The Three Ways Into The Biz

UK based blog Getting You Into Advertising, written by Anton Reyniers, Sam Ismail, Will Humphrey and Alex Jena, focuses on student and graduate recruitment into our industry. They’ve got this series called “Star Stories” where big deals tell their tale of breaking into the industry. Seems like there’s only three ways: a real love of advertising; when all else fails or by plain ol’ accident.

A REAL LOVE – Simon Veksner, is a creative at BBH UK and also writes the highly entertaining blog Scamp. He said that: “I’m one of those sad people that just always really liked advertising. I even sang jingles in my primary school playground… I was quite academic so I ended up going to Oxford University, and then I applied to ad agencies in the milk round. I got offered a job at BMP, as an Account Handler. I think one of the reasons they wanted to hire me was because I was so enthusiastic about advertising.”

Read the rest of the story here.

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS – Gareth Kay, who is head of planning at Modernista! and writes the blog Brand New, said: “I fell into advertising by chance rather than design.I had my heart set on working in the music industry. I had my heart set on working in the music industry so when my band failed, I looked to be an A&R man. But after some work experience at a major record label, I realized it was more about business than the music, and the politics and backstabbing were truly amazing. So I began in my second year at University to think about what I could do.”

Read the rest of his story here.

BY ACCIDENT – Jon Steel, is Director of the WPP Fellowship. He said that: “I am writing this by accident. You see, I was never supposed to work in advertising. I should have been teaching geography and coaching the 1st XI cricket team at some leafy English private school. If I ever really had a plan, that was it… So where did it all go wrong? It all started when a friend suggested that I should apply for jobs in the advertising business. He told me that all the good jobs – and therefore the interviews – would be in London. And in London, he said, he knew a number of fun-loving nurses. That seemed quite appealing.”

Read the rest of his story here.