us was to quit our job and go it on our own?

C: Here we go…

01 – Love your work, be passionate about it, don’t turn your passion into a ‘job’
02 – Constantly push yourself, there are lots of people trying to do what you want to do
03 – Don’t ever burn your bridges, contacts are everything
04 – Have a backup plan
05 – Only promote the sort of work you want to attract
06 – Don’t sacrifice quality of your work regardless how big or small the job
07 – Quality work should always shine through in the end, the right people will recognize it
08 – Find a good balance between jobs that are good for your reel and jobs that are good for money
09 – Don’t over commit to a job that you may not be able to do
10 – Don’t sell yourself short

Have a look at Cam (http://dirtypuppet NULL.com/)’s reel below. It’s reely amazing. Shit. Did we just say that? Losers.

ANIMATION, DEAR JUNIOR | Tags: ANIMATION, DEAR JUNIOR, FREELANCE, STUDIO, TIPS

The Monday Morning WHIP // 15

whip152

When we started Junior, we asked our mentor Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com/) to write a weekly column. It was to be called ‘the Monday Morning WHIP’, and was intended to be a royal kick in the arse every week for juniors everywhere. We asked him because it’s what he does well. We know he does it well because he does it to us. Constantly. We never question him, but some do. So this week, Stan responds to his critics.

Seems there’s a few kids out there who think I don’t know what I’m talking about. Reckon I’m too tough on you all. Reckon you don’t need talent, passion and persistence to get a job. Reckon you don’t need to be as good as Bernbach (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/William_Bernbach) to get a job.

So rather than reading what I have to say, how ‘bout I take a few choice words of advice from some of the employed people that the kids from Junior have interviewed?

“Make sure every piece of work you do is solid gold, no matter what it’s for. The amount of young creatives who just don’t put the effort into learning about the job they’re applying for is astounding.”

Penny Modra – Three Thousand

“Patience is something that you really have to learn when you start at the bottom. I did pretty well at college but when I got to London, I got absolutely nowhere. It’s a bit of a blow to how good you think you could be.”

Marcus Johnston – Droga5

“A junior’s behavior will also get them noticed. Be polite with everyone you encounter. You’re a junior advertising creative, not an egocentric A-List celebrity. Be an arrogant shit and no-one will want to work with you.”

Craig Lovelidge – Creative Director

“It took me five years to get into creative. No amount of Sherbies in a box is going to make a shit book good. If you’re idea is a bit gimmicky, you come across as a gimmicky creative. Rather than a genuine, intelligent one.”

Emma Hill – Clemenger BBDO

“Build a brilliant book with diverse ideas across all channels, focus on digital, be easy to work with, understand how businesses work, get a great mentor, learn from those above you.”

Todd Sampson – Leo Burnett

ADVERTISING, DESIGN, WHIP, WRITING | Tags: STAN, WHIP

Dear Junior Series // 01

todd

New Series! Woooo! We’re calling it ‘Dear Junior’. It’s where we ask a prominent industry senior the questions of our audience. In this our very first, we’re kicking proceedings off by asking the burning question every junior wants answered – what will this recession mean for us? You may have seen him on the ABC’s Gruen Transfer (http://www NULL.abc NULL.net NULL.au/tv/gruentransfer/), and when he’s not talking shop with Wil Anderson (http://www NULL.wilanderson NULL.com NULL.au), he’s busy being the CEO of Leo Burnett (http://www NULL.leoburnett NULL.com/), Sydney. Thankfully, Todd Sampson sets us straight on doom, gloom and when to have children.

Junior: As Gen-Y juniors, we’re yet to experience any kind of recession. With this one set to be one of the worst, what can juniors looking for jobs expect? Is it all doom and gloom?

Todd: ‘Junior’ is an odd term because it is not necessarily related to time in the industry or your age. Some of our youngest and least experienced people have created our best ideas. It is certainly not a time of doom and gloom – in fact for the creative industries it can be just the opposite. Now more than ever there is a need for smarter thinking and creativity in business – it may now really be the last way to get a competitive advantage. Will it be harder for young people entering the industry? Yes, but good people are always in demand. In fact, they are particularly in demand in this market because they are the ones that will help pull us out of our issues.

Jr: What about those with jobs already?

T: They should continue to make themselves indispensable through work ethic and ideas. One of the advantages of being at the lower end of the salary scale is that you are generally not the first to be considered for retrenchments. If a company is being forced to reduce the costs in the salary line they will look at the top level first because they can save more money by losing less people – this ultimately means less disruption to the business. Hardworking, dedicated and smart young creatives are the heart of our business.

Jr:How can they keep their job, or if they’re getting itchy feet, is it a bad time to move on or up?

T: If you are good and have options then go for it. If you feel you are not being appreciated and you are not developing well enough then maybe it is time to move. Leaving without a job in this market is stupid, leaving with one is still risky. One of the biggest challenges in managing Gen-Y is this inherent sense of entitlement and the lack of desire to earn their way. This recession will be a good thing for this generation because it will not only give them a very low interest rate (3%) it may also force them to settle down and earn their way. While experience is not a predictor of success in this business – it is still important.

Some final advice from Todd:

I am not big on dishing out advice, but for what it is worth here are some thoughts:

Build a brilliant book with diverse ideas across all channels, focus on digital, be easy to work with, understand how businesses work, get a great mentor, learn from those above you and your mistakes, maintain work life balance, slow down, PR yourself and your work, learn to present brilliantly, focus on the opportunity not the money, don’t move around a lot and have children early. Good luck.

If you have a burning question you want answered, send us a witty and interesting email to wtf@lifeatthebottom.com (wtf@lifeatthebottom.com).

ADVERTISING, DEAR JUNIOR, WRITING | Tags: BUSINESS, GLOOM, JOB HUNTING, RECESSION, TODD SAMPSON

The Monday Morning WHIP // 14

whip14

Are you shy? Would you consider yourself a quiet person? Do you sometimes think no one hears you? Yeah, it sucks doesn’t it. We know a ton of people like this. But generally it’s not because they don’t speak up, or don’t make sense, but because they don’t have a solid opinion. This week, Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com/) has a story that shows it pays to speak your mind.

Aside from talent, one of the things you need to become a great creative is an opinion. Yes an opinion.

It’s a sure fire way to get noticed.

Many years ago I wrote a letter to a senior creative at JWT about a Ford ad that I thought I could have done better.

Suffice to say I was very excited when I got a call from the agency to come in for a chat.

The chat turned out to be anything but.

It was more of a what the hell would you know lecture. Not what I was expecting, let me tell you.

Even less expected however, was the call I got from a creative director at JWT several months later, offering me a job.

Seems the guy who’d balled me out had passed on my name as someone to watch. “An over opinionated, precocious talent” is how he’d described me.

Which I’d say is far better than being a talented bore.

ADVERTISING, WHIP | Tags: OPINION, WHIP

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