Scott Lackey ⋅ New York, NY Jugular ⋅ 25 years experience

Hi Spencer:

I own an advertising agency in New York City and here's what we look for in an entry-level Account Services position (Account Coordinator or Assistant Account Executive).

1. College graduates who have majored in the liberal arts (which enables them to have a broad-based world view and work across many disciplines).

2. Candidates who write, speak and think well (we typically ask for a short writing sample, developed from an assigned topic, and written in our offices as part of the interview.)

3. Now for the hard part. We look for advertising experience and never hire anyone without it. We have prospects intern for three months and then, if they do very well and there's a job opening in their area, we hire them. That's the job you should find. Ideally a paid three month internship at at agency. There are also many unpaid internships to consider if you can swing it. Make sure the agency understands that you'd like them to seriously consider hiring you at the end of the internship...or recommend you to their friends/contacts in the business.

4. Personal contacts are the best place to start. Then, I'd suggest you pursue financial services, broadly interpreted. But don't restrict yourself to that. Look for the fundamental skills you learned in financial services which can be applied to other categories. A broader group of industries will just offer you more potential areas for employment. (What, for instance, about industries related to the military--or military accounts themselves?)

Hope this helps. Good luck.
Scott

Mary Campbell ⋅ Hillsborough, NJ Agilent Technologies ⋅ 20 years experience

Hi Spencer - I am a Marketing Manager in biotech manufacturing and we do often use external creative agencies for some of our work which we would then tailor to the local market. The companies we work with usually have "creative" staff that is trained to work with one or two industries so tend to be very quick learners when you take the time to educate them on your specific campaigns. We also do use some agencies that are very specific to our industry so I can echo the idea of looking at agencies in the sectors you are most comfortable discussing and selling. As you appear to be in NJ, there are many, many agencies in NYC so hopefully that works in your favor!

Justin Forbes ⋅ San Marcos, CA General Electric ⋅ 16 years experience

Some good responses above, so I'll try not to repeat what's already been said.

I work on the opposite side, as the Marketing Manager for a manufacturing comapny. The products in our division are technical, and we market to industrial customers. I utilize creative agencies to help me develop and execute my marketing programs.

I appreciate the agencies that I use that have a solid understanding of my customer base (industrial companies) as it makes my life easier.

From your perspective, you might want to look at agencies that focus on serving the financial secotr (or other sectors that are aligned with your expertise).

Scott Lackey ⋅ New York, NY Jugular ⋅ 25 years experience

Hi Spencer:

I believe our firm is very typical (also asked around to friends at other firms of all sizes over the holiday and found widespread agreement). However, every agency, and even every account, has different hiring requirements so why not apply to a group of agencies with financial accounts and see what happens. I would be cautious about applying too far up into management levels such as Account Supervisor. There, since you would be supervising entry and mid-level employees who will need to be overseen and trained, there will be an expectation that you bring real-world advertising agency experience to the table. Good luck!
Let us know how you do.

Best,
Scott

Paul Trejo ⋅ Austin, TX University of Texas at Austin ⋅ 40 years experience

Hi Spencer,

You're getting lots of great advice here. I'll only add two-cents. First, to break into the world of Advertising one has no choice but to start at the bottom. There is no shame in that. Think of the pay cut as an educational fee, or as investing in your future.

A person with previous professional experience should expect a much faster rise than a youngster. Still, one should never underestimate the combination of youth and specialization -- so I prefer to partner up with ambitious youngsters, to support each other on our rise to the top. That's an unbeatable team, because youngsters tend to err on the side of bureaucratic ignorance.

Also, IMHO there is a sharp difference between Advertising and Marketing. Advertising is for the raw public, to entice them to try the product. Marketing is for repeat customers, to ask for their feedback to try to fine tune the product for specific markets.

Although both fields rely heavily on demographic data, they are IMHO actually as different as night and day, so that one is generally a specialist in Advertising or in Marketing -- but never both. (It is fruitless to compete against a fine-tuned specialist.)

Advertising is needed in all companies, and demands a focus on media -- print, radio, television and social media. It can involve celebreties and some glamour, so it is attractive to many people in that sense, and entails lots of competition and back-stabbing (so to speak).

Marketing is needed only in successful large companies (and is typically ignored in smaller companies). So, IMHO, your easiest entry into this new field as a financial specialist would be to join a very large and successful financial company, and slowly work your way toward the Marketing department "on your way to the Executive board room."

These days probably every senior Executives has had to have experience in Marketing. It is part of your future as an Executive, whether you want it or not!

Best wishes,
--Paul Trejo

Spencer Lopez ⋅ Hopatcong, NJ Mediacom ⋅ 8 years experience

Hi Chris,

Thanks for answering. Since my original post, I actually started working for a media company in NYC. While this wasn't directly in line with my original goal, it is in the same ballpark and I really love the company and what I am doing here. So all's well that ends well.

Thanks for your input though. It is appreciated!

Spencer

Chris Rosa ⋅ Newtown, PA ⋅ 17 years experience

Hi Spencer - In addition to all of the above good advice, have you considered trying for a position in the marketing department of a financial services firm? As you can tell, the competition for agency jobs is pretty intense, especially in the NYC area. I would think that a corporation would be more likely to accept both your service experience and your previous product experience as good qualifications. Landing such a gig would potentially give you exposure to how both internal marketing teams and external ad agencies work. A year or two in such an environment would put you in a good position to transition to an agency job if that still interests you.

Scott Lackey ⋅ New York, NY Jugular ⋅ 25 years experience

Hi Spencer:

That's excellent news. Hope something happens there for you!

Best,
Scott

Spencer Lopez ⋅ Hopatcong, NJ Mediacom ⋅ 8 years experience

Scott,

Thanks for following up. I actually had a great conversation with someone in the HR department at a large agency. This is the same one where I attended the workshop in October. Apparently there is a hiring freeze right now in the agency that they expect to be lifted in the coming weeks. But she seemed very interested in my experience and apparently received great feedback from those that I met during the workshop. So I am hopeful that something will come of it. The more I learn about the advertising business, the more I am interested in working in it.

Thanks again for your advice!

Mo,

Thanks for your input. Unfortunately, the only marketing experience I have is on the retail side of the financial services world. And not enough of it to be significant.

It's funny that you mentioned the fact that you hope others that passed you by see you later and say darn we missed that guy. I always think of myself like Tom Brady (minus the money, looks and athletic ability), a guy who wasn't a high draft pick, but when he got the opportunity, all he did was win. So I am confident something will work out and somewhere down the line, someone will say, "taking the chance on him was the best decision we made".

Mo Johnson ⋅ Dumfries, VA U.S. Army, Major ⋅ 20 years served

Spencer, I just want to say "thanks" for posting about your travails finding a job in advertising as a vet. Your comments mirror my experiences and lend support for my current plan. I'm still in the military -- "retire" in a few months -- but the initial feelers I've sent out have not resulted in much at all. Obviously, no one retiring from the military has advertising agency experience. Yet, we all need jobs that pay above an entry level position. It would be unusual for an advertising agency to hire someone without formal experience (probably without a directly relevant degree as well) above entry level. So, agency and vet job seeker are both in a tough spot. So, my primary focus instead has been to start up my own agency. Luckily, I have been building and marketing websites, e-books, doing SEO, SEM, social media -- all that stuff for my own sites. So, now, hopefully, that can be translated into doing it for other businesses. And, in a few years, the folks I sent resumes to will hopefully say "darn, we missed the boat on that dude...."

Anyway, if you have actual experience doing internet marketing -- you might consider just doing your own thing. Odds are, along the way, as you talk to businesses about what you can do for them -- you might get a job offer you want that way.

One thing I really HATE is wasting time applying to jobs and nothing coming from it. Maybe, instead, reaching out to organizations to offer to help them achieve their goals -- maybe that's a better way. We'll see.

Spencer Lopez ⋅ Hopatcong, NJ Mediacom ⋅ 8 years experience

Hi Scott,

Thanks for your insight. I attended a career workshop at a large agency in NYC in October. The people that I talked to said that with my experience, they suggested applying for AE or higher positions. Their reasoning was that shooting for an AAE position might turn off potential employers because that is typically an entry-level position and they said my experience (even though not in advertising) is above an entry-level position. Is the way your firm hires typical in the industry?

Spencer Lopez ⋅ Hopatcong, NJ Mediacom ⋅ 8 years experience

David,

Thanks for responding. I have applied to a few Account Executive positions that were are on financial services accounts. However, I haven't gotten any interest so far. The positions I applied for I have contacts in, so networking doesn't seem to be the problem.

In your opinion, how much is a degree valued as opposed to experience? I have spoken with many people in the industry and they have all told me that when evaluating a recent college grad with no work experience, obviously the degree is important. However, they have all said that experience counts for more, and not necessarily in advertising and marketing. But again I haven't gotten any interest so far.

How do you think I should be approaching these companies?I Usually apply online and then email my contacts (that I've met through various career workshops) Following up after submitting applications or inquiries (I am trying to balance being persistent without seeming desperate or pushy, but many times I get no response at all).

David Stokols ⋅ Encino, CA AMCI ⋅ 25 years experience

Spencer,
Account management is about representing both your agency and your client to one another. The best account managers also have a knowledge and interest in the industry your client serves. Assuming you're reasonably personable -- which I'm sure you are -- your knowledge of the client business will serve you (and the agency that hires you) very well. I think you'll be surprised how interested an agency that serves financial services will be in attaining your talents.
-- David Stokols