I had originally planned to write my first post on Brands Among Many about college advertising curriculum and their lack of professional resources. I emphasized how colleges are out of touch and a 4.0 GPA coupled with leadership positions doesn’t guarantee you anything on the creative side of advertising and by anything, I mean a job. I also pointed out that there are vast differences between a business or engineering major and an advertising major.
In advertising, agencies don’t seek out interns, which explain why out of the hundreds of companies at a career fair you’ll be hard-pressed to find a single ad agency present. In addition, most of the advertising internships are unpaid- other majors wouldn’t even think of an unpaid internship. Lastly, schools offer loads of professional resources to help prepare students for every major, that is, except advertising. We have no idea what we’re getting ourselves into and truth be told, the college chapter of AAF only prepares us so much.
Aside from all these pitfalls, colleges offer an experience essential for art directors and writers. In the midst of homework or studying, I often hear students ask, “When will I use this in life?” If you’re a political science or english major, you’ll probably never need math. If you’re a business major, you’ll probably never need science. And if you’re an engineering major, you’ll probably never need humanities. In advertising, a well-rounded college education creates not only a large wealth of knowledge, but life changing experiences you can pull from when creating a campaign.
To excel in this industry, the best thing a college student can do is live it up. Go out to party on a Tuesday to see what type of people actually party on a Tuesday. Meet international exchange students and try things that wouldn’t normally interest you like a root beer pong tournament hosted by the fundamentalist Christians. Try that weird Korean restaurant named, Emo’s and go to the obscure foreign film playing down the road. Break rules, do illegal things, (I’m talking about stealing a road sign or something, not exposing your genitals) and play Edward Fortyhands. Take an astrology class, a yoga class, and attempt to take a chemistry class. I hate to sound like I’m preaching here, but step outside your comfort zone.
All this stuff is going to be beneficial. Heck, you can write about your cool experiences in your resume or portfolio. Anything to show you have been around the block gives you a leg up, plus it doesn’t even have to be advertising related. As long as you present your experiences in a creative way that shows off some chops, you’ve got a piece for your portfolio. These experiences will be essential when you’re interviewing and when you have to relate to the, oh so important, target market. It may even help you land a job with W + K via WK 12, an experiment disguised as an ad school, which recently accepted twelve grad students based on their unique experiences and backgrounds, not necessarily their skills. If all else fails and none of that helps you, at least you have a bunch of cool stories to tell people while you bag their groceries.
I kid, of course, so here are some pieces of advice to keep in mind if you find yourself at any generic university as an advertising major:
- Read advertising blogs. ihaveanidea, adfreak, and American Copywriter are all good starting points
- See what kind of ads are out there at Creativity-Online or Ads of the World
- If you’re a writer- write! You’re life should consist of writing, reading, and watching movies all the time. Learn how people communicate.
- If you’re an artist, draw/paint/sketch/sculpt all the time.
- Want an internship? Send out letters/e-mails to ad agencies. Attach your art work, writing samples, or resume. Tell them who you are and why you would benefit the agency. If they don’t respond, call them up, ask to speak to the creative director (figure out his or her name first!) and give them the lowdown.
- If you’re new to the ad world, check if your school has an AAF chapter or see if your school has any professors who worked or work in the industry. Ask to meet with them and pick their brain.
- Take any advice at your own discretion. When it comes to this business, there are no right and wrongs. I do think, however, it’s essential to practice art direction or writing, otherwise it’s a free for all.
- As I have said before- do cool shit and write or draw about it and if it’s awesome put it in your portfolio. Then, when someone takes the time to look at your work and asks about it, you will have a great story to tell.
- Lastly, remember advertising isn’t like any other industry. If you end up getting an M.I.P. don’t plead innocent and have to deal with random breathalyzer tests for three months, probation for a year, and expensive tickets. Just take the guilty charge, pay the ticket, and continue to party like it never happened. As far as I’m concerned, if an agency won’t hire me because I have an M.I.P. (not saying I do) on my record, I don’t want to work there.
- For more information, make the jump and watch.
