How many of you got in without ad school? How did it happen?

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I freelanced and got hooked up at BBDO. I had no in's. Being dependable and fast worked for me.

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Built a book and went to a portfolio review. One Club is great for getting started without any formal school

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Same for me

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This is going to sound like a lie but it is true.

I won a two week internship at a hiring contest that the agency did just to make an awards bait idea.

But the ACD responsible for me left before I did. So no one knew I wasn’t supposed to be there. I literally hid from HR a few times.

I just joined enough meetings and did all the social post copy until someone realised and they gave me a job

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i love everything about this

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For me, I read all the staple books and worked on my portfolio (that was garbage) for like two years while working at an ice cream shop, paid designers to make the work look pretty.

But my ultimate first break came via nepotism 😅 . One internship at Grey from a family friend and I was suddenly worth something. Not proud of that fact but happy that it was just an internship and I didn't spent 60k

Curious how any of you folks did it. Fall into a job randomly with no book, and no intention of advertising? Build a book and passionately apply yourself?

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I wouldn’t really call that nepotism. But, if it is, not bad in my book. Look, from my experience, a lot people get jobs from knowing someone in the inside cause we all know recruiters aren’t going to check the online job apps cause they get so many.

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Not technically “in” since I’m in-house, but I am in-house working on a huge brand, I’ve done TVCs, worked on a fair amount of bigger campaigns, and won some awards.

I was pretty relentless in reaching out and building my portfolio. I didn’t have the resources to leave my job and go to portfolio school, so I took portfolio classes at places like SVA and AdHouse. No knock on the current instructors, but I was fortunate to take classes there when people like Dan Lucey was teaching.

I was working in-house writing emails and banner ads and (feeling like I was) wasting my career away. After my dad passed I gave myself an ultimatum. Find a job in advertising in the next 6 months or find a pivot and find what I can do that made me genuinely happy.

I can go on for paragraphs but, I essentially came across a temp to perm job at an in-house agency working on their top brand. I’d be without health insurance for at least 6 months - which after losing my dad and seeing the bills roll in was pretty nerve wracking…and there’d be no guarantee I’d be brought on full time. But I bet on myself. Within 3 months they brought me on full time.

Been there for 3 years now. I’ve moved onto another brand within the company and not to brag, but I’m seen as the “voice” of the brand and trusted within the company.

Sometimes you just gotta bet on yourself.

likesmart

I was asked to start a blog series at a Tech company I worked at. I was an Account Manager there. I used my work from that series and some my published research from college to start my portfolio. I got my got my first big freelance opportunity by pitching myself at a babysitting gig. Then, a year and a half later, I got in with VaynerMedia.

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i went the long way round, built a book, worked a couple of small shops. focusing on just doing cool work (cliche yes) then making friends with people in industry (twitter, irl events)

soon your hear about cool openings, referrals are the way in

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Aquent.

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I was an account person, took night classes at SVA and convinced an ECD to let me do the social copy no one else wanted.

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I literally just fell into agency life. I was a waitress for 8 years. During that time I wrote a lot online (blog posts, freelance, etc.) and that gave me cache as a writer with a unique perspective. I popped my work on LinkedIn and an agency recruiter reached out in search of someone who understood the Black LGBTQ+ demographic. That was in 2019. I came in as a copywriting intern and now I’m a senior copywriter moving on to my third agency.

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I was in a bar talking to a stranger about the fact that I didn’t have a degree or a career plan. The stranger turned out to be a CD. He offered me an internship as copywriter. I had never considered advertising before.

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I was homeless and digging around in a dumpster fire successfully getting what I needed when a passing CD told me I’d be great in advertising.

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Teamed up with a designer at my college to work on my book after class and went to every networking event I could. Finally got an internship through a One Club career fair. After the internship ended I freelanced until I got a job in pharma and then kept interviewing and building my book until I could get to a general market agency. It’s been a real journey but, as cliche as it sounds, I just believed in myself enough that eventually hiring managers did too.

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Still can’t believe they have schools for advertising.

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Did a bunch of internships in college. Then, entered a competition to win a short freelance gig. Hustled for 30-days. Then, they kept extending me until they brought me on full time.

Got my first job via an Art Directors’ Club portfolio review.

I will come back to this thread !!

I got one of my first freelance jobs from a babysitting gig. From there, I kept building my book until I got a shot at VaynerMedia.

my partner and i made one good ad campaign in undergrad and the internship we applied for only required one example of work. 🫣

I did copywriting work for free for a tech company I was at. Then, I freelanced for a few years before getting on at an agency.

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