“Be passionate, be opinionated and always be a problem-solver“. So said our panel at last night’s filmed careers event and launch of WEXO TV, ‘How I Made it in Advertising‘. We were lucky enough to get an intimate and entertaining careers chat from five pros in the advertising world, jam-packed with practical advice and anecdotal lessons. The Tabernacle in Notting Hill hosted our evening in its beautiful and embellished theatre.

On the panel sat Julian Diment (Carphone Warehouse), Rebecca Robins (Interbrand), Nick Foster (T-Mobile), Tanya Hamilton-Smith (JWT) and Robin Garton (MBA). Collectively they’ve worked for and with the likes of Saatchi & Saatchi, Publicis, Tesco, Orange, Andrex and Reuters. A pretty impressive but instantly likeable bunch, if we ever met one.

Our audience consisted of everyone from LSE undergraduates, Masters students and careers advisers for schoolchildren to keen WEXO members who’d travelled from as far as Cardiff! Needless to say the atmosphere in the Tabernacle was rather electric, with guests in the running to win a work’s week experience in advertising particularly excited. To begin, each of our speakers zipped us through their background, and how they found themselves on their current career paths. A few central themes arose, which anyone looking to delve into the advertising should consider noting. Pens at the ready:

1. Follow your instincts. When it comes to joining a team, go with people you instantly feel you can gel with. If you’re pretending to be someone you’re not, it’ll show in no time.
2. Relationships are key. Care about the people and brands you work for. Not in a sentimental sense, but in terms of genuinely wanting to push forward their agenda. Those relationships will form the core of your contact base in time.
3. Do your research. Know the brands or companies you aspire to work with, before you find yourself in that interview you worked so hard to nab. With LinkedIn, Facebook and Google at your disposal, any failure to read up will tend to reflect badly on your preparation.
4. Don’t be a slave to the numbers. When you’ve got an idea in a creative position, it’s vital to balance both your own gut feeling and the anticipated demand from market research. You’ll sell yourself short by only responding to one or the other.

After learning how each speaker ‘made it’ in advertising on their own paths we then enjoyed the Q&A session. While I tweeted furiously throughout, our audience came through with questions on the prevalence of social media, importance of corporate social responsibility and recommended academic paths to advertising jobs.

Some particular crackers included a question on whether the panel members would have handled the John Lewis ‘freezing dog’ Christmas ad differently and a personal question about why so few of the panel seemed to be on Twitter themselves! These two are in fact our winning questions for the event: in our promo we had advertised a week’s work experience and subscription (worth £800) to The Reel. We’re happy to announce that Debra Sherman and Lucy Hine are our two winners, and more details will be coming their way today. Well done!

As the Q&A went on, similar themes started to crop up while the panel used stories of their own experiences to illustrate their points. It was particularly interesting to hear about Garton’s adventurous approach to adverts when contrasted with Hamilton-Smith’s self-described ’safe’ angle. Knowing we were sat with one of the brains behind Orange Wednesdays (Diment) was also impressive and inspirational.

All in all, the gist seemed to be: use your skills, resources and creativity to push yourself towards the department you’d work best in. Although the advertising industry is so varied, finding oneself in the wrong area could be disastrous and personally unfulfilling.

WEXO Members can watch the entire event on WEXO TV here or break it down into clips of the Q&As.

Tshepo Mokoena

photo: ohpleasepeas - photobucket

IT LOOKS as if the journalism industry might be going through a similar crisis to that of the music industry a few years ago. With so much available on the internet for free, nobody wants to pay for content at a time with an increased number of aspiring journos. Something has to give. The widely believed theory of if you work hard enough for something then you will achieve it simply cannot work for everyone, no matter how brilliant nor hard working you are.


That’s the bad news. The good news is that if you are looking for a creative, varied job where you meet lots of people, there are many different types of role out there. You can have a fish for various different media internships and practical experience here via the search on the homepage.


Whatever area of journalism that’s for you it’s becoming more and more likely you will now need a vocational qualification from the NCTJ (The National Council for the Training of Journalists).

Here’s there site – http://www.nctj.com/. Checking out their website should be your first stop in taking your career in journalism seriously. Even if you decide not to go for a post grad NCTJ course it’s a great place to get information about getting into the industry and the skills that look attractive to employers.

General Tips:

- DO work experience. If you can, try to get some work experience before you leave university when funding is less of an issue.
- DO speak to people in the industry you want to work in. BUT be very careful, specifics of how to get into the industry may have changed. A lot of people will say they didn’t need a qualification for example but the media industry is changing at a dramatic rate.
- DO lots and lots of writing. Start a blog and write as often as you can. Carry a notebook around with you and be thinking of ways to write about the things you see or inspire you.
- DO when you hear tips that could help… actually do them. Force yourself to write AND keep it up, you are guaranteed to feel the benefit. Thinking of ways to improve is one thing, doing it is another.
- DO become an expert in a chosen field. Whether it’s politics or fashion, expertise in a specific area is valuable and will make you more employable.

Where famous gonzo journalist Hunter Thompson wrote his best

But of course as you know, there are different types of journalism. Here are some great places to start to develop your interest.

Newspaper journalism
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/p/types_of_job/newspaper_journalist_job_description.jsp

Broadcast journalism
http://www.bjtc.org.uk/

Magazine journalism
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/p/types_of_job/magazine_journalist_job_description.jsp

Speak to other students about anything (we love this site). Whatever you want to talk about, you can discuss it with other students.
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=42986

Here’s another article with some great tips, but have a look around, there are lots. And when you find them post them up here for all to share!

http://www.studenttimes.org/st_career/article.php?article_id=423

Give us your own tips or tell other people about your experiences. We love to hear your comments.