With summer nearly upon us and commencement speeches doing the rounds online, Iāve been thinking of the latest cohort of new grads who are looking to get into the industry and will be taking up internships and junior positions in branding agencies and design studios all over the world.Ā
Itās been nearly 20 years since I graduated, so my own memories of that time are fading and by no means rose tinted! Iāll never forget Mary Portas ā who erroneously hired me as her PA ā spitting the tea Iād just made over her desk and declaring it āToo weak to climb out the mug!ā. For me and my contemporaries, our early steps in the world of work were a baptism of fire ā highly competitive, incredibly demanding, and an often explosive melting pot of talent, ego and expectation.Ā
Inevitably, times have changed and, on the whole, for the better. My sense (and hope) is that weāre more thoughtful and considerate when it comes to nurturing young talent, I mean, even Mary is now actively promoting the Kindness Economy. So, to get an accurate picture of what todayās āwelcome to brandingā feels like, I spoke to Bee Eveleigh-Evans who graduated last year and landed her first full-time agency job this past April.Ā
āI was looking for a job even before graduating, as I wanted to go straight into work. After some shorter freelance stints and a remote job copyediting for a marketing agency I landed an internship at That Thing. Three months later I signed on full-time. Thatās the formal story, the informal story involved a lot more job search stress, a trip to the Edinburgh fringe, and a post-exam cool-down period where my brain was offline for three months straight. The whole process took nine months.ā
Itās important to bear in mind that job searching can feel like a job in itself, and often a tedious and disheartening one at that. As Bee went on to explain, āItās super intense, so give yourself time off to enjoy life and refill your cup. This is advice I didnāt take as much as I should have, and that led to burn out that was totally avoidableā.Ā
While burn out ought to be avoidable, thereās no getting away from the fact that starting out and being new to anything can be overwhelming and exhausting. And thatās before you layer in the rising costs of living in, or commuting to and from, a city where the majority of branding jobs are located. Beeās right āĀ go easy on yourself, and easy on the process as a whole. You have your whole life ahead of you to be stressed out about work!Ā
Once in an internship, the actual day-to-day can vary a lot. Some internship programs are well organised and structured, others are not. Having finally nailed Maryās tea order and tried my hand at various bits and bobs at Yellowdoor PR, I went off to do a monthās internship at Flamingo International. There, I was exposed to a broad variety of qualitative research projects and had a dedicated mentor to check in with. Even though it was just four weeks, thereās things I learned at Flamingo about focus groups and insight development that I still use today.Ā
Bee too is mainly given research-based tasks. āThe bulk of my day is spent condensing large amounts of information into understandable stories, drawing out insights and playing the findings back in a way thatās digestible, and actually interestingā. In this way, Bee plays a critical role on any project ā translating whatās going on in a clientās world into useful starting points for the work. Itās people like Bee who can surface that little nugget of information that shifts the thinking and inspires the creativity of the wider team, and weād be lost without them.Ā
On that front, Bee talked about how sheās had to overcome her sense of imposter syndrome so that her ideas get heard amidst the buzz of a busy studio. āIāve been very lucky that my studio is a bunch of genuinely lovely folk, who care about being nice and making good work. Nevertheless, speaking up for my ideas, especially in a room of people with way more experience than me, is an uncomfortable feeling Iām getting used toā. Fortunately, the payoff is worth it, āSeeing ideas Iāve had, and work Iāve put out, make it in front of clients is always magicā.Ā
By the time I got my first proper agency job at Moving Brands in 2009, I was more than ready to give it all I had and get my career on track. And the studio came up to meet me with equal energy. The pace was fast and furious, the creativity was off the charts, and the after-work drinks were many and varied. I did some of my most courageous work at that time, and made many life-long friends.Ā
I asked Bee about whatās been unexpected or surprising to her about agency life so far. āI think I never directly considered the moving parts of an agency, the multiple projects on the go and the way youāre thrown from one thing to another. In general things move both slower and quicker than I had thought. Things can take months to get through approval stages, but then sprint forward in a week or less. The biggest one though is collaboration, specifically in the way required by small creative agencies. Itās great! Working with other people makes ideas so much better and richer, but itās still something to get my head round after three years of writing essays largely aloneā.Ā
Which is the nub of it, I think. That joining an agency means becoming part of a team and, in many cases, a tight-knit tribe. Youāre no longer alone with your thoughts like you might have been at college or university, now youāre together with peers coming up with ideas. Itās an adjustment but a good and worthwhile one.Ā And one that might just be what becomes your lifeās work.
Hey, if youāre further along in your career and have recently received an email from a young āun looking to connect, why not reply to say hi and share a link to this post? Even if you havenāt got an internship to offer or even time to suggest a coffee, simply a friendly response will go a long way. Go on, itāll take two minutes. Itās good karma.
Before we go, letās hear Beeās top tips to those looking to intern at a branding agency. Hereās what she said:
Have a point of view and know what makes you special ā there will always be something that helps you stand out.Ā
Read the news, take stock of the weird questions that keep you up at night, people watch every chance you get. And have a good hobby outside of branding.Ā
Tap into your existing network, and if you donāt have one, reach out to recruiters and try to build one. I wouldnāt have gotten in the room without the good faith of people already there.Ā
Have your own projects to work on, inside branding and beyond. I write a Substack about things that interest me, which is a great way to show off my thinking without doing something that feels like homework.Ā
Ask questions
Be nice
And keep going!
Well said, Bee. And, if my own experience is anything to go by, knowing how to make a strong cup of tea might help too!