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Got a random email from a supposed Amazon recruiter for a SDE position (which is not at all a fit). The email is amazon.com domain and there are no red flags in the body but it doesn't feel like an Amazon recruiter due to the tacky signature, etc. Has anyone seen this kind of cold-calling from FAANG recruiter?
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What was your “That’s it, I quit” moment
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If you two were put together as a team by your CD/ECD then that’s the end of the story. Be collaborative and work hard, if she’s still being a diva then that’s on her, not you. If your work wasn’t good too, you wouldn’t have been hired.
One thing to learn about jr/mid level creatives with great books and an attitude: 90% of the time they had very little to do with the work in their portfolios.
Agree- except most jr / mid level creatives I know the work in their books is 100% theirs. (Obviously with a hundred other people also involved)
But concept + execution very ownable.
If she doesn’t want a partner, she’s in the wrong business.
Like ACD1 said, do your best to make it work. If your CD is any good, they’ll be able to see that you’re making an effort and the AD isn’t.
Everyone has a partner in advertising, all the way to sometimes even ECD-level. A mid-level AD thinking they can fly solo indefinitely doesn’t know how agencies work.
Be wary of art directors that think they can write. Some actually can. But most of them are just full of shit and full of themselves. Watch your back!
The only helpful info in this is that some art directors can write.
I’m not sure reinforcing an ADs trust issues is the best way to approach this situation.
That is awkward. How did you find out she didn’t want a partner? From her or elsewhere?
Coach
As ACD1 said, it shouldn’t matter what she wants because the people who are investing money in the role determined that they need a team to service the client. If this AD doesn’t want a team, then she doesn’t want the role, so bye. Simple as that.
She may have been burned in the past. Best thing you can do is show her you can be a good partner and elevate each other.
Doesn’t want a partner? An art director? At an agency? I don’t get it.
Based on the original post she was hired as an art director so they need to get over it, and fast.
This whole thread is giving you advice based on here-say, don’t let it warp your impression of her before you two even start.
Here’s another way to look at it:
(based on here-say) she probably works her butt off and has been burned by previous teammates. She has probably contributed a lot to projects, but CDs don’t get to see the process from beginning to end. Her teammate may have been better at playing office politics instead of being a good teammate/creative. Her previous agency probably saw they had to let some ppl go, it’s possible her previous teammate was kept on and paired with a designer, so she got discarded.
It’s also possible she was under the impression that the creative teams in your current agency would be mixed up occasionally (so no official teammate, but she’d work w everyone at different times). Again, these possible assumptions are based on rumors, but it’s always important to ask “why?” and see things from other perspectives.
Ask yourself, when you saw her book, were you excited to work w her because of how everything looked or because of the ideas and thought that went into everything? This will show what you’re looking for in an AD. Then compare that with what she’s most proud of in her book and why she’s proud of it.
If I were you, I’d go straight to the source and just have a heart to heart talk. Just be like “here’s my strengths, what I need to work on, my expectations in a teammate, my process, my previous experiences with teammates that went well, and some that didn’t...” and have her do the same. It’s the most honest way to nip any initial concerns in the bud. She’ll probably appreciate the transparency too.
If you ever find out if this rumor about her not wanting a partner is true, find out why from her, not from someone else. Then, make it your goal to ease any concerns she has, build trust, and help her any way you can.
...
She doesn’t want to work with a writer or doesn’t want a dedicated partner?
Lol, if it’s actually true that the AD feels this way and it’s not just inaccurate gossip, then the AD doesn’t really get how it works yet. They will learn soon I’m sure