Top Tips for Securing an Agency Job

Advertising agency jobs offer employees a great opportunity for a fast-paced and enjoyable career, working with great clients at the cutting edge of marketing. Whether it's at an integrated agency, creative agency or one of the region’s leading media agencies, Emma Burke our Director and Agency Recruitment Pro, has put together her 7 top tips to help you progress!

1. Play to your strengths. If you’re a more creative and ideas led person, who dreams of coming up with “the big idea”, then go down the strategic, traditional account-handling route. Having exposure to “strategy” generally becomes more prevalent around SAM/AD level, but you can have elements of creativity and strategy earlier on in your career in certain agencies. Likewise, if you’re someone who is focused on delivery and quite process driven, project manager and campaign management roles are of equal importance to some agencies. 

2. Take some time to consider your 5-year plan. Would you like to be generalist or specialise in a particular channel? Manoeuvre your career to your interests and develop your skillset either in a single area of marketing, or work across multiple channels. Roles that are focused on a particular area of marketing, like CRM for example, are of great importance to some agencies and will be a good way of getting your foot through the door! 

3. Progressing quickly can be detrimental to finding a new role. This only applies to some instances, where you will be operating at Account Manager level in one particular agency, and you may be considered as a Senior Account Executive in another. As long as you are open to accepting a level below, in order to develop your skillset further, this will be of huge effect to your career and demonstrate that you’re eager to learn and develop.

4. Make notes on your key achievements. If you’re responsible for a particular client, perhaps a tricky one, that you have managed to turn around from a relationship point of view, or perhaps increased profitability with the client, make notes about these commercials. They will show a potential new employer about your commerciality, relationship skills and how you have managed to retain an important client. Likewise, doing this in your current role will stand you in fantastic stead and you could be on your way to that next promotion!

5. Ask your employer about your career development opportunities. Before coming to a recruitment consultant, be fully aware of where you stand in terms of development, salary increases and what you need to do to obtain that next level. It’s so important to do this, as a lot of people get frustrated and feel stagnant when in fact, they haven’t had that conversation with their line manager about progression. It shows ambition and the desire to succeed and progress within the agency.

6. The North West is a small place. When interviewing with different agencies, make sure you go to your interview. A bad experience or booking time out of a line manager’s diary to then cancel can have detrimental effects to your future with that agency, if there isn’t a valid reason for doing this. Line and hiring managers move around too, so you wouldn’t want to meet them in your new agency when you have previously not shown up for an interview!

7. Finally, if applicable to your agency, make friends with your Design Department! You’ll be working with them daily, so it helps if you have a complete and mutual respect for them. This goes without saying! Understanding your client and being under the skin of the brand will help brief the creative team. Also, developing relationships with freelancers will also help from a recommendation standpoint. 

Thanks Emma for your tips, really helpful as always!

If you need any more advice then get in touch with our award-winning recruitment consultants on 0161 833 1044 or email us at [email protected].

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