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FCB Health Chicago - What’s it like?
Mentor
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It doesn’t really move the needle at that level. If it’s more of a cool project you made on the side and less of a spec brand idea, that is a bit more helpful.
Hey, CDs: Not everyone gets to work on big-name clients or flashy campaigns. Spec work lets us show what we’re capable of beyond the limitations of our day jobs. It’s about potential, not just past opportunities.
At a senior creative position, you should have solid "real" work or you're probably not really ready for a senior position. I agree with the others, actual client work doesn't always turn out as amazing as it could have without the client messing with it, however, that's what real, senior designers have to deal with. Getting the BEST out of a mediocre client or project. A good CD will understand that. A CD that doesn't probably would be horrible to work for anyway.
Whenever I see a portfolio with only perfect work, it actually raises more red flags for me in some ways. A spec project or two is fine to show the kinds of creativity you have within you if you really haven't gotten a chance to demonstrate that through real client work yet, BUT I always take that kind of work with a grain of salt because I know that you had basically unlimited time to work on and tweak that piece and you had nobody limiting your creativity, which NEVER happens in the real world. The might work for an intro or lower level position, but not for a senior position in my hiring experience.
Is it like you needed to fill out/360 an existing campaign? I have that in my personal book.
Is it like, we-made-all-this-to-sell-in-a-campaign and produced the campaign but not these particular pieces? I have that too.
Is it like sharing the work that won a pitch but never got produced? I’m considering putting that in my personal book.
Is it like here’s-what-we-shared vs here’s-how-how-it-got-watered-down? I’ve seen that backfire, but have also seen it work. I don’t do it myself.
Is it amazing unsolicited work for a small brand or one doing bad advertising? You can consider it. With caution. And only if truly amazing. I haven’t had that in my own book since junior/right out of portfolio school.
Is it unasked-for-work for a big brand already doing good advertising? Do. Not. Put. That. In. Your. Book.
At a certain point, a portfolio just looks like a bunch of excuses.
Coach
Spec work shouldn’t be in your book unless it can fool people into thinking it’s not spec
I’ve still got a spec print ad in my book and it hasn’t stopped me from getting hired at top tier shops
The key is that you've got one. I think if you have several, that's when things get problematic.
Not if it’s just 1 and it’s killer.
I don’t mind it. But the bar for what is good gets higher as you move up.
Beyond a good idea, I expect smart strategy and realism at that level- especially if you’re showing work with no real client barriers. So the risk is that if you don’t have those things, it could raise questions about whether you understand the world you’d be working in.
Not if its good. We don’t all get the same opportunities.
I don't judge the people just by the work they've been able to get out the door at some agencies. Not everyone has the chance to work on killer campaigns and designs while they're paying the bills. BUT, and this is important to me, they MUST show they have the chops to do better work than they've been allowed to do, and they MUST show that they've tried to push for bigger ideas.
Subject Expert
I wouldn’t put any spec work as other than a Jr. HOWEVER…. Spec work is very different than creative passion projects, even if they’re not exactly ads. And I’m talking about no more than maybe a couple things. The bulk of your book should still be real work.
But the purpose of these passion projects are to show that you can think beyond the scope of what you’ve been constrained to do in your previous jobs. I know agencies like W+K pay a lot of attention to things like this. I have a buddy who was hired there because he had some music videos he made for his band, as well as some other content. It shows he had ambition and drive to do these things of his own initiative. And also, they were good. His book had some decent real ad work, but nothing like what you would imagine would get you into that agency.
I personally have two projects like that in my book. One is a product I designed and another is an app I developed with a friend. They are not advertising. But they show that I can think well beyond that. They are well liked pieces.
I would be OK with one really good spec project but yeah I would be a little suspicious if someone was at the senior level and didn’t have any or very little officially produced work, even if it’s not the sexiest work or the sexiest client I would like to see that someone brought something From start to finish
Mentor
I’d question what they’ve been doing for the past 7-10 years if they are a senior and still have spec work.
Their real work should demonstrate their conceptual thinking.
Unless they are trying to make a move out of pharma or something.
It’s definitely weird. Why would you have spec work in your portfolio?
AoTY x4 if New York. Good stuff.
Coach
If it highlights your potential and you havent been able to get on the brands or projects you want-sure
No. Spec work typically, is more edgy, more creative, and does have more character and heart. Have hired diverse creatives for over 40 years, so, been there.