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“Can you show me an example of great teamwork?”
Me:
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You guys make fun but this is how juniors in ad school are trained to see the industry. It’s not their fault. OP, go where you can make work you like with people you trust. Failing that, go where they offer you a paycheck. Work hard. Be liked. Your career will be fine.
^THIS.
Chief
Ok, I laughed with everyone and the snarky comments are funny. But I can remember asking silly questions when I was a junior, and eventually being afraid to ask questions for fear of being laughed at, so I’ll bite.
Working at a very high profile agency like W+K will obviously help your career. But not everyone can or wants to stay there forever. There are really only like a dozen people who have worked at a place like W+K their entire careers. Then there’s the rest of us. Layoffs happen and you gotta pay rent and eat, so you have other priorities to think about besides how prestigious the next agency is. Sure, it can be a thing to consider, but it’s not going to be at the top of your list.
I have 3 friends who worked at W+K at some point. One of them only worked there a year. He hated it because he had zero work life balance and he was starting a family at the time. He left for a higher position at a lower ranked agency. After that he worked at a couple other agencies of decent reputation, but not 1st tier like W+K. He was my boss at one of them. He’s a freelancer now.
Another friend worked there for 3 years and made a lot of great work, but felt like he needed to do something different after that. He went to work at a tech company and he’s still making great work with a better life work balance. The third friend worked at the London office. It was his lifelong dream to work there. Once he finally did, he worked on the type of projects we all dream of. But his personal life was falling apart and got divorced after only about 3 years of marriage. He then realized he hated London, was homesick and left. He opened his own little agency and is doing very good work for very high profile clients with a tiny staff of 3 people. He’s much happier and has complete creative control.
So you see, working at a great agency is not so much the destination. It’s just part of the journey and everyone’s final destination may look different and not only is that ok, but pretty much everyone in the industry understands that.
What also happens to a lot of people that work at these handful of very prestigious agencies, is that they can get poached by another agency.
So if you’re working at W+K doing good work but working 80-90 hrs/week and you’ve built a killer book but you’re kinda over it and tired. Then someone from like VML or TBWA calls you and offers you more money, a higher position and a more chill WLB. And on op of that, they say they want you to help the agency win awards and make better work. For a lot of people it’s a no brainer. Many times you come out of a very creative agency but you want to work some place where you’ll feel you’re going to have a more fulfilling role by helping crank up the creative dial at another agency. Having more opportunity to shape the creative direction and raise the bar at another agency is a good career move.
This was a very kind response.
I did this and now every morning a small man bikes in front of my house and yells "shame"
i'd sweep floors at wk just to breath the same air
Rising Star
Touch grass
I agree. The best job is any job. Not very many people have the luck or privilege to get into some of these hot shops.
Hold out for a job in a top-tier agency even if it means missing rent and not eating. Hell, move to a homeless shelter and eat at soup kitchens if you have to. You’ll thank me later.
Rising Star
I feel like some of these comments are unnecessarily snarky for a genuine question from a young creative looking for guidance.
OP, in general, staying at the top tier of creative shops will probably give you more opportunity in the long run. That said, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. If you have a job offer at a less reputable one, take it and keep looking for something better. No one says you have to stay there.
Also, pay more attention to the creative leads on the account, and their track record with work, than the name on the door. There are some amazingly talented folks at the holding companies that you could learn from and make great work with.
Hope that helps and ignore the shade people were throwing your way.
Thank you for the offer, I’ll take you up on that.
In a better ad business climate it does matter, it’s not great to go down a tier. But this is not that climate
where can i see all the tiers?
Don’t know about Grey but lately BBH is killing it.
Rising Star
Who hurt you?
Just like everything in life, take the best opportunity available to you. Each person’s definition of “best” will be different. And your definition of “best” will change over time. If you can go from W+K to Mischief, great. But if you take a job at BBDO nobody will fault you. And if you join a business that treats you well even though no one ever heard of it, you’ll probably end up rich and happy.
It matters that you go somewhere where you’ll learn stuff and become a better creative. the name on the resume can help you get through recruiter filters, but the creative you are is what will get you jobs. I got laid off from droga, took a job at a smaller scrappier shop where i worked more closely with leadership, got more production experience and worked more directly with different departments and tbh learned a lot that droga hadn’t taught me
Ignore the snarky comments. People often forget that we were once all juniors just trying our best. That said, it’s not the end of the world if you were to go to a less reputable agency. Priorities and circumstances change. This market is absolute trash. Do what you need to do for a check. I went from a reputable agency to an in-house gig at a bank. It might seem silly to some but the WLB and pay was worth it to me. Do what feels right and try not to stress so much about how others perceive you. Chances are no one cares as much you do.
Rising Star
It’s just anyone, especially a junior, would be lucky to be employed by any of those agencies.
I heard the local subway is accepting applications
What would you all consider a step up from WK or at least a lateral move?
WK1 are you okay? That sounds rough!
Got laid off from an established agency where I struggled to get ideas made aside from banner ads. Pedigree doesn't mean shit if you don't have the opportunities to make portfolio-worthy work there
People think about other people way less than you realize.
Ok but hear me out. Let’s say the cool kids invited me their lunch table but then the next day there wasn’t enough room for me at the table and I had to sit at the random table. Am I still considered cool?
No: it would be fine to have a paying job at any decent company and those places in the scheme of things are established, reasonable places to work at.
Way to shit on 2 big ass agencies 😂😂
You just hurt John Hegarty’s fee fees. And demonstrated that very few top tier agencies stay that way forever. Does the name Crispin ring a bell? Fallon?