I’ve seen a lot of books over the years, and spoken to a lot of grads recently. There’s a few things that come up over and over again. These five tips will help you get ahead of a lot of the others out there, the ones hunting the same job you are.
Tip 1 // Show your range.
Creatives have to be able to turn their hands to anything.
From a simple one-off social post to a long-term, multi-channel brand campaign.
But a lot of books I see are really limited.
Some are mostly social, some just posters, some a lot of funny ideas. You get what I’m getting at.
Your book should show a real range of work and styles.
It’ll give a hiring CD more opportunities to see what you can do and how you’ll help crack loads of briefs.
Tip 2 // Rank your book.
I see a lot of students with books that don’t change much over time.
If it didn’t get you a job 6 months ago, it’s probably not going to now.
One way to avoid stagnation is a league table.
Do as many crits as you can, score each piece based on the response. Best to worst. Then replace the worst bit with a better piece as quickly as you can. Giving you a new last place to beat.
Within a couple of months your book will be completely different. And hugely improved.
Tip 3 // Be the early bird.
A lot of students make the same mistake.
I’m always amazed how many wait till they graduate before getting in touch with agencies.
So many of the people I’ve seen get jobs quickly have been out and about before that. Through third year, even in second year or earlier.
When an agency gets to the point that they’re going to hire, they should instantly think of you.
That doesn’t just happen, and often not in May or June.
Tip 4 // Go beyond ideas.
Your book needs to be full of great ideas.
That’s a given.
But so is everyone else’s. How are you going to stand out?
Show what you can bring beyond ideas.
Craft, shoot, draw, edit… what else?
Part of the reason I got my first job was because I could use a Mac, and could help train other creatives to use them. This was in the olden times when computers weren’t yet standard.
AI’s the equivalent now. Agencies are looking to train people up, show you can use it already. In clever or time-saving ways.
Tip 5 // Stay in touch.
Agencies are busy places.
There’s always a deadline or emergency amend that’s grabbing everyone’s attention.
You need to find a way to be remembered in all that noise.
Once I was looking to hire a junior team. We’d had a great one in on placement 8 or 9 months before, ‘brilliant, let’s speak to them’. But no-one in the dept could find their number or contact details. They’d been in and hadn’t stayed in touch.
