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Brand-side is about group-think and drinking the Kool-Aid. They often shy away from hiring agency people b/c leadership feels they’re too independently driven, won’t play nice with others, and will get bored easily.
Next time you apply don’t highlight that you won a gold. (Congrats btw, but it will probably hinder you in that realm)
Brand side peeps are too stupid to know what’s good for them. They want in-house, so who are they going to hire??? Agency peeps who know advertising? If not, good luck and suffer.
Pro
I got hired in-house with no referrals. Some of it is just pure luck, honestly.
My best piece of advice is to make it known that you’re looking to become an expert in one sector. Agency side is a little bit of everything from automotive, to fast food, to financial institutions, etc and brand side can see that as “not loyal”. There are a lot of optics in-house so go hard at the sector you’re applying to. Don’t advertise yourself as award hungry. Just say you’re looking to make really great work for the exact industry/brand you’re applying to. Make sure your portfolio leans in to the kind of work in-house does ( it’s more marketing vs advertising). It might not be the strongest work you’ve ever done and it might not be work that you wouldn’t think to ever put in your book but again, it’s optics. Client side LOVESSSS results so put in those KPIs, targets, stats, etc. The boring stuff.
I’m still making work I’m proud of, but agency side and brand side are so so so different. I’m two years in and am still adjusting, honestly. Brand side doesn’t care about a lot of the stuff that agency side does, so make sure you’re talking to the right audience with your book/resume.
Chief
I really think it depends what company you’re talking about, but as a whole, the things they value in-house, are not the same things that agencies value. ACD1 has a point. My wife used to work in agencies and she works in-house for a Fortune 100 household name. You would not believe the things I hear. I considered working there too at some point. Even had a couple of interviews, but I think they’d never hire me, and that’s probably a blessing in disguise.
Chief
@CD2 Yep. There have been a couple people who were hired from agencies, but they have SUCH a hard time adapting to that culture and mindset. They think “oh, I’m gonna change things around here” and then run into brick walls and dead ends. Then they get branded as trouble makers and get put into a PIP or just leave out of frustration.
Fortunately my wife has been able to adapt and speak their language, but it hasn’t been easy AT ALL. She has been there for 6 years and has put up with it for several reasons: the WLB is much better. Money is better. Benefits are way better. The stability (while a little less stable than usual right now) is far better than at agencies. Also, while there is a Game of Thrones level of politics the higher up you go, there is still better protections for average employees. As I’m sure you have found, it’s really hard to fire someone (this can cut both ways). At an agency, you can be fired on a whim for no reason. At an agency, if there’s a dispute with your boss, you’re shit out of luck and either you’re gonna get booted or your life will be made a living hell until you quit.
My wife had a nasty dispute with her boss, (who already had several documented complaints by her direct reports going back years). It got ugly, HR had to mediate, but her boss is the one who got put on a PIP and kicked out. That NEVER would’ve happened at an agency.
So although I would find it extremely difficult to work in that type of environment, and probably wouldn’t last long— I can totally see the appeal.
Yea I got rejected by Apple too, but the last time they said to keep applying so I guess I’m doing something good.
It’s always Apple. It’s so hard to get in. Got rejected too!
There can be many factors, especially for in-house
Salary expectations
Company culture
Expertise in the industry
Etc
Because when brand hire for in-house, they expect the person to commit and stay for a long term, unlike agency culture. So they have to make sure the candidate meets all the requirements and is a good fit and chemistry with the team
Rising Star
They only want to hire their friends
Agencies are like that too
I would say to focus on the voices who have made the move from agency to brand or know people who did. Very different ball game from the outside looking in (in response to some of the negative comments above).
I made the move from agency to brand and it’s the best decision I could have made. Both from a work/ life balance and compensation perspective.
Keep applying! You can’t get discouraged or you’ll never make it in. Keep leveraging those same referral connections when new roles pop up. A few times it came down to me and an internal candidate before I made it in. They always prefer internal, which I used as motivation because all I needed was to get my foot in the door and I’d be set.
You got this!
Check out this job at UM Worldwide: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4263748549
Two out of three interviews I had with Meta I was competing futilely with a full-time employee to move into the position so it really wasn’t available in the first place.  Third time I didn’t really want the job but found out there was actually no other candidates internally for a change so I took it.