Five tips for making it to Madison Avenue
In this guest post, Aussie Julian Cole formerly of The Conscience Organisation Sydney, now at BBH New York, gives five tips to getting a job in a New York agency
It really feels like it is a great time to be over in NYC. Last month the city released the RoadMap for NYC to become the world’s number one digital city. Advertising here is bouncing back after the GFC. There are jobs everywhere.
For Australians it has become incredibly easy to work over here with the E3 visa. It is no wonder that you will find Australians in virtually every big agency over here – check out the list of 50+ Australians working in advertising in New York.
Here are five tips to getting a job over here:
1. Get in contact with the right recruiters
The right recruiter can introduce you to the best agencies and is the easiest way to get a job. A number of Australians planners and strategists (including myself) have used Kimberley Aguilera from Tangerine NYC and Stephanie Redlener from The Talent Business to land jobs. Find the right recruiters for your position.
2. Use LinkedIn to find talent scouts
Most agencies in the US have internal talent scouts. It’s time to turn the tables on the recruiters. Instead of waiting for the internal recruiters to approach you, this is a good time to approach them. Type in keywords like recruiters, talent scout, director of creative resources and the agency that you are looking to get in contact with. You would be surprised how many you can find and contact.
3. Clear vision of what you want and what you can offer
You really need to have a good hard think about what you want to be doing when you get to NYC. Roles in advertising are consistently getting blurred. If you do not have a clear vision of what you are about it will be hard for Americans to understand where you fit in their agency. Make a vision statement for what you stand for and what you are great at doing.
4. Tell your story
When you get to the interview make sure you tell the story you want to tell – have a clear way of showing your skills off in the meeting. I created a ‘7mins 53 seconds inside my brain’ presentation. It illustrated my best case study and then my thought process and what I wanted from a job in NYC. It gave the interviewee a number of angles for further questions and I had got the basics of what I am about, out of the way.
5. Getting jobs at every level, J1 visa
I think the most common misconception is that you need to be quite senior to get a job here. With the J1 visa, if you are one year out of study you can come over and live here and work for a year. This will give you a big window of time to cement a role and apply for an E3. Internships (which in most cases are paid) are the best way to open the door.
For a more comprehensive guide to moving to New York, you need to check out Mark Pollard’s ‘Moving to a New York Advertising Agency a beginners guide. He was the inspiration for this post.
Julian Cole is strategy director at BBH New York
Shut up!
The talent pool is thin enough as it is down here without you telling everyone how to bugger off overseas.
Then we’ll def. be stuck hiring Limeys looking for a bit of sunshine…
😛
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There’s no way I can make this point without sounding like an arse, but that’s never stopped me before. The premise of “Making it to Madison Avenue” is so depressing I had to comment. (Sorry Jules).
With the exception of the visa aspect, these are great tips for getting a job. Full stop.
I wasn’t fortunate enough to be born in the Lucky Country, but I actually feel lucky in that I’m thus spared the terrible self-doubt that plagues Australians.
Australia is a great country but sadly there are tonnes of people here who think they need to test their mettle elsewhere to be able to believe they’re actually any good.
Stay home, Australians, and be brilliant. Or go, be reassured and then come home…
Believing that the good stuff is happening elsewhere (and going elsewhere to create it) is what holds us back from being a real global creative force.
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Cathie, putting aside the fact that many would move to NY for non-career reasons, what on Earth is wrong with testing one’s mettle? NY and London are the common targets for doing so, but if more Australians had language skills, I’m sure we’d see similar articles re Tokyo, Sao Paolo, Amsterdam or Stockholm. And no doubt the local market would benefit from that experience.
I’m not sure I’m “plagued by self-doubt”, but I’m fairly certain I could learn a thing or two from BBH, as I’m sure JC will.
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The ability to count is clearly unimportant however…..
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Getthebasicsright, good spot. Now corrected.
Cheers,
Robin – Mumbrella
Going by awardschool lectures this year it’s all Brits and people from adelaide who are taking the lectures. Too late to worry about the invasion…
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Hey dude 🙂 I’m really delighted to get effective tips about jobs! I consider that easiest way to get a job. Thanks for brilliant concept 🙂
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Nice post Jules!
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from what i read Julian is a great self-promoter and good on him for continuing to do that while giving some useful tips for anyone with offshore ambitions
as someone who did just that some years ago, i do agree with Cathie that Australians are plagued by a self-doubt that drives them to ‘prove’ themselves. overseas, whatever they feel that means to them
This is just another form of cultural cringe. And what usually happens? the aussies get told hold hard-working and clever they are.
She’s absolutely right when she says believing that good stuff is happening elsewhere holds people back when at home
by all means leave Australia for the adventure, but not because you feel you’ll be somehow superior if you work in another market
i know this way of thinking is anathema to many people, but try deriving self-esteem from finding clever solutions to difficult communications challenges, rather than from the client’s brand or budget
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I know its an expression, but I still do not like it. Having worked at an boutique agency in New York myself for 6 years prior to coming to Sydney I can attest to the fact that there are no agencies on Madison Avenue. That being said, some of the tips in this article would be quite helpful to any Aussie going to NYC looking to land a position. In NY and plenty of other places, it’s all about who you know. Hopefully when you get there you don’t hear what I heard when I came here…that I didn’t have local market experience…HA
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So torn!
Agree with Cathie that Jules’ tips apply for any job/career seeking, and should be applied by more people in the industry to land that *perfect* job. I’m a big advocate for reverse recruitment (have some experience in it ;)).
But where I’m torn is that while I agree with Cathie that it is sad that “there are tonnes of people here who think they need to test their mettle elsewhere to be able to believe they’re actually any good”, and the ad brain-drain is effecting the Aussie industry significantly, I’m also of the opinion that we seem to be very insular.
We do attract great talent from NYC/UK etc, and they up-skill and share their experience with our local talent, but surely there is cause for gleaning experience in different markets and bringing it back home?
A great quote I try to work by is “the problem is never how to get new, innovative thoughts into your head, but how to get the old ones out.” For many people, this means soaking up from brains in other countries and markets that are on different points of the bell curve – NYC is on the hyper-growth point which leads to an entirely different environment (and skills) in which to create and work with clients.
I think the critical point here is we need to ensure we attract these ad-brains back to Australia once they’ve soaked up enough OS. Then put those brains to use mentoring young up and coming local talent to mature the Australian creative and strategy scene…
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Maybe people are leaving the Australian industry in search of better clients, bigger budgets and a more matured market
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Julian forgot Point 6 – come back several years later and reheat all the projects you worked on as ‘new’ ideas to Australian clients.
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a great post JC.
Speaking from experience of living and working in NYC, it’s where the idea and inspiration for TCO kicked off….
Different strokes for different folks.
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This young man is doing what young men do.
Every census shows a huge hole in the population. Young men traveling abroad.
But how lucky is he, to be able to return to the best destination . . Australia after wards.
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I for one want to vote for everyone moving their ad land skills all around the world. I I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t left a whole bunch of Aussies doing my old job in London. There wouldnt be a ‘shortage’ here and I wouldn’t get the opportunity to live and work here. Its one of the things i love about this profession that it can literally allow you to try out living in any country (within reason) you want. We are very lucky we can do that.
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Cathie, Sven, Tom & Julian.
Dinner on me here in New York. Entertaining, if occasionally wildly inaccurate, stuff.
Matt Donovan EVP, Managing Partner, McCann New York (and proud Aussie).
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Good to know that NY has made you humble, Matt. But rather than just impressing us with your title, would you care to make a point?
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As a former New Yorker I totally agree with comments made by Dan S. “Madison Avenue” and “Internships (which in most cases are paid)”…Really? Are you in some pre-recession time warp!?!
Great tips, but its ALL about WHO you know, and WHAT you know re. visas/immigration. And as Dan S said, local market experience IS very important.
While Australia is doing some good things, it hardly renowned for its advertising industry…just switch on the TV here! Australians are still a novelty in NYC, however as more venture over the less appealing they become. I found most Aussies I met in NYC had left home to get away from the “Australian cultural desert” and the last thing they wanted to do was to hang out with their expats…let alone encourage more to come over!!! Julian is one of thousands of Aussies and Kiwis working in NYC, however most just get on with their work and are far to busy to turn it into some personal PR story!
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The work coming out of New York (and indeed the states) is nothing special – 90% of the work I get sent is TVC centric work and nothing special. Media agencies there do great deals – not great strategy. Real innovation at the moment is coming out of Scandinavia and South America. The Swedish and Brazlian creative work lately has been outstanding, and the big idea for the last big pitch I worked on came out of Portugal.
Don’t think London and New York are the be all and end all…
(FYI – Aussie working in London for over three years)
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“Advertising here is bouncing back after the GFC. There are jobs everywhere.”
I call bullshit.
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As always, awesome of you to share your personal advice and knowledge jules. thank you.
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i think it’s great what julian is doing and i’m sure he didn’t move to NY just for work … it’s a great challenging city with a lot to offer and a heap to experience.
at no point does he mention he’s there because it’s better/more advanced that AU … he’s probably there cos he wants to experience the city, learn a lot and have as much fun as he can
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Nice post, mate. Congrats and good luck.
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To the 30,000 Australians already in NYC posting Jay-Z and Frank Sinatra on their facebook walls daily. PLEASE STOP!
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The self promotion is so transparent, here’s a tip….stop the profile building in australian trade press for a few years…focus on your work at bbh….do some great things and then be discovered……good luck and go hard
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Big shot Donovan….lose the fancy meaningless title and try and get a job at real agency champ…. Mccanns ain’t going to cut the mustard when you eventually try and cash in your chips in Sydney….
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All hail JC, the Messiah of Madison Avenue! The likeness is uncanny…
http://www.visualphotos.com/ph.....029743.jpg
In all seriousness though mate, good on you.
Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
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Word of advice for E3 applcations. Make sure you have at least 3 years agency experience before applying for a job in the US under this Visa. Usually degrees in Aus are three years in length, so US immigration don’t see it as equivalent to a 4 year bachelor degree which is the norm in the states. You need at least 3 years of professional experience to account for the missing year of study. Even safer would be to hire an immigration lawyer here to ensure all your details are up to scratch.
Nothing worse than getting over there and getting a job only to be knocked back, believe me.
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Actually scrap that nothing worse comment, its a great experience to get over there anyway.
And if it doesn’t work out and things here remain equal, with a bit of luck you’ll be welcomed back to the Aus market with open arms.
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Julian your 50+ E3 winners list is a bit haphazard. What’s with putting Ben Clare before Leo Premutico? Really? The guy is his boss.
Seems like the giant wash of Aussies moving to NYC has to do with it being the ‘cool’ city more than anything else. You could easily test your mettle in somewhere like Amsterdam, the difference is you won’t be living in a walk up in Williamsburg and drinking at the Standard, and posting about it on Facebook every 2 hours.
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