Fk My Bk

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative..."

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 20:39:00 -0600

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

- Ira Glass

After someone dies you MAY be hired

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 08:00:05 -0600

I was told by a creative recruiter it would be nearly impossible for me to land a job at an agency and by another that someone would have to die (in an agency) before I got hired.

Really motivating stuff. :-)

The Post-College Flowchart of Misery and Pain

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:12:00 -0500

The Post-College Flowchart of Misery and Pain

Photo

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 11:06:00 -0500

“Always proofread your cover letter and résumé,”...

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:18:02 -0500

“Always proofread your cover letter and résumé,” they say.

Well, they should always proofread their online job applications.

How About Next...........

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 18:11:00 -0500

A while back I received the best email ever. A creative recruiter from one of my favorite agencies reached out and invited me to come in and share my work. Words can’t describe how excited I was. As soon as we set up a time and date to meet I worked feverishly to make sure my book was perfect to show. The morning of our meeting I get an email from the recruiter asking if we could reschedule. I understand that things happen so I emailed back and suggested a few other dates to meet.

I never heard back from her again.

"Like" us on Facebook so it doesn't look like we suck so bad.

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 13:50:04 -0500

"Like" us on Facebook so it doesn't look like we suck so bad.

Good lunch to you

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 12:54:00 -0500

I got the best rejection email ever. It was like most responses (at first):

Thank you for your interest. BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAHBLAH BLAH BLAH. We don’t have a right fit for you at the time. BLAH BLAHBLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH. We’ll keep you in mind is something comes up. BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH.

(Here’s where it got awesome)

Good lunch.

He ended by wishing me a good lunch. You know what? F my job search, but I think I will go have a good lunch.

Thank you for that.

Is it okay to burn a bridge if it's to a really crappy island?

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:26:34 -0500

Is it okay to burn a bridge if it's to a really crappy island?:

Hypothetically…

An agency is about to lose an account. The CCO and CEO call in the “digital creative team”. Ask them to take one last crack at it. By the end of the meeting, the two guys have the basis of an idea. They go to lunch, and by the time they get back to the office have idea flushed out with TV, social, online films, etc.

Comps and decks get built working with the one solid acct/new biz guy in the place. They fly to client’s office to join the CCO and CEO for the pitch. But, at the last minute, CCO and CEO can’t make it due to other client obligations (or, maybe, to cover their ass in case it’s lost and can blame the “digital” guys). Three guys pitch idea, sell idea, and even get client to up budget.

Around the time it’s done, “digital creative team”, exhausted from CCO and CEO’s behavior, quit and move on to separate jobs.

Campaign wins big prestigious award, but team who concepted, pitched and sold it aren’t listed in credits ‘cos they’re no longer with the agency.

That’s kinda shitty, isn’t it?

http://www.effie.org/winners/showcase/2011/5274

(via: Please ask clarifying questions)

F My Book? F YOUR Book!

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 14:56:51 -0500

A few years ago I was looking for a junior gig at agencies in my home town. I’ll make this short and tell you all that it did not go well. I remember one ACD telling me to go home and start my book all over. Six months go by and someone finally sees potential in my book. I get an interview and subsequently get the job. Two years went by and they could not have gone any better. I started working on agency scraps and worked my way up to being part of the lead creative team on many of the agency’s accounts. I decided it was time to move on. A few weeks after leaving the agency I found out that the ACD that I mentioned earlier came in and interviewed for my position. He didn’t get the job.

Wise words from ad man Chuck Carlberg

Wed, 25 May 2011 17:32:32 -0500

1) Your greatest strength can also be your greatest curse. Be careful.

2) Don’t be cocky. You’re replaceable.

3) Go to New York. Simple as that. Work in New York City for a few years and you will be set. Even if you hate the city, you will understand advertising in a whole new way. You can always come back, but go to New York.

4) Move to New York. It’s almost impossible to get a job in New York unless you have a NYC address.

5) No matter how creative or original your ideas are, the bottom line is sales. The first thing you should be talking about with your client is sales. This goes for every interaction. If sales aren’t up, you aren’t succeeding.

6) Start your own agency before you’re too old. Take a risk if you need to, but do it.

(Via http://scottrawr.tumblr.com/post/5676430729/talk-to-chuck-carlberg-that-is)

I’m graduating from an undergrad program in about two weeks. I interviewed with an agency for a...

Thu, 05 May 2011 12:50:24 -0500

I’m graduating from an undergrad program in about two weeks. I interviewed with an agency for a summer internship to try and get my foot in the door. I got a rejection email that said, “We invite you to apply again for the Fall 2011 program and thank you for your time throughout this process.” I’m graduating, and they know this. After this summer, I’m not going to apply for an internship.

Good luck to us both

Wed, 04 May 2011 13:01:36 -0500

I got a rejection e-mail today with this hilarious gem tagged on the end:

In the meantime, thank you for your interest and efforts in reaching out and good luck to us both in the immediate future.

Wait, whaaaat? Good luck to US BOTH? I don’t know why you need any luck, bro. You’re already a CD.

It's not you, it's me

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:05:23 -0500

I totally just got a “it’s not you, it’s me” rejection letter from an agency.

Dear UNEMPLOYABLE,

Thank you for your e-mail and your interest in THE PLACE YOU’LL NEVER WORK FOR. After reviewing your resume, it is clear you have experiences and talents to offer that would add value to many companies. However, at this time they are not the ideal match for the few open positions we are seeking to fill. We will keep your information on hand, however, for future consideration.

Best of luck to you in your job search.

Regards,

THE PLACE YOU’LL NEVER WORK FOR

The Friend Zone

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:13:53 -0500

My book needs some play. Agencies check it out and put it in the friend zone. “Looks nice.” Nice? I don’t want my book to be a nice book. I need someone who appreciates my book for what it is, thinks it’s sexy and wants to give it some lovin’. Is that too much to ask?

Missed Conection

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:54:00 -0500

I interviewed at a shop via webcam. After we were done, they said they’d keep me in the loop and let me know what’s going on no matter what.

This was over 4 months ago.

Photo

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 12:00:00 -0600

Thanks for calling

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 13:20:00 -0600

I applied for a position at an agency that was boasting on multiple social networks that they were on a hiring spree. I happened to know the email address of one of their recruiters so I cc’d her on the email that I sent to the agency. Since we previously bounced a few emails back and forth I thought it would be ok to check in with her a week and a half after I applied. Later that day the recruiter calls me, only to inform me that I’ve entered “stalker mode”. She also informed me that she had been in the business for a long time and she would have emailed me if I fit the agency’s needs. Thank you so much for calling to teach me a lesson. An email would have worked just fine, but apparently emails are only sent to people who meet the agency’s needs. But phone calls are for the rest of us.

Judge a book by its cover

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 13:10:00 -0600

Over the past 4 years I’ve worked at two agencies. I’ve been working on my book for even longer. After emailing my book to an agency I get a response in less than an hour. “Thank you for your interest. I encourage you to push your work further.” Thank you for that. I really appreciate you ripping apart the book I’ve worked on for years in a matter of minutes.

We will hire you* *Disclaimer: by hire you, we mean may...or may not.

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 11:05:55 -0600

I got a summer internship at the best agency I could find in my city. I was super pumped and worked my ass off to impress them, which I did! Everyone in the creative department was impressed and were pulling me and my partner in on every project. We got tons of stuff produced in just 3 months. It turned out that we were the only Juniors in the whole agency (150+ people!), so we thought we had a good chance of getting hired. At the end of the 3 months the HR department, our CD, and even the CEO promised us a job. They told us to our faces, “We will hire you, we need you!” They also asked us to wait and extend our internship for one more month. They were super busy that month, we were working night and day… you know, to prove that we’d be a great asset to the agency. We were so sure we were gonna get hired. At the end of the month we got an email from HR saying, “Thanks for everything, your last day will be tomorrow.” When we asked around they said, “We don’t really hire Juniors.”

We did better work than most Seniors there.

F**k My B**k

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative..."

After someone dies you MAY be hired

The Post-College Flowchart of Misery and Pain

Photo

“Always proofread your cover letter and résumé,”...

How About Next...........

"Like" us on Facebook so it doesn't look like we suck so bad.

Good lunch to you

Is it okay to burn a bridge if it's to a really crappy island?

F My Book? F YOUR Book!

Wise words from ad man Chuck Carlberg

I’m graduating from an undergrad program in about two weeks. I interviewed with an agency for a...

Good luck to us both

It's not you, it's me

The Friend Zone

Missed Conection

Photo

Thanks for calling

Judge a book by its cover

We will hire you* *Disclaimer: by hire you, we mean may...or may not.

Fk My Bk