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Job Hunting Advice

Posted by Kyle Elliott

08/26/2015

Comments (7)

General

I know I've answered a bunch of questions people have had on here about writing successful ideas that stand out to the brands here on Tongal. 140 characters isn't a long time to get their attention with an idea. Most of the time I read through the profiles and see the people asking questions are already working in advertising and marketing as a 9 to 5 gig. I'm in the opposite boat. I've had a lot of success writing ideas and business plans on here for major brands, but can't even make it to the interview phase for a local company looking for a writer/editor/person to pitch commercial concepts for local companies and products. I refresh job listing sites daily and make sure to tweak my resume so it's catered to the specific skills they want to see in a potential employee. 3 weeks later I get the same generic "Thank you for your interest in the position. This is to inform you that your application has been reviewed. At this point, you have not been selected to move further in the hiring process. We are fortunate to have a very competitive candidate pool. At this time, there are other candidates that more closely meet the needs for this position." After about 40 of those emails now, it's starting to get to me. What advice would you give to get noticed. I've been all over the board with applications to high schools, colleges, government agencies, production companies, advertising agencies, sports complexes, concert venues, and minor league baseball teams. I've had 1 pity interview where they emailed me 12 hours later saying they hired someone else for the job. Anyone with any helpful advice on how you got started off in the business, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Comments (7)

elin macrone

11/01/2015

Hi Kyle, just spotted this while having a nose around the site. I'm a recent dabbler on Tongal, but recently 'retired' from 12 or so years in advertising to pursue other dreams; some quick pointers on becoming an ad creative.

- Your resume matters a whole lot less than your Book. That is your collection of ideas for brands stretching a wide variety of categories. Your book gets you in to see a creative director at an agency, your book gets you hired, even for the most junior of roles. Some of the ideas may have been on live briefs like on Tongal, but it's cool if most are on spec, given you have no experience as it were within an agency.
- Read up. The advertising and marketing periodicals, sign up for blogs, creative boards etc. Go through all of the awards from Cannes Lions, D&AD, webbies (there are others but this is plenty to kick off). Get a sense of what makes a world-class piece of creative thinking, strategy and craft, right through to execution. Here's a decent place to start from some adland folks: http://adage.com/article/creativity-etc/book-creativity-read/234040/

- You could study. Miami Ad School http://www.miamiadschool.com/ ....

elin macrone

11/01/2015

......sorry ran out of space.

- Miami Ad School is probably the most recognised place to start.. but I expect it's expensive. If nothing else their site + prospectus should give you a good understanding of the different disciplines on offer. Check out work from alumni, dig for briefs.

- Meet some folks. Instead of going all out for an interview or gig, maybe see if you can make contact through your own network or even speculatively, and meet a pro for coffee and a little advice/mentorship. Folks are often happy to offer advice, getting a little time can be tricky but persevere.

- Work, Work, Work on your book of ideas. Book is a little old school in truth, you'll need to develop a site that is a showcase of your work. Look up the top creatives out there, check out their own work.

- I'm missing a whole lot more I'm sure, but if an agency creative is the gig you want (brands don't tend to have creative departments though this is evolving with the onset if in-house content production) this should help set you off on the path to building knowledge and your own proposition.

Final point. As you learn, be sure this is what you want. Really sure.

If it is, best of luck to you fella.

Kyle Elliott

11/01/2015

Thanks for the tips! I've only really been doing this since I found Tongal, since I started thinking I wanted to do camera/video editing my entire life. Then I started winning idea phases on here and still didn't think much of it, because I didn't realize how many other people were actually submitting ideas. 2 years ago when I started they let you know how many people submitted ideas, and most had like 600 or so entries with 2-3 winners. I set my "Unrealistic" goal in my head that I wanted to see my name on the top 5, since I was no where near the people at the top who had been on the site since the beginning. I somehow managed to actually make that happen though, so now I had to re-set my "Unrealistic" goal to getting hired somewhere to write ideas for a living, even if that's just part of the job. I still love filming and editing, but I really wouldn't mind focusing on writing ideas for a while! Thanks again! Good luck if you decide to hang around here on Tongal for a while!

elin macrone

11/01/2015

No problem at all Kyle, glad to help.

Geordie Ennis-Thomas

11/10/2015

If you win a competition do you have to fill out all winner forms.

Kyle Elliott

11/11/2015

If you win you'll have to fill out the relevant forms to what you won. The forms you need to submit will pop up in the Account section of your profile and let you know what still needs to be submitted before payments are sent out. If you win for an idea, it's just the main forms. If you win with a video, you need to submit all the actors consent forms, location approval forms, music, etc. When you win it will let you know which forms you're required to submit.

Nolan Schneiderman

11/11/2015

Kyle is absolutely right, however if your pitch gets chosen it is a good idea to take care of the release forms during production. Check out the "Winning and Payments" section of the FAQ page for more on the forms.