Job Responsibilities
Officially, I??m an Art Director ?? responsible for the look and
feel of commercials and print ads. I work with a writer to create
the creative and follow the process from conception to the
finished product that goes on the air?? that??s the official line??
but, my real job is to make my boss happy. What makes her happy is
when I come up with ideas that solve problems and sell products.
Ideas, ideas, ideas. I think about these problems in the shower,
on the way to work, instead of sleeping?? then I bring them in,
bounce them off my partner, and then we kill most of them or build
them into something presentable, then we show our boss, and
usually she is very happy.
Sometimes we will spend 2 minutes on an idea that will solve the
problem ?? those are the 2 minutes that we get paid for.
During the other 418 minutes a day, I mostly work on personal
stuff, pay bills, make phone calls and fill out REALLY LONG surveys.
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Job Requirements
huh?
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Uppers
It??s a pretty cushy job (we get paid well). I like coming up with a good idea
that is fun to produce, and actually get to shoot the idea and edit and finish it
?? then it gets aired!!! How cool is that? I??d like to think that I??m a very
creative person and that I could have excelled in a number of fields. I could
have been a fine artist, an actor, a screenwriter, an architect?? I COULDA BEEN A
CONTENDER?? who knows?? I??ll never know?? maybe later in life? But for now, this is
a good job, pays the bills and allows for me to grow my creative skills?? The
hours are (on average) very flexible and you can wear whatever you want.
I like to create things and show them to people, I probably derive too much of
my self worth from this process. ??look daddy, I painted this picture for you?? is
really where it all came from?? acceptance, appreciation, and recognition. My
commercials are seen by millions, they entertain millions (daddy included) and so
I really get to share my creativity. And get paid for it.
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Downers
I hate having to come in at a certain time, and do time sheets and
play by their rules and answer to certain people and put up with
the politics and personalities. I hate endless meetings about
nothing and conference calls where we all bullshit each other and
time just creeeeeeps by.
I hate the fact that you can never go home, if you go home or take
a day off or take a vacation, you are screwed. Nobody cares if you
are not here, the show must go on. ??Hey, you weren??t here man!??
is what I always get. Its stressful knowing that if you don??t
keep moving and pushing, that you??ll get left behind. You are
only as good as your last spot, or pitch, or idea. You are only
as good as your last meeting with your boss, or if you??ve got a
spot (or two) on the company reel. It??s the part of the biz that
is hard, and certainly will get harder.
Sometimes I don??t like what I do. When I feel that I??m not being
creative and I??m just pleasing my boss or the client or working on
a dumb idea. Those times are hard but they pass. I??m certain
that most of the time I enjoy the job ?? we have a lot of laughs ??
and I enjoy working with the people here. I would say that I have
a ??work family?? ?? I know that sounds stupid, but since I derive so
much self worth from my creative output ?? there is a stronger
emotional bond with my co workers than if I worked at a widget
factory. Anyway, I hear terrible things about the widget business.
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Lifestyle
I've already covered some of this. Flexible work hours, basically 9:30-5pm most
days, but some days are MUCH longer and there is no saying 'no.' But mostly its
pretty easy. I travel a lot on business mostly to L.A. and we stay at really
nice hotels and you are treated very well... no complaints there. There is NO
dress code. I wear flip flops, cargo shorts and white t-shirts 6 months a year,
and warm ups the cold months... its not about how you look, its about your ideas.
We do wear suits to new business meetings and some client meetings. Diversity?
Gay people are everywhere and accepted, thats the good news. Blacks, hispanics,
etc are only in admin positions... and its mostly white men in the creative
department. The good news for women is that the account executive department is
FULL of women (and gay men) and our company in particular is run by 3 women. The
account side is a 'girls club' and the creative is a 'boys club.'
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Compensation
Are you kidding? I'm not going to provide detailed financial
info, but I'll give you a ballpark. I started in 1992 making 23k,
5 years into my career I was making over 50k and 10 years into my
career I was making over 100k. I know Creative directors who make
330k, but they have been doing it a long time. Spot bonuses come
every once in a while at 5k a pop and end of year bonuses are
around 10k. New business wins can get you a 20k bonus. Raises
come every 18 months and are around a 5-7% increase.
Creatives are well paid.
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Advice to Jobseekers
Take a 3 semester course (longer than a year) where you will put
together your portfolio and learn how to do advertisng. Put
together your portfolio at this school, and if your peers start
telling you that you have the best book, and your teacher thinks
you are talented, then go looking for job. If nobody is telling
you that your book is killer... find another field. You either
get it or you don't and you can't fake it for 40 years until you
retire... you just can't fake it.
Put together a Portfolio and then move heaven and earth to get a
job, take planes, busses... sleep on peoples couches and never
give up until you get your foot in the door as a junior art
director, or junior copywriter. That is the job title you want
and it will grow quickly if you have talent and are willing to learn.
In my humble opinion, the future is bleak for advertising... Tivo
will kill us all someday. Large companies desire for '360 degree'
advertising also will be the death of us. Companies like Coca
Cola choosing to do less and less TV ads and more and more
'other'... event marketing, web based, outdoor and print, product
placement, sponsorship, etc... good for them... they are smart and
planning well for the future, but traditional advertising is going
to suffer and eventually die from starvation. So come aboard!!
We're expecting you!!!
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