Is a Tongal ideation portfolio consisting of a dozen wins and short-listed submissions of any value when applying for copywriting jobs? If so, how would you leverage it? Any tips would be appreciated.
Comments
(5)
Kyle Elliott
03/11/2017
I generally beg while pointing to the Tongal Leaderboard but that hasn't helped me much. It makes collaborating with production companies a lot easier because they can get a feel for your style and work, but my status on Tongal hasn't specifically helped me find a full-time job yet. I've used my portfolio to make connections with production companies and work on pitches for them, but most of those have been one-off projects and not something I could make a living off of. If you're looking to join a company and write copy for them, you're probably better off submitting strong copy samples. Even though the job requires you to write lengthy think pieces for the brand, to get hired you have to impress the Hiring Manager or HR Department that likely got 200 applications similar to yours. With that many resumes, Hiring Managers are likely going to ignore links to Portfolios until they've narrowed their decision down to several people. Tongal is like that cherry on top right now. It provides amazing opportunities with brands, keeps the creative side of your brain engaged, and gives you experience working on important campaigns for big name brands around the World.
Kyle Elliott
03/11/2017
Are you just starting up on Tongal or do you have your profile set to private? Building up a Portfolio on Tongal is definitely useful, but it's also a lot harder than you might think. People generally get frustrated after 20 or so losing submissions and vent on the forums or Facebook pages about never winning. It takes time and patience to actually build a portfolio on here. It's definitely a great "Extra" for your resume and something you can talk about in your interview, but make sure you have an elevator pitch ready to explain what "Tongal" is. "What's a Tongal?" is generally the most important question during the interview process, and you've got 15 seconds to explain everything before they get bored and zone out. "100,000 users, couple hundred submissions per project, major brands, millions of views, place on the leaderboard, and hope they were listening enough to understand why it should impress them.
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Donna Draper
03/12/2017
Thank you for your insight, Kyle. Yes, in private mode, with over 400 submissions.
Kyle Elliott
03/13/2017
Hopefully, someone else has more insight on the subject, but that's just my personal experience so far. I had a production company from Beverly Hills contact me about a project but they told me I used "Too many words and not enough pictures" in my idea pitch and then showed me some vision boards to get inspiration from that just said things like "Delicious, vibrant, joy" so that went nowhere. I immediately understood why Tongal was taking these types of people's clients. Regardless, that was one way my Tongal profile helped me have an opportunity I wouldn't have otherwise had. I applied to a good 100+ jobs and got 2 interviews with companies that wanted a Graphic Artist and Salesman, despite their listings asking for a Videographer and Marketing Campaign Coordinator. Now I took a pretty big risk and left my full-time newsroom job to run social media pages for a brand new company, so if they fail early on I'm not sure what my backup plan is!
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Maddie Mindling
03/14/2017
Hi Donna, thanks for posting! The short answer is: yes, we believe there are a number of ways for Tongalers to leverage their creative work outside of Tongal. One way is to share your public portfolio with others who are interested in your creative work. Another option is to add an "Awards" or "Competitions" section to your resume listing the competitions you have won or have been a finalist on. If you're applying for a copywriting position specifically, you'll most likely want to submit writing samples from various sources; however, including some of your Tongal work should be a great way to round out your resume and experience. Kyle brings up a good point in that you should have your elevator pitch ready about what Tongal is and what it means to compete and work on the platform. I hope this helps to answer your question! We look forward to hearing how others in the community have leveraged their Tongal portfolios to find creative opportunities.
