Friday, April 18, 2008

Your Homework Assignment

Homework? Yes. It's for your own good – well your career's good. You'll thank me.

Read: Hey Whipple, Squeeze This by creative sage Luke Sullivan.

Listen: American Copywriter. Educational, entertaining and a good example of the kind of people you need to work with.

Subscribe: CMYK Magazine. A magazine featuring student creative work and articles on starting your career.

Ignore: College career counselors. Every damn thing I tell someone to remove from their resume was recommended by a career counselor. They make you add a bunch of irrelevant crap to your resume that just gets in the way of what creative directors are after.

There are your assignments. Now get to it.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Know Who, or What, You Are

"I can be a designer. Or a writer. Or I'd even be willing to start as an account executive."

"Thank you. We'll let you know."

You know you're not going to hear back from them, right? At least nothing more than the we'll-keep-your-resume-on-file letter.

Given the choice between hiring someone who is passionate about being a designer (or writer) and someone who is willing to be a designer (or writer), who do you think the creative director is going to hire? We want someone who can't even imagine doing anything else.

Don't get me wrong, we're after someone well-rounded. When I graduated, I was a designer who worked as a photographer and did a bit of writing. But design was my passion. I knew what I wanted. But I also brought extra skills to the table.

Be focused, but well-rounded. Know what you want to do, while still dabbling in everything you can. Be a person who is passionate about what you do, but don't limit yourself to one interest.

Contradictory? Maybe. But it's what we want. It's what will get you the job.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Never Stop Looking

"Man, I nailed that interview. The job is mine. I don't need to keep applying for jobs."

Not only wrong, but #*$%ing wrong.

While on the job hunt never, ever and I mean EVER halt the process while waiting to hear from that job you just know you're going to get.

It could be held up for budget reasons, unrelated business reasons, a change in the position requirements, or, believe it or not, because they found someone who is a better fit for the job. And while you wait, your job search takes a big step backwards.

The killer is, you may miss out on applying for the job that could have been yours.

Never allow yourself to kick back to wait for that sure offer. Because there is no such thing.

Do not stop the process until you've signed an offer letter and started your job.