Expert: Peter Gabany - 2/3/2003

Question
I'm interested in working at an advertising agency, but have no idea what position or department I want to start my career in. I would really appreciate your HR "diagnosis" based on my resume and a little background... You'll see in my resume, my current objective is pretty vague and I want to come up with a stronger, more specific objective to communicate what I want to apply for.
I'm extremely creative, and love to innovate concepts for selling things or planning, I'm good at coordinating all different elements to communicate a specific message and "energy" I (My advertising teacher from college was blown away with my great ideas for campaigns and still shows my project to his other classes...I can't say this on my resume, but I know I am talented. I don't want to do market research. I want to start with a position that I could move up to "Creative Director" one day. My resume is as follows: Thank you sooo much !

OBJECTIVE

To obtain a creative position utilizing my marketing and design skills to create a positive influence on consumers' lives.

Product Development / Event Planning / Copy Writing / Campaign Management / Sales /
Logo and Slogan Design / Business Development / Market Expansion / Global Experience / Start-ups


COMPUTER SKILLS

PC and Mac Proficiency. Adobe Photoshop 7, Premiere 6, Illustrator 10, PageMaker 7, Quark Express 5.01, FTP, Flash 5, Dreamweaver 4, ACT2000, MS Office Suite; Word, Excel, Power Point and Access.
*Member of National Association of Photoshop Professionals. Attended the past 5 seminars to keep up with the latest techniques.


EDUCATION

Lehigh University, May 2001
Bachelor of Science in Marketing (Major GPA 3.7); Minor in Graphic Communications; Deans List
Class '01 Scholarship Award; Award based on character, scholarship, promise of future leadership, and extracurricular activities.


EXPERIENCE

New-Flash LLC, Founder, Marketing and Creative Director, www.new-flash.com   March 1999-November 2002
Innovated product (digital inspirational photo collages), company name, and logo. Defined sales and marketing approaches. Structured and recruited creative team. Designed and scripted content for website, sales, and marketing material. Managed operations, product quality, R&D, training, and legal issues. Increased efficiency of design process that realized a cost savings of $15,000 in the first quarter. Conducted sales presentations. Developed proposals. Pioneered new markets, products, and services. Responsible for 40% of company sales. Increased camaraderie through team building events and recognition methods. Improved goal setting strategy.

Vector Marketing Corporation, Assistant to District Manager, Bethlehem, PA   Fall 2000-Summer 2001
Documented sales strategies from district and regional conferences. Guided reps on sales calls with feedback and motivation.

Rodale Press Inc. Publishing, Journalism Project, Emmaus, PA   Spring 2001
Offered story topics to Rodale Press. Developed a magazine geared for college freshmen. Conducted surveys to write articles.

ABC Television Network, Network Print and Marketing Intern, New York, NY   Summer 2000
Redesigned and improved existing sales tool. Assisted designers with layouts for advertising and promotional pieces.

Fitness Magazine, G&J Publishing, Marketing and Promotions Intern, New York, NY   Summer 2000                                                                                                                                                            
Organized promotional festivities. Arranged client weekend outings. Designed slogan for Fitness Magazine's event at Central Park.

Global Village, Videographer, Bethlehem, PA   Summer 2000 and Summer 2001                                                                                                             
Created presentations to increase camaraderie for global interns participating in Lee Iacocca's “Future Leaders in Business” program.

Lee Iacocca's Global Village “Future Leaders in Business” Program, Intern, Bethlehem, PA   Summer 1999                                                                                                                                             
Interacted with 76 multinational interns. Gained an understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity and networking in business.

Porte Advertising Inc., Advertising Intern, New York, NY   Summer 1999
Expanded marketing channels. Created and administered surveys. Organized new databases. Placed products for photo shoot.

Matthew Hoey Inc., Marketing Intern, Easton, PA   Summer 1999                                                                                                                                  
Expanded market for an up-and-coming furniture designer with a website, marketing material, and ideas for additional product uses.

Lehigh University's Drama Department, Graphic Communications Project, Bethlehem, PA   Fall 1999                                                             
Worked on a team to design advertisements and playbills for the Drama Department.


ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE

Assistant Coach, Rutgers Preparatory High School Varsity Girls' Lacrosse Team, Spring 2002 /
Journalist for Lehigh University Newspaper, 2000-2001 / Marketing Club / National Association For Female Executives /
Founder & President of Lehigh University's Health and Nutrition Club / LU Women's Varsity Lacrosse Team, 1997-2000 /
Student-Athlete Council / Club Soccer Team / COACH Program; Community Outreach by Athletes Who Care about Helping /
Alpha Chi Omega Sorority; Intramural Sports Manager, Community Service Chair, Steward, Historian, 1998-2001 /
VP, Greek Life, Newman Council, Campus Catholic Organization / Red Cross Volunteer / Lower East Side Girls' Club  

Answer
Suggested rewrite?

Objective
A results oriented communicator who enjoys the pace and challenges offered by a dynamic and versatile organization. Proven to have excellent organizational skills and the ability to rise to all challenges. Delivered significant results in a variety of positions within Administration, Communications and Client Services. Seeking a rewarding and challenging position that will build upon my skills (as a ___________)and continue to expand my knowledge


Sorry for the late response, but I forgot to mark myself abscent. To your question.

OBJECTIVE

To obtain a creative position utilizing my marketing and design skills to create a positive influence on consumers' lives.

Product Development / Event Planning / Copy Writing / Campaign Management / Sales /
Logo and Slogan Design / Business Development / Market Expansion / Global Experience / Start-ups


WOW! This is truly a Heinz 57 objective and while it may indicate your diversity it may not get you through the door. Finding your dream job will take some additional work on your part.

Research the company that you are courting. Look into its make-up. Does it have five employees, 40 or 300. Where do you want to work? A small agency, mid size or large multinational?

Once you pick one of these look into the creative departments. Do they have one creative 10 or 60. If they have one, the chance for becoming creative director will be limited, whereas the competition amongst the 60 will be tough.

The job is to look wheree they lack. Copywriters – good ones are VERY hard to find. A lot of campaigns hinge themselves on the hook and rarely do we see long worded ads. If you can demonstrate a superior copywriting style then this is a great entry point for you (albeit very tough).

This is just one thought process, but you can apply this idea for any position. remember this though. Do not appear to be looking for work in creative, if you package yourself as a manager or suit and vice versa. And never have I seen a great jack of all trades.

Also no that a suit has got to be creative, so don't look down at the role of being a strategic planner, account executive or other. In fact this is one of the easiest positions to acquire in any agency. What they will be looking for is one of two things. A handler or a salesperson. A handler is a highly organized (type A) type that can juggle many balls at one time, where a suit / salesperson is a showperson with charisma and right-to-the-point direction.

If you feel you are / can be one of these, and you still want to be in a creative position, and your creative is half as good as you indicate, it will be noticed by seniors and your move into creative can be sought.

You know this area is all subject to availability. Where do you live? Should you move, or at least visit a prominent ad town like Minneapolis, Chicago, New York, LA or San Fran and spread your resume?

Last but not least – where's your portfolio? What does it look like? Chech out Marie Piscopo site <http://www.mpiscopo.com/> She is a portfolio specialist, presenter and author. I saw her speak early in my career and her stuff was very helpful.

Please let me know how you make out and if this was of any assistance. <promote@limelight.org>

Cheers!


Pete Gabany
President/Creative Director