577 pencils How do you get a job without ad school if it's not an option for you?
CGilb09 577 pencils | Thu, 2009-10-08 10:00The cop out answer to getting into advertising-- ad school. Sure it's convenient, and sure you'll learn a crap ton of stuff, but at what cost? I was about to attend MAS this past spring but found out it would essentially be impossible for me due to the huge loans I would have to take out and the unavailability of a cosigner that would qualify for taking out such a large amount. I was going to have to take out something like a $30,000 loan for my startup/move/first year costs. Ad another year of ad school cost to my undergraduate debt, and I would be something like $65-80,000 in debt after all of my schooling.
I'm sorry, but advertising is not rocket science, and this just seems blatantly unreasonable to me. Why should I have to surrender my financial future in order to have a shot at using my creativity?
So how on earth does a copywriter get his foot in the door? The only thing I can think of to get face time with CD's is to attempt to schedule informational interviews. But how can I turn those into a job?
Advice would be greatly appreciated!
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2 Comments
Just do good spec work, then accept to work for free as a trainee for a few month. Then, if you're good, you will get a job.
As Ivan suggests, do some really good spec campaigns.
Start with a creative brief that you write yourself. Then ask the CD for 7 minutes to show your stuff.
It really helps if you actually know something about advanced copywriting, such as how to express a brand personality ala Nike, Geico or Apple.
There is also a huge shift towards direct response copy - with I believe 30+ % of WPPs income coming from digital direct last year. Sp direct response copy talent will help you.
Best of luck
Steve
> AdCracker - interactive tools to trigger ad ideas.