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Dispatches from the frontline part 3 – By @MrBenGolding

Ben Golding

By Ben Golding

Dispatches from the frontline part 3

So heres the third and final part of my dispatches from early agency placement life. Some learnings and thoughts to hopefully guide the rest of my classmates in their forthcoming adventures in adland.

Part1: https://schoolcommunicationarts.com/dispatches-from-the-frontline-by-mrbengolding/

Part2: https://schoolcommunicationarts.com/dispatches-from-the-frontline-part-2-by-mrbengolding/

    • Sharpen up your presentation skills. Its not just about making interesting work its about selling it internally and getting people excited about it.
    • When you first start, try and give people a reason to come and say hello. Food is the usual bribe, but come on, be a little more creative and I’m sure it will pay dividends.
    • Make time for serendipity. Thats where the actual good ideas come from.
    • Pressure in an office is different to pressure in the studio. Because the pressure comes from you. YOU want to smash the brief and get hired. YOU want to make the best possible impression. Learn to deal with the pressure; meditation, exercise and diet are all key parts of my routine.
    • Meetings are great, especially if you have a good CD. But, they can be shit. Really shit. Even if your lovely CD is trying to be as nice as they can. It all comes down to how much work you do and the quality of it. Do the work, you don’t want a shit meeting and the sweaty palms, awkward pauses and crushing disappointment that comes with it.
    • Not having your idea picked does not mean you have failed at your job. It just means that there are better ideas in the room. Make sue you smash the next one.
    • If your work goes to client and they like it, its customary for the company to extend your placement. At least until the pitch/work is done.
    • Having your creative director give you really good feedback feels amazing. Go and work on something else quickly and carry that positivity across.
    • Seek criticism not praise. It’s easy to confuse the two, but praise doesn’t improve you.
    • Know your stuff, or rather people, so when the MD speaks to you, you know its the MD and can speak with confidence.
    • Say thank you. Thank you for the opportunity, for the feedback, for looking over my work, for paying me to be here. Let me make you a cup of tea.

Hopefully theres plenty more for me to learn on the continued journeys and placements in adland, please post some replies of anything you think I’ve missed of could do with learning the easy way, rather than the painful failure way.

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