I had the pleasure of sitting in on the screening process for the 4As multicultural advertising internship programMAIP Program . It is a fabulous opportunity for students to explore and experience large agencies at work and a perfect way to get your foot in the door (not the only way).
It has been quite a while since I was a student but the application process is not difficult and actually offers an opportunity to really show your creativity. Most of the screeners are the recruiters at the major agencies who screen candidates regularly so they are really able to judge talent that they would hire. Yes, there were definitely great essays and presentations and very talented candidates.
There were many that may have been great in this business that we cheered for but missed the mark and the point of this blog is to tell you things that you may never hear. What goes on behind the doors. The essays are crucial. You have probably heard this before but no matter how great your grades (also crucial) are or your ideas are if you can't write you are left "on the cutting room floor" . There are some specialties where writing is more forgiving - digital, media, art, traffic, design. But if you are interested in account planning or Public Relations and your writing skills are not impeccable, forget about it!
Your checklist before submitting an essay:
1) Spell check was created for a reason. Use the thesaurus, grammar check, please, please, please.
2) Have someone else check your work. Make friends with English majors, journalism majors or people with attention to detail and have them check your work. If there is a teacher (the person righting your recommendation would be a great choice) that you have a good relationship with have them look over your essay.
3) Do your homework on the roles and responsibilities - Beyond what you learned or did not learn in class do a little searching online. Look for job descriptions for the area you have an interest in. Go to Vault which lists careers, look on the list of jobs available at the agencies that you admire to get a better sense of whether that area is a good match for your strengths. We reviewed applicants asking for Public Relations internships but presenting copywriter examples.
4) If it is a multicultural internship your hardship story, while they will be sympathetic, will be one of many. Sadly there are many stories of being first to attend college in their family or lack of support. You will be in the company of many and companies want to know more about how interesting you are to work with and what aspects of your personality will add to the company in helping them build brands. It won't be because you are diverse and can add a diverse perspective. That is the point and a given.
5)Make yourself more interesting by bringing in related passions outside the classroom. If you want to be in advertising and marketing don't start out saying you want to own your own company before you even start. Do spend as much time learning and immersing on your own. You will be more competitive if you are getting some learning outside of the classroom. Help a small business build their brand, do some digital marketing of a website on the side. Execute a focus group or research survey for a company of fellow students and asses findings. Any real life marketing and branding work that you can do outside of the classroom working on something you are passionate about makes you interesting and sets you apart from those with only academic experience.
The great thing about advertising and marketing is that unlike many other jobs standing out and becoming more competitive means doing interesting things outside the classroom. Grades are crucial and if you are not committed to more than a 3.0 consistently, particularly in your core classes, you are going to have to work even harder to overcome that.
The industry wants creative, passionate students of advertising who are great communicators with insightful ideas who have something special to offer. If that is you don't let a poorly written essay rob you of your chance.
