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Even in NYC at a big agency we do not have enough POC representation. I can count on my fingers how many POC there are in creative alone and it is pretty abysmal (don’t get me started on the sea of blonde in account). Then we have awkward discussions that arise when leadership organizes creative presentations to showcase diversity in award-winners. We live in one of the most diverse cities in the US and you’re telling me you can’t find talented POC to hire?! It’s frankly embarrassing.
Your agencies are not diverse because of A. unpaid internships, B. requiring a degree (any degree! Random. Doesn’t even need to be in advertising!) and C. your entire H.R./recruiting staff are upper-middle class white 22-year-olds. You can hire all the diversity officers you want, but until these three things change, your agency will never be diverse. It’s so frustrating to me that so many people just don’t understand how these three things are causing real barriers.
I interviewed at a smaller shop one with absolutely no POC and got such a weird vibe from them. That’s how work like the Pepsi and Ancestry commercials happen
I wish I could ask “with a team lacking in diversity how do you ensure hiccups like the Pepsi or Ancestry.com situations won’t occur?” in an interview without looking like a disgruntled black guy. I’m genuinely curious how they would answer that
I’m sorry but the lack of POC in this industry at any level is way, way worse than the lack of women in the C-suite. Equating them is disingenuous.
And, the industry is 60-70% women and lots of shops have female EVPs and above. I’ve been working for women my entire career. Maybe had 3 male bosses and at least 10 female
Strategy Director 1—Use your common sense: why were you hired for an advertising job requiring a degree when your degree has nothing to do with advertising? A lawyer needs a law degree. A doctor needs a medical degree. There are degrees in marketing, strategy, creative .... yet in the advertising industry, none of that matters, just having any old degree is enough. Which means, the degree requirement is clearly not to prove proficiency in the role. The degree is for something else. We can speculate what that “something else” is. We both essentially agree that fewer minorities have degrees. So if a degree is a barrier, and the advertising industry doesn’t even have any actual reason to require degrees, the degree requirement should be abolished.
I am a female POC copywriter looking for a new gig if anyone knows of any agencies hiring.
I hope you aren't forgetting about other nationalities that contribute to the term POC.
We have one team that is African American in creative, but we have so many other nationalities and ethnicities represented that I feel we can claim diversity accurately. Our department is about 65-70 people.
As an Asian person, I sometimes feel lost in the mix when we talk about POC because often times it isn't inclusive.
C
IOC
almost all the POC at the first agency i interned at were juniors lmao how do i tell them that doesn't count 😔
I’m the only black creative in the building. Yolo
Lol, 4? That’s so many. My last agency had 2 out of like 50-60. And senior leadership was all white men.
Are you currently mentoring any POC students in middle/secondary school? Won’t change if you don’t start there.
No, but I mentor talented, full grown POC adults and they all strangely face the same roadblocks at a variety of agencies, ranging from being mistaken for custodial staff to being steered only to multicultural work to having to show up at client presentations to prove the agency’s diversity but not allowed to work on the account if they win.
Once is a quirk in the system, multiple instances happening to multiple unrelated POC at multiple unrelated agencies reveals an entire system that’s flawed. Mentoring all the POC middle school students in the world won’t help if there’s no place for them in agencies (judging by the adult ones being rejected, overlooked and choosing to leave the ad industry) as word gets around that for all the hot air about diversity, they’re not really wanted.
ACD1 Sorry you have to suffer this fool.
do you literally work at the same agency as me? because these are spot on for our numbers too
What city?
I’m at a 3% certified agency that has no women at CD level, just a GCD and a CCO.
Definitely, agreed.