7 Scenarios of Highly Successful Ad Students
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Transcript of 7 Scenarios of Highly Successful Ad Students
Frank Blossom Diane Teall“You want a template for an ad career, you got a template. So what are you waiting for?”
Powerful Personal Game Plans for Landing the Big One
HIGHLYSCENARIOS OFTHE
SUCCESSFULAD STUDENTS
Frank teaches advertising at Grand Valley State University, runs The Polishing Center, orchestrates The Yardsticks Sessions each October, suffers with the Chicago Cubs each summer, runs Frank Communications, and serves as a Creativity Coach for businesses and organizations. In his spare time (What’s that?) he walks his dog, Stella.
FRANK BLOSSOM
Diane is a Grand Valley graduate and Virginia transplant currently residing in the Western Mitten. She is a self-taught artist (Aren’t we all?), graphic designer and cookie connoisseur with a passion for creative and good advertising. This foodie also loves tastefully bedazzled clothes, Italia, and her boxers Rupert and Stanley.
diane teall
So you want to get a job in
ADVERTISING?
ell, getting an ad job is hard. Heck, it’s tough to even get an interview these days.
It’s a job to get a job. So work it. Employers are just as interested, maybe more, in what you did outside the classroom as in the
classroom. The reality is that grade points and diplomas are table stakes. They get you in the game. They are important. But it’s what you do in addition to classes that set you apart from the other 500 advertising and PR majors at GVSU. Yep, 500, plus the students from Hope, Calvin, Aquinas, Western, Ferris, Central, State… you get the picture.
Why do employers, HR managers, and execs (the people who can hire you) care about your non-academic stuff? Ad people are passionate about the business and their companies. Most will tell you it doesn’t feel like work. They love it. The business is hard work, but it’s energetic, exciting, and a lot of fun. And those ad folks are passionate and very committed to their companies and they are looking for signs that you are also passionate and committed.
WWIt’s the real work, and related activities
on your resume that moves it from the bottom to the top of the pile, ahead of the 150 other students hungry for that job.
What you do outside the classroom shows your drive, your commitment and determination to be a great ad person. Past behavior is the best indication of future behavior. So where do you start? Turn the page and you’ll get a glimpse of seven successful scenarios; seven GVSU grads who, 30 days after picking up their diplomas, were picking up paychecks in good advertising jobs at great agencies. See what they did – the internships, part time and full time jobs, activities, projects, associations and clubs, to set themselves apart. Read up and wise up. Some started preparing in their sophomore years; a few late bloomers began in their senior year. All of them realized they needed to do more to prepare, to prove to employers that they were ready for advertising. And it worked. They are all working at great agencies, getting noticed and getting even more job offers. So check them out. See what you can learn from their success. Get smarter. Put your plan together. Get started.
“During my sophomore year I realized that I wanted to major in Advertising and Public Relations and that I needed to get involved. I joined the advertising club and things catapulted from there. I became heavily involved in Ad Club - helping with projects, volunteering, meeting up for events, The Yardsticks, AAF West Michigan, PRSSA - I really dove in head first.”
When you decide to get into advertising,
“go big stay in bed.”
or
0101JOSIE G.
“Use social media, show
you’re active. Wieden+Kennedy
searched me through my profile
on LinkedIn and recruited me.”
JOBSJOBS
Activities
&STUDENT SENATE, PR COMMITTEE
THE YARDSTICKS, MARKETING COMMITTEE
I n t e r n s h i p sGVSU HEAlTH WEllNESS MARKET ING
SPECTRUM HEAlTHREAGAN MARKET ING
AD AGENCYSTARTED OWNAD AGENCY
IN COLLEGEReagan
marketing
CURRENTJOB
CampbellEwald
projectmanager
@
Reaganmarketing
social mediastrategiest
@
CampbellEwald
ACOMMUNITY MANAGERWIEDEN + KENNEDY
“I applied to internships across the country, over 100 in all, to no avail. In hindsight, this was a huge mistake. I should have selected the 10 or 15 places I'd kill to work for and then created a plan to stand out in their eyes.”
(not just people who want to be in advertising)
companies want to hirePEOPlE WhO WAnT TO WORk FOR ThEM
22 A n G E l A A .
jobsServer @ B.O.B.
GVSU Campus Dining
Marketing Coordinator@ Home Healthcare
THEN
NOWFREELANCE ART DIRECTORSaatchi&Saatchi
{} GVSU Men’S LacroSSe
GVSU FiSh LadderUnited Way
Ad Internships
A AActivitiesActivitiesGVSU AD ClUb
NSAC
THE YARDST ICKS
THE POl ISHING CENTER
“Network with coworkers, guest speakers, interviewers, at events - everywhere; you never know who you will meet and who
they know. Be creative and use your resources. Make them work for you. Check
out the S.O.C. Bulletin Board, even there I found several opportunities that
definitely paid off. From experience, it’s not just what you know, or who you know,
but who knows you.”
“I wasn’t really sure about what direction in advertising I wanted to take, so I started looking into internships. I went to a GVSU internship seminar that taught me how to search for internships in the Grand Valley and West Michigan network. I came across a non-profit that I applied for and, for whatever reason, the director liked me (with the little experience that I had) and I got the internship!”
FREELANCE WRITER @
&G R A N D R A P I D S P R E S SO N T H E T O W N
jobs
AD2 AAFAD CLUB
She registered with a temp agency and picked up marketing assistant jobs all through college.
Internship
WRITER: Big Idea MagazineA Communication Arts trade
publication covering Twin Cities, Detroit, and Chicago
Activities
I got my first job by being flexible. I was a copywriter/traffic manager/office supply organizer and,
eventually, a full-time copywriter.
33COPYWRITER
GREY MATTER GROUPMASTERS PROGRAM
SAVANNAH COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN
Current
“
n I CO l E C .
”
1st Advertising Job
“I had several colleagues critique my resume and I went to several resume-building events. Networking was key in my success at GVSU. People I met introduced me to new opportunities, but it was up to me to follow up and earn them.”
A n D R E W R . 44INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGY ANALYST
AGENT Xn o wn o wA
AD2
The Yardsticks
Polishing Center
Freelance Photographer
internship
“I SEO’d my web site content to raise my search position. I
networked with ad industry leaders through Twitter
and LinkedIn.”
nominated for
30U N D E R
PEOPlE TO WATCH IN
WESTMICHIGAN30
STEKETEE GRIENER & CO.
Activities
“After I decided to pursue the creative side of advertising, I did everything in my power to catch up. I read books like Hey Whipple Squeeze This, attended seminars through the West Michigan Ad Club, entered competitions like
The Yardsticks, ADDY Awards and CMYK’s creative contest and enrolled in programs like The Polishing Center to build a portfolio. Then, as I graduated, I realized that my journey had just begun.”
55M I k E R .
ACTIVITIES
RARESIDENCE ASSISTANT
POLISHING CENTER
SPOTLIGHT PRODUCTIONS
> music committee
ORIENTATION AMBASSADOR
GVSU
Student Senate
Produced videos for:Student Life
History Dept. Career Counseling
Study Abroad Office INTERNSHIPSAdSuparama Supa Monkey (London)
Williams Group
Hanon McKendry
GRTV
Triangle Productions
G E T I N T H E R E A N D G E T D I R T Ycollege is the time to find out what you hate and what you love.
J O B S
(Freelance)
FILM/VIDEO PRODUCTION
dance hall craze
productions
english teacher
(Thailand)
Writer
(TV station)
(Freelance)
copywriting
A Current ACurrentCREATIVE DIRECTOR
17 TRIGGERS (BANGKOK, THAILAND)
COPYWRITER PHIBIOUS.COM, (CAMBODIA/VIETNAM)
Advertising Job1st
“”
6“When I was 12, I had an interview for a middle school program. To prepare for it, my dad coached me. He asked me common interview questions and gave me lots of encouragement. But here’s the twist: We did the practice interviews while playing Ping-Pong. This forced me out of being rigid. I had no time to think of the correct script! It pushed me to speak naturally. It really made interviewing fun. And it taught me how to make an interview more of a conversation and less of a one-way exchange.”
66 J U l I E k .
JOBSad jobs current
AD ASSISTANT @ TIGER STUDIOASSISTANT PAID SEARCH MEDIA
PlANNER @ TEAM DETROIT
“Get really involved in clubs, associations, try out a number of
internships and network.”
ASSOCIATE PAID SEARCH STRATEGIST@ MORPHEUS MEDIA, (NYC)
AD INTERNSHIPS
ACTIVITIESGVSU AD ClUb
PRSSA
THE YARDSTICKS MARKETING TEAM
AAF, PRSSA NATIONAl CONFERENCES
GVSU INTERNSHIP SEMINARS
West Michigan Trails & Greenways
Stevens Advertising
WGVU TV & Radio
“The knowledge you gain in the classroom is far inferior to that which is gained in an agency; however, once you’re inside an agency, you realize you will be a student for the rest of your life. In that regard, be sure to keep learning, reading not just trade publications but also any other area of interest.”
Notes
7A J M .7I N T E R N S H I P
(DEVElOPMENT)GVSU Student Housing
Activities
JOBSFREELANCE
COPYWRITER
golf club fitting
technician
@
galaxy golf
sales
@
whittaker
associates
research
The Yardsticks
NSAC
GVSU Ad Club
Addy Awards
GVSU AMA - V.P.
Polishing Center
CMYK Creative Competition
AAF - West Michigan Seminars
COPYWRITERCRISPIN, PORTER + BOGUSKY
C U R R E N T
“I interned, making thousands of cold calls for
marketing research, so I got comfortable communicating with
people who wanted nothing to do with what I had to say. It wasn’t directly related, but it’s all had an enormous impact on how I craft
my creative today.”
1 s t A D V E R T I S I N G J O B
COPYWRITERTEAM DETROIT
“The hiring process from Team Detroit was an interesting one. I had reached out to Team Detroit SEVERAL times my senior year of high school and got no response. The HR representative, who contacted me about the position that I have today, went back and retrieved all the emails that I sent her and said she was impressed with my determination and diligence. MY hARD WORk hAD PAID OFF!”
“I had a good answer for the question,
‘What’s going on in social media.’”
“I met the AD AGENCY RECRUITER who hired me when she came to GVSU. look for those opportunities to start
relationships.”
{
{
“The HR person said she liked my experience abroad as well as my portfolio that came with it. One thing that stuck out to her was the fact I was a Black Belt in karate. Oh yes, and
“I think Team Detroit hired me because I had experience in what they were looking for (Social Media from my previous internships). They were also very impressed with how highly involved and active I was in school and for all my efforts of reaching out to them.”
“I was the only applicant to send her a thank you card.”
I asked the Co-Chief Creative Officers why they hired me. He actually said he didn’t want to, but the other one talked him into it. Their main motivation in pulling the trigger was that I had produced a couple pretty good pieces at what they considered a sub-par agency. They said, “If you could get those ads out of that place, we were curious what you’d do under our roof.” And beyond that, they knew coming from a blue-collar state meant I was ready to work hard.”
“
“Check out the School of Comm Bulletin Board, even there I found several opportunities
that definitely paid off. Because, from my own experience, it’s not just what you know, or who you
know, but WhO knOWS YOU.”
SO WHAT?Now what? You’ve seen what seven highly successful students did while they were at GVSU to set them up for great jobs in the ad business.
Seven people who sat in the same seats, had the same advisors, took the same classes, probably ate some of same lame pizza at Kirkhof. Just like you.
You’ve seen how they combined internships, jobs, activities and associations along with their major into a power package that helped persuade some top agencies to hire them.
These seven people demonstrated their desire, passion and commitment to the ad business. So can you.
And guess what? The GVSU Ad Club, PRSSA, GVSU AMA, the National Student Advertising Competition, The Polishing Center, West Michigan AAF
and all the same campus organizations are still out there. And they are all looking for new members, officers, volunteers and workers. The internships, jobs, seminars are out there, too.
These seven highly success-ful students took advantage of the opportunities while they
were in college. They didn’t sit back and wait for something to happen. And they are knocking down good salaries at great agencies today. Having a lot of fun, too.
They didn’t sit back and wait for something to happen.
Make your plan.Work your plan.
High fives and chest bumps to AJ Musial, Nicole Corley, Julie Kuhn, Andrew Rushmore, Angela Antonio, Josie Goldberg and Mike Rios for sharing their successes.
And huge kudos to Paul Soltysiak and Holland litho Printing for taking our words and designs and turning them into a solid piece of successful communication.
thank you