Advice for those going into a business career

As I sit here a year later and just barely started my career in advertising, I started to think back at the actions I could’ve taken to jump start my career. I kind of took advantage of the whole “I’m just going to relax and enjoy my senior year” and not take anything serious. Boy was that a huge mistake. I now look back in regret. I wish I did that, If I only did this, If I just kissed ass more often.

I’m not one to really take orders to well so I am adjusting to being told what to do. It’s hard. But I am working on it. So what I decided to do is give a few notes to those that just graduated or are about a year away from graduating. This may apply to all different fields but I can only speak of my field and those closely related to it. (Advertising)

1. –NETWORK–I think this is the most important. If you are going into the business field it helps to know who are the bigwigs of the field. Know where they are and what company they work for. It also doesn’t hurt to know what they have done personally. SO when you know who they are, send them an email. Tell them a little bit about yourself. If you are bolder than most, send them a little something. Join your colleges clubs or local area clubs. I was apart my college ad club, and am apart of the Philly Ad club. There are always events going on, and that is the place to go. Meet the people. That’s what they are there for. To network. So you should network. But make sure you know what you are talking about. Throw some jargon out there. Let them be impressed with what you know and what you know about them.
2. –Read everything that has to do with your field. You will become knowledgeable in what was done in the past, what is being done know, and what will be achieved in the future. It helps to be on top with the trends. Maybe know more than those that have been in the business for years. Impress them with the knowledge you have read.
3. –Obtain an internship–Either during your college years or right after graduation. Usually this will land you a job. It happened to most of my friends. If they didn’t get a job from the company they interned for, they got a good recommendation and a job somewhere else because of the experience they gained. This is crucial, this will show you have more than the average graduate that just went through college hoping to get a job after the party years are over.
4. –When applying for a job–Find out who the“inside person” is. If you are going for the account side, find out who the Senior AE is. if you are going for creative find out who the Creative Director is, etc… This will most likely get you seen a lot quicker. But make sure when you send your cover letter, make it personalized. It seems like you took more time and effort to actually write a personal cover letter to the particular inside person. Let’s face it, when you send your resume to the HR department, they never read it. They send it through a software program that read specific keywords. SO make sure at the end of the resume make an area that just says “Keywords” and put all the adjectives that describe you but can also be picked up by the software. After it gets picked up, most likely it gets seen by a pair of human eyes. For example: On my resume After my “References” I have Keywords: then underneathe it I have stuff like “creative, team-player, proficient, type-A personality, work well with others, problem solver, etc….
5. –Print A LOT of Resumes–If you think getting a job right out of college is easy, I’m just gonna burst your bubble. I’m gonna say about 97% of students that graduate do not get a job in their field right away. Albeit from taking the summer off or people just not hiring you. So Make sure you print a lot of resume’s out. I’d say a good 150 resumes are good. Sure you can always email them but when you go on those interviews ALWAYS bring your resume and your references and anything else that has shown your abilities, like a portfolio or recent work you did for your internship. The people that usually get a job right out of college are those that show dedication at the internship and that company finally decides “Hey I might as well pay them for their work now, but only entry level work”, or if you know someone that can just give you the job and you usurp the whole interviewing process because your daddy knew the president of the company. “My friend Shlok got a job right out of college because his dad had a friend in the marketing business. So He moved from NJ to Cali, worked their for about 6 months and now has his own Marketing company that works in association with the parent company” Now how Fucked up it that? 23 years old and a president of his own company. He didn’t pay his dues, he was just given this life.
6. –Own a good suit—You will be using it alot for alot of the interviews. It will be worth it. That suit will be the thing that gets you the job. It is your first impression, so make it look good. If you are someone with piercings and tats and purple hair, Take them out, cover it, and dye your hair to a normal color. First impressions are everything. Look “normal” to an extent but make them remember you through your personality. After you get the job, then maybe you can return to the purple hair and piercings…MAYBE.
7. –When you have your interview, send them a thank you note afterwords.– I don’t think a lot of people do this in general. This will help them remember you and notice you care about this position. Maybe even send them a little box of candy. A little bribe never hurt. It shows you have the cajones to go after what you want.
8. –Get your foot in the door–no matter what your job is that you get after college, if it’s in your field but not what you are looking for, take it. To get into the advertising/marketing/PR world it is very hard. I learned I have to pay my dues before I get to do what I really want to do. Even if it’s for a small company and a gopher type job, take. Do it for a year, then leave. You just showed that you are willing to learn what there is to learn and you have a commitment to what you didn’t really want to do. Shows you are well rounded and dedicated to the field. This will look great on your resume and your track record.
9. –Don’t expect the Money–You won’t be making $40K/yr, you won’t make $35K/yr, You may be lucky to make $30K/yr, but that is only if the cost of living is high in that particular area. Expect to make about $25-28K/yr when you first start. Remember you are a PEON! you do PEON work. YOU DO ALL THE WORK AND GET NONE OF THE GLORY. It’s just a fact. Deal with it. This field is nasty and you need to watch for yourself and expect nothing in return. Sure I was making $32K/yr in NYC but take into account I spent about $400 for transit a month, about $200 a month for food/daily expense, that’s $600 a month. That was 1 week pay. BUT then there is city wage tax, federal tax, and my NJ tax. YES all taken out. My 2 week paycheck came to $951. So if I did the whole formula it would be: Salary $32,000.00 – $7200 = 24,800. BUT you need to take taxes out. Lets just say about 18% for all taxes. SO $24,800 x .18= $20,336. That is what I have left to pay my car, rent, grocery, utilities and my insurance. Not a lot of money. Also, just because you got an offer in the BIG CITY make sure you take into account the cost of living. They may offer you $32K and another, smaller, less known place offer you $26K/yr, the $26K may be better because you don’t pay city tax, it’s close to home, and it’s just cheaper to live where you currently are instead of trying to live in the city. (My friend lives and works in Ft. Lauderdale. She makes $26K/yr and she still bartends on weekends because the cost of living is just ridiculous. So think before you get blinded by the Big City Lights like I did.)
10. –Appear enthusiastic–I don’t think I really need to explain this. This just shows the positive nature you have for the field. Shows you want to learn, shows the eagerness. Then, if you are a pessimistic person or a loner, you can return to your normal self afterwards. But one major thing I want to say is that three is a fine line between Enthusiasm/eagerness and Annoyance. What I mean about this is when you send out resumes, and you will send out a lot, you may only get a few responses. Let’s see, I sent out about 80 resumes (only for agencies in my area) and I only got about 10 to 15 at the most, replies. But a reply is good. Make sure when you send out a resume, send another one about a week to a week and a half later. then if nothing about another 2 weeks later. I was just annoying, I sent one ever week. I may have appear desperate and a bit stalkerish. But just try to figure out that line. Everyone is different.
11. –Practice your interview–Practice what you are going to say. You don’t want to just sit there and appear uninterested or dumbfounded. Ask questions, talk conversationally, and talk about the business/field itself. Know about the place you are interviewing. Just practice on the way to the interview. Appear relaxed on the outside even if you are nervous on the inside. Never let them see you sweat.
12. –Don’t get discouraged–You will go on tons of interviews and probably won’t hear back from most of them. If you go on 20, you’ll be lucky to hear back from at least 5. And be lucky if they call you back for a 2nd interview. It’s a rough business and you aren’t the only one looking for their first career.
13. –Don’t take the summer off– Alot of my friends took the summer off before they looked for a job. Some are still looking for a job. This maybe fine for some but for those that want to get into the business it’s a good idea to look for the job while they are in their spring semester. The interview process is long, and alot of people tend to panic if they don’t hear back from the place they interviewed at (Like me). It’s hard enough to get into the field, but it is even harder to compete with those that just have a little more experience than you. Remember if you take the summer off, you may just have to compete with the next batch of graduates.
14. –Read the magazines on your field–. I read Ad Week and Ad Age and visit my local ad club website (www.phillyadclub.com). If I see an agency acquire a new business I send them my resume because they may need a couple positions filled. A lot of these agencies don’t run help wanted ads on Monster.com or Careerbuilder. They hire from within or ask their employees if they know anyone or even go back to their College Alumni’s for hiring. That is why I made sure I kept in touch with all my classmates and my adviser. We all let each other know who is hiring and what is going on where we are. But if you must use a website job search,those are ok but I prefer Talent Zoo it’s probably the best for people in the field of Communications. So use it well. Plus they have alot of other things on their site to help you keep in the know.
15. –Keep in touch with your mates–You never know. Like I said previously, if you keep in touch they will remember you and what you did. They are your “in”. Use them. They are your first Networking circle so use it to your advantage.
16. –As an Aside–If you are going into the creative side of communications Find out the types of programs they use so you can practice and become knowledgeable of the software. Nothing more surprising when you tell them, sure I know how to use this and that.

So I hope this helps. It has helped me rethink my whole strategy after I just finished writing it. So Good Luck and Good Job search. Oh and here is a random animation for you.

TAGS: Advertising ; Marketing ; Communications ; Advice ; First Career ; Graduation ; Jobs