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Current and Ex-Chewy, Inc. folks in corporate roles…Can you please share your honest feedback about the company? The work culture, bureaucracy, management style, work life balance, pay structure and growth prospects? Reading mixed opinions on different platforms so need some clarity. Appreciate it.
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Assuming you’re wanting to learn what portfolio school teaches you, rather than become a thought leader on X, there are ways to do that.
Portfolio school is largely about getting good briefs to work on and receiving feedback about your ideas and executions off those briefs.
You can simulate this process by developing relationships with senior creatives (ACDs, CDs and ECDs). Like a bite-sized mentorship without a long term commitment on their end.
Reach out to anyone at that level who you already know or want to know and simply ask them if they have half an hour to spare. Tell them you don’t have access to a portfolio school so you’d appreciate it if they can share an old (no longer live) creative brief. Preferably about a product or service with a good offer or point of difference. I say old because they’re not paying you so you don’t want to compete with their teams.
Then write to that brief and ask if you can catch up for half an hour and present your ideas for feedback.
This was a common thing to do when I was starting out and it helped me and many of my peers get their first jobs. Not everyone will help, so it’s a game of numbers. Try asking five or ten people and don’t be offended if they ignore you. Many have just been laid off or feel like they’re about to be. They may not have this on Linkedin but it’s happening. Someone will appreciate your initiative and that’s all you need.
Good luck. Hope this helps!
Also thanks for your thoughtful response
Lots of people got into the industry without. Sure, those programs offer some sort of back-door intros.
But with social media and specifically Twitter (X) these days, I actually think your reach is ways better.
On X, I would do the folllowing:
1. Get Premium. This gives you an unfair advantage. It’s not mandatory, but all steps after this are amplified by this choice.
2. Follow everyone who is a big name in advertising. Decide where you want to work, and which CDs. Find their accounts and deep dive (READ: do not over-interact with their content or harass them with likes. Study what they post.)
3. Set up your account. Pin a tweet about how you are an ad creative looking for your break into advertising and this account is your portfolio where you share work/insights/breakdown.
4. Start to post daily, and interact with industry news daily. This compounds. Follow the same posting style as the CDs you’re after.
5. Keep going until you get significant reach. This is the playbook.
Thank you! I understand your approach it’s a unique way to get attention. Everyone uses inboxes on LinkedIn and even pages on Instagram. From a visual perspective this makes sense. What advice would you have for a copywriter on X??
If you are a good writer or graphic designer. You can get hired without good portfolio.
Where do you display your work though?? How do people know of your work
Don’t go into advertising. It’s a sinking industry.
Why? The industry is not doing well. That’s a known fact. It is shrinking. Agencies are merging, legacy agencies are being folded, more layoffs, less jobs available, salaries are worse. It’s a very unstable field right now whether employed or unemployed. If you’re studying I would pivot career options or find a back up option.
Entering at 35 is not smart. Especially if you want to save money for the future.