Texas Advertising Public Relations Advertising

Jef's Jiffy Job-Hunting Tips

This document is designed to provide advice for recent and prospective graduates of the undergraduate program in advertising at The University of Texas at Austin. However, many (if not most) of the suggestions here can be applied to people with graduate degrees, or even those in other fields of study. This pretty much summarizes everything I know about job hunting.

- Jef I. Richards

General Suggestions

1. Do Not plan on finding a job while you're still in school. Yes, it sometimes happens, but usually it does not. Job hunting takes too much time for you to be able to do it effectively while still taking classes.

2. Do be patient. It typically takes anywhere from 1 to 6 months ... I'd guess the average is about 3 months. It's not terribly unusual, in fact, for someone to look even longer than 6 months . . . getting a job depends upon how hard you work at it and, unfortunately, it also depends to a large degree on luck. If you really want a job in this field, my advice is to keep trying, no matter how long it takes. Don't give up.

3. Do keep looking, even if you have to take a job unrelated to advertising. Financially, it may be necessary to accept a job you don't really want. However, if you are truly committed to getting an advertising position you must keep trying. Virtually the only people who do not end up in this field are the ones who don't really want to work in advertising and the ones who give up trying.

4. Do plan on working harder on your job hunting than you worked in school. Seldom do jobs just drop in someone's lap. As one account executive said to me, "Plan on working harder getting the job than you plan to work once you've got the job."

5. Do get to know as many people as you can who are currently working in the field of which you hope to become a part. This is called "networking." It is a truism that it's not what you know but who you know. That's not to say that what you know is unimportant, however it is a necessary but not sufficient condition for getting a job. Try to meet (i.e., get an interview with) as many people as you can, even if they tell you don't have any job openings. It's amazing how often a job opening will suddenly appear if someone takes a liking to you. Even if they truly can't hire you, if they like you they may tell you about a friend who is looking to hire someone, or they may call a friend who will lead you to a job. More often than not it is your personality and apparent abilities that will cause you to get that job, not the list of experiences you put on your resume.

6. Do ask permission to use someone as a reference. If someone is offended that you used their name without permission, they may be inclined to give you a bad recommendation.

7. Do Not use anyone as a reference if you have any doubts at all about the kind of recommendation they would give you. I've seen many instances where someone on a reference list is contacted, and the recommendation is lukewarm or even bad. There are few things that can kill your chance of getting a job faster than a bad reference.

8. Do try to get written reference letters from anyone you know will write a good letter, and get it to take with you. Even if you put their name on your list, it is a good idea to have a written letter from them in your file. You never know when they might move away or get hit by a car. Just ask them to write a "To Whom it May Concern" letter of recommendation. This can also help in situations where there is no time to contact them for a new letter, e.g., where an employer needs to make an immediate decision.

The Resume

1. Do Not expect your resume to get you a job. It won't. The sole purpose of a resume is to whet the appetite of a potential employer, so that he/she will want to learn more (and, hence, agree to interview you). This means that you don't need to list absolutely every responsibility that you had in your most recent job. Tell the reader what your major responsibilities were, and no more.

2. Do Not state an objective that is ambiguous. For example, do not state as your goal, "A position in either media or account services."

  • This makes it clear that you have no focus or direction. I want to hire someone who is dedicated to their job, not someone who is simply exploring their life's options and who may decide to do something else tomorrow.
  • Also, there is a danger that you'll be perceived as a person who really wants to get into account services but is willing to use media as a stepping stone. Media people don't like employees who are merely using them as a means to get to a job they like better.
  • If you truly don't know what you want to do, pick one of your options at random (or where you think you have the best chance of getting a job) and then go after that job with a vengence. Don't feel like you're making an irrevocable decision. If you get that job and work at it for a year or two, then decide you made the wrong choice, you can always start looking for one of those other jobs. People frequently change direction in their professional lives. There's no disgrace in changing your mind.

3. Do Not discuss the obvious on your resume. You should include virtually everything that you have done & achieved, but don't try to explain something that needs no explanation. Provide just enough that the employer will know what you're talking about. E.g., if you had a job as a grocery check-out clerk, don't try to list every responsibility that you had in that job. This employer probably knows what a check-out clerk does.

4. Do Not bullshit. Frequently people try to make their previous jobs sound more important than they were. In most cases this exaggeration & hyperbole is immediately obvious to a prospective employer, and it is not an admirable trait in an employee.

5. Do Not omit any jobs, awards, educational experiences, etc., from your resume. Even those experiences that seem unrelated to the job you are seeking can frequently help you to get that job. Nowhere is this more true than in advertising.

  • Employers want a well-rounded person, with diverse experiences. The broader range of experiences you have, the greater creativity you potentially bring to your job.
  • You never know when the person who'll be interviewing you might have the same background, and want to interview you simply because of that background.
  • No job is unimportant. The fact that you have worked, especially when you are just graduating from college, says that you know something about responsibility. Many students in college have never worked a day in their lives. I'd much rather hire someone who knows what it's like to report to work every day, rather than get stuck with someone who has never punched a clock -- they are much more likely to be unreliable.
  • If you are applying to an ad agency, You never know when that experience you have serving hamburgers at Wendy's might come in handy. E.g., your agency might win the Wendy's account.
  • If you're proud of it, include it. Even if it does not fit neatly into one of the traditional categories on a resume (e.g., Education, Employment, etc.), if you have done anything that you feel was a significant accomplishment, find a way to include it on the resume. Either create a separate category for it (e.g., "Accomplishments"), or re-word the name of an existing category (e.g., rather than "Employment" which suggests you were paid to work, you might call it "Work Experience" which does not necessarily suggest you were on salary).

General Rule: No job experience is irrelevant, no special abilities or knowledge are irrelevant, and no particular interests (e.g., hobbies) are irrelevant.

  • 6. Do make the resume as easily and quickly readable as you possibly can. Most employers receive stacks of resumes each month. Keep in mind that if they are wanting to hire someone it is probably because there is too much work to be done by the people who work there. This means the person receiving the resume probably is already overworked, and really has no time to waste reading resumes and interviewing job candidates. At most he/she will probably glance over the resume, so make it quick and easy to read, to ensure that no important points are overlooked. Specifically, I recommend the following:
  • Make dates stand out. Employers, especially as you get older, will want to see if there are any unexplained gaps in your work history. Also, they will want to see how long you spent at each job and when you graduated. Don't hide the dates inside a paragraph or tag them onto the end of the paragraph, make them stand out.
  • Use only one address on your resume. A layout that provides both a "permanent" and "local" address is terribly common, and it screams "graduating student." Don't advertise that fact! Also, it makes responding to your inquiry more difficult, because the employer doesn't know which address to use.
  • Always list the most important facts first. When laying out your resume you need to put the most important sections first (usually your goal, followed by your education), and within each section you need to list the most important items first (in the case of employment, your most recent job is typically the most important). The reasons for this? First, because it puts more emphasis on the important facts. Second, if the employer does not read all the way through the resume or a section you can be assured that they saw the most important facts. And, even within a single listing (e.g., one job you had) put the most important things first ... this means put your job title before the name of your employer, in virtually all cases.
  • Make the layout attractive. Use some creativity and some thoughtful application of typestyles, layout, borders, etc. There is a halo effect that occurs when a resume is either very attractive or very unattractive. When an employer likes the appearance of your resume, he/she will tend to have a more positive attitude toward you. Part of this effect is subconscious, and part of it is because the time and effort you put into making this document look good is evidence of the time and effort you are capable of putting into your work for that employer and for a client.

7. Do think of your resume as an advertisement for you.

  • You want it targeted to your audience. The more you know about who will be reading your resume, the more you will be able to tailor it to that reader. If the employer is conservative, send a conservative resume. If the employer is creative, make that resume unique. If that employer is a media planner, for heavens sake don't send a resume that makes it appear that you're looking for a job in account services.
  • You want all of your "unique selling propositions" to stand out. That includes any jobs you've had that are directly applicable to the job you're seeking (e.g., internships) as well as any scholarships or awards you have won.
  • Proofread it, very carefully! Many employers feel that if you can't exhibit some care in proofreading your own promotion (resume) -- arguably the most important document you have produced in the past 22 years or so -- then they will not be able to trust you to take care that any ads you produce or documents you send to the client will be free of mistakes. "Attention to detail" is extremely important to employers. I've known many employers who immediately throw away a resume that has even a single typographical error on it.

8. Do Not fret about what color or texture paper you print your resume on. You want it to look nice, but that's all you should worry about. It is a myth that you should use a colored paper other than white. Perhaps that was true at one time, because all resumes came on white paper and you could make yours stand out from the pile by using a cream-colored stock. Today, everybody uses cream-colored, grey, pink, brown, or some other colored stock. If you want your resume to stand out, you might be safer using white. However, making your resume stand out in the pile is not what should concern you. Once your resume is in the pile (the tall stack), it is too late . . . you want your resume to have its impact before it is placed in a stack of others.

9. Your goals:

  • Give them a reason to put your resume in their "short stack." That is, if this employer receives 30 resumes each week your resume will get buried (and possibly thrown away) very quickly. You must avoid giving them any reason to immediately discard yours (e.g., typos), and ideally you would like yours to be put in a separate smaller stack of the most promising resumes.
  • Use it only as a ticket to get in the door to speak with someone. A relatively weak resume, showing little prior experience, certainly will not get you a job. However, careful strategic use of that resume might still get you in the door to talk with someone. You've got to get in the door before you even have a prayer of getting the job. Once you're in the door, you've jumped the first hurdle.

The Portfolio (creatives only)

1. Do read the bible of how to get a job as a copywriter or art director in an advertising agency: Maxine Paetro (1990), How to Put Your Book Together and Get a Job in Advertising, Chicago, IL: The Copy Workshop. Read every page of it and know every page of it by heart. This woman knows from whence she speaks.

The Cover Letter

1. Do Not rely on a mass mailing of resumes to get you a job. It simply does not work. Instead, you must target the job that you want, just as if you were targeting consumers for an advertising campaign.

2. Do Not try to re-tell the entire contents of your resume in your cover letter. Keep it brief. Remember, the person you're writing to is extremely busy, and so is unlikely to read a letter if it is too long. I recommend that you limit yourself to one-half page, single-spaced, of text. I suggest the following approach:

  • First paragraph: tell the reader why you have written to him/her. Don't make them guess.
  • Second paragraph: Make a brief sales pitch. Tell them why they should hire you. At this point you can call their attention to one or two points in your resume that you want to be certain they don't overlook. But mainly, convince them that you are bright and hard-working, and would be dedicated to your job.
  • Third paragraph: Set the agenda -- tell them that you'll be calling them on the telephone. Then, thank them for taking the time to look at your resume.

3. Do set the agenda. Don't leave it up to them to call or write back . . . it probably won't happen. They're busy, and they figure that if you are the kind of "go-getter" they would want to hire, you will show the initiative to follow-up by calling them.

  • If it is not a local company, plan a trip to where it is located. If you are interested, e.g., in working in St. Louis, plan to spend a few days there. It is nearly impossible to job-hunt by long distance . . . they'll want to meet you. You can visit more than one company while you're there, to make it worthwhile.
  • Tell them that you'll be in town from ___ to ___ dates. This lets them know they'll be able to meet you, at your expense, and it also tells them that you're serious about getting a job in their city. Upon realizing those two facts, most people will agree to take at least a few minutes to speak with you while you're there.
  • Let them know that you'll be calling them very soon. Figure out how long it will take for the letter to get to them. Allow them a few days to read it (remember, they may be out of town on business, etc.), and then you should call. So, plan on a week or two before you call, and tell them in the letter that "I will call you the week of ___," or "I will call you at the end of next week," or something to that effect.
  • If they know you'll be calling to set up an appointment, they are less likely to let your resume & cover letter get buried in a pile of other resumes.

4. Do Not be presumptuous. I've seen many students say, in their letter , something like "I will call you next week to arrange an interview."

  • Never presume that they will give you an interview. In fact, this is possibly the surest way to guarantee that they won't.
  • I would even avoid using the term "interview," if possible. "Interview" makes it absolutely clear that you will be there with the expectation of getting a job. If they have no job openings at the time, they may be inclined to turn down your request for an interview.
  • Make your appeal as non-threatening as possible. You want to talk with them even if they don't have an opening. In fact, if you can make them feel that this is not an interview, but merely a casual chat, both of you will be more relaxed because there will be no expectations on the table. I assure you, if they have an opening and you impress them during your "casual chat," the net result will be the same as if it were an interview. One thing you can do is make it appear as though you're doing research, trying to decide whether you want to work in that city or whether you would prefer a small agency versus a large agency.
  • Therefore, say something like, "I will call you next week to see if it is possible to arrange a time for me to stop by and talk with you."

5. For Heaven's Sake, do sign your letter! One of our faculty members received a telephone call from an employer in early 1994, asking what was wrong with some of our students. He said that 30 - 40 percent of the cover letters he's recently received were unsigned. This suggests that you are sending out "form letters" rather than personal correspondence, and the employer is not likely to be very impressed by that fact.

6. Do follow-up. Call when you said you'd call, otherwise you'll look irresponsible (or you'll look as though you don't really care about the job). If they aren't there, leave a message that you will call back. Don't expect them to return your call.

The Interview

1. Do your research. Go into the interview prepared. This means you should be reading the appropriate trade magazines.

  • For a job in an ad agency, I strongly recommend that you faithfully read the Adweek magazine that covers the region in which you wish to work. This magazine is regional, so it will typically provide better "intelligence" about who recently won an account and who recently lost an account.
  • For a job on the client side, I strongly recommend you spend your free time with Marketing Week. And, if you have a specific company or industry that interests you (e.g., the baby food industry), find out what trade magazines are used in that industry and read them.
  • Try to find an annual report from the company with which you'll be interviewing. You can be assured of accurate information from this particular source.
  • Try to find any and every bit of information you can about the company and its clients/consumers. Most people applying for a given job are pretty uninformed about that job and their prospective employer. If you can show that you've done your homework, it will be clear to the person who interviews you that you are serious about your interest in that job. Conversely, if you seem to know nothing about the company it can appear as though you are simply looking for any job, and that you are not especially interested in this particular job. When I'm hiring, I want to get the people who are dedicated to me and my company, not the people who are merely looking for something to do until a more interesting opportunity comes along.

2. Do try to avoid an "interview" atmosphere. This may be out of your control, and you should certainly let the interviewer set the pace. However, you need to be careful not to make it appear as though you are desperate for him/her to hire you. If the interviewer does not feel pressured to offer you a job, you will both be more at ease. Your true personality will be more likely to show through in such situations. In addition, the interviewer will not feel like an antagonist, and will be easier for you to make them an ally in your job-hunt.

3. Do carry a briefcase or folder with you. In that case you should have notes about the company (to refresh your memory while you're in the waiting room), a notepad (to take notes during the interview), pens (extras, so you don't get stuck with a dry pen), extra resumes (in case they've misplaced yours or want extra copies), copies of your reference list (in case you need it), any reference letters you've collected, copies of something you've written (e.g., a paper you did in college ... perhaps including a campaigns plansbook), a list of questions that you can ask of the interviewer, and a map of the city (so you don't get lost on the way to the interview).

4. Do take notes. If nothing else, it will make you appear as though you are hanging on their every word. Everyone enjoys feeling like someone respects their opinion. Also, as you jot down notes about their company it will be clear that you are serious about working at that company.

5. Do ask for their help. Specifically, if they have no openings, ask them if they know of any openings in other agencies/companies. Also, ask them if they know of anyone that you should contact. This is a good opportunity to build your network. When you then contact one of those people you can say that so-and-so suggested you call them. When you drop a name they know, they are much more likely to give you the time of day. If you can get three names from every person with which you interview, it won't take very long before you know everyone in that city who is in the industry. As they give you those names they may also give you an address or phone number, and may likewise mention a few personal facts about that person . . . write it all down. Keep careful notes on every contact in a separate notebook, so that you can find them quickly.

6. Do be prepared and organized. There is nothing less impressive than when an interviewer asks for something (a resume, a name, etc.) and the interviewee spends the next fifteen minutes looking through a purse or briefcase for that item.

7. Do dress & act appropriately. Over-dress. Even if it is a casual atmosphere, it is safer to be too dressed up than to be too casual. It is a sign of respect. Shine your shoes. Also, men (yes, this is sexist) should give a firm handshake. It is amazing how some interviewers will decide they don't like you simply because your handshake was something like gripping a dead fish. And, by all means, make eye contact all through the interview. If you look at your feet or the ceiling it will appear that you are either (1) bored, (2) hiding something, or (3) insecure, and none of those attributes will impress the interviewer.

8. Do act self-confident (but not too cocky). If you have no confidence in yourself, why should this employer have confidence in you? Give them several reasons to hire you, even though it may sound a bit like bragging. If you are confident in your abilities, you will have no problem telling an interviewer about them.

9. Do listen to what the interviewer says/asks. Many people tend to jump in to answer a question or respond to a comment before the interveiwer finishes, or they answer what they expect the question to be rather than listening to see what is asked. This is a quick way to lose points in an interveiw. Listen carefully, wait until they finish, then answer . . . and make eye contact!

10. Do prepare a list of questions to ask the interviewer before you go to the interview. Almost always you will be asked whether you have any questions. If you don't, you look unprepared or disinterested. Have a list memorized and ready. Ask about the company, the extent of its services, its clients, the department you'd be working in, the people working there, etc. You will definitely be judged by what questions you ask, so be certain that they reflect careful thought and preparation, as well as an understanding of the industry.

11. Do Not mention money. Try to avoid discussions of money, if at all possible. It's a distasteful subject, and many people will see you as mercenary if you bring up the subject. You really have no reason to discuss it until they make you an offer, so don't. If they press you about money ("How much are you looking for?"), then tell them that money is not your sole, or even most important, criterion. You are looking for a combination of things. Most important: you're looking for a challenge.

The Follow-Through

1. Do, by all means, write a note to the interviewer thanking them for their time. No matter how useful/useless the interview, thank them. I've seen students get jobs simply because a given interviewer was impressed at receiving a "thank you" note.

2. Do be persistent. If they don't get back to you, get back to them. Your purpose should be to keep your name at the top of their recall. Even if there is no job open at the time you meet with this interviewer one may open up a week or two later, and you want them to think of you. Consequently, find subtle (read: not pushy) ways to keep them up to date on what you're doing. E.g., if your resume changes, send them an updated copy. If they tell you to give them a call after you graduate, do it.

3. Do be patient. If an interviewer tells you he/she will be making a hiring decision soon and will get back to you, don't get bent out of shape when it takes a month. Yes, I would drop them a note or give them a call to let them know you are still seriously interested, but don't over-do it. While 2 or 3 weeks seems like an eternity of waiting to a student who will soon be graduating, or who has recently graduated, these people are trying to run a business and hiring may not be at the top of their list of priorities. The fact that you haven't heard from them does not necessarily mean they are not interested in you, it may simply mean that they have not had time to think about it.

The Offer

1. Do be patient (do you see a recurring theme here?). Even if it's the job you've wanted your whole life, don't accept on the spot. Ask them when they will need a decision, then take some time to consider the offer. This will also buy you some time to contact any other employers who may be currently thinking about hiring you. You can use this offer to pressure the others into taking quicker action. In some situations, especially after you have a few years experience, you will be able to use one offer as a means of negotiating a better offer from another employer.


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