Expert: Peter Gabany - 11/11/2009

Question
Hey Peter,

I am a young Ad student at the Art Institute of Portland. I am looking at graduating in about a year and still have a lot of questions about the industry. I am hoping that by having some of my questions answered it will help me narrow down what I want to do in advertising.

This brings me to my first question. I have always communicated well with most anyone. I am friendly and have a very approachable demeanor. I know that I would be good working directly with clients and love the strategy behind advertising. I am very personable and love helping people figure out what will work best for them. (After all advertising is about selling ideas and helping the, not just winning awards.) This makes the account side of advertising seem like the route I should take, however I love the creative side. So now I am playing with the idea of Project Manager in hopes that I can encounter a little of everything! What do you think is a better avenue for experiencing both the strategy and creative while maintaining client interaction, Account Planning or Project manager?

What are the best ways to network? I am connected to a number of professional sights (including linkedin) and I am working on my personal ID (including a business card, letterhead, and hopefully website) aside from my portfolio. I am also doing my best to get my name out there, even if it's just staying in touch with graduates that I know who are already in the field and could help get my foot in the door. Any other suggestions?

I look forward to hearing your response soon.
Thank you for your time,
Mikayla


Answer
Mikayla,

For myself, I would set my sites on either position, but know that both are up the chain at any modest size to large agency. No one that I know graduate and achieve this position without having experience. As for which one to go for - either. You don't and won't want to make the decision today. Get some experience under your belt.

Communications is a lost art in the communications field - odd isn't it? People don't have the time to communicate and by that I mean, read and write and proof. Matter of fact, you didn't proof your question (one typo). This is no big deal, unless you seek the position of either account planner or project manager – clients and agency employers count on it. Attention to detail - a phrase commonly used in resumes right next to reliable. But we have had copywriters, proof readers, translators and more use that same phrase in their profiles.

I don't begrudge them, this is a time for email txt speak, new phrases, terms that weren't upon us just a few years ago - and oddly we have “experts” in the field. You need to experience the industry. You need to take immense pride in your work and laziness has no place in this industry IF you wish to get ahead. Learn about other things - especially the business of advertising, PR, and graphic design but go further afield and learn the language of business - you will thank me later. Clients all speak the language of business and few enjoy or know the business of design, of advertising or even marketing. They understand budget, costs, return on investment, margins etc but mostly - they understand their product and their service. To be of extreme value to the client and to the account know their business. The best place to learn this is from them but barring that, their competitor.

I would look into PR companies, ad agencies and design agencies for work. The lines that used to segregate them are progressively getting blurrier and yet the creative opportunities are larger than ever. Please visit some of the leading companies in your area. Get excited, let them know that you WANT to join them sometime in your future (if you like their work, their culture).

To promote yourself - show your stuff, strut yourself. Stay away from vanilla approaches - look for top achievers.

I hope and trust that you have a website, a portfolio, a printed piece, a Facebook page, a Linkedin page and are on Twitter or equals. Be in the media, be the media, be about your work. Please see Narani's site. http://www.naranikannan.com/ She is a graduate from last year - splendid work and really nice person and she seems to know how to market.

I hope and trust that this can help. Please feel free to ask more. While I wasn't trying to be mean it may have come across that way to make a point.

Stay well and write often,

Pete