Taking a Flyer
A good 30% of advertising and marketing industry professionals I meet or have worked with over the years lack marketing or advertising degrees. And a few either didn’t go at all or attended but didn’t finish college but that seldom stopped them from working in the industry. Marketing and advertising is often about creativity and people and sometimes you really don’t need a 4-year degree to understand either.
In fact, many companies often ‘take a flyer’ on candidates who lack the textbook credentials but show great upside and ability to learn on the go. I’ve worked with numerous account execs whose only training was in sales or retail. I’ve worked with media buyers and planners who were hired strictly because they were good at math and loved pop culture and watching TV.
I also met my share of creatives that were hired based on the “a great ad is a great ad even if it’s written on a cocktail napkin” philosophy: In lieu of the standard copywriter/art director's portfolio they were hired based on portfolios filled with non-advertising stuff such as poetry, film scripts, short stories and op-ed columns or paintings, crazy designs and illustrations.
Now there’s nothing wrong with any of that as many of them went on to become successful professionals. But in 15 years I only met one minority with such a background. Every other minority professional I knew had industry-specific backgrounds and degrees. Why? Because companies warned them that they wouldn’t get hired any other way.
In recent years, a few marketing companies have taken flyers on minorities whose sole marketing experience is their connections to hip-hop, sports, or entertainment—most notably Spike Lee, who was able to start his own ad agency (Spike/DDB) primarily because several DDB Needham clients wanted him to direct their commercials. So have P. Diddy, Russell Simmons and others in hiphop. But save for the occasional minority with cultural cache that can be co-opted, professionals of color seldom benefit from “take a flyer” hiring.
I also met my share of creatives that were hired based on the “a great ad is a great ad even if it’s written on a cocktail napkin” philosophy: In lieu of the standard copywriter/art director's portfolio they were hired based on portfolios filled with non-advertising stuff such as poetry, film scripts, short stories and op-ed columns or paintings, crazy designs and illustrations.
Now there’s nothing wrong with any of that as many of them went on to become successful professionals. But in 15 years I only met one minority with such a background. Every other minority professional I knew had industry-specific backgrounds and degrees. Why? Because companies warned them that they wouldn’t get hired any other way.
In recent years, a few marketing companies have taken flyers on minorities whose sole marketing experience is their connections to hip-hop, sports, or entertainment—most notably Spike Lee, who was able to start his own ad agency (Spike/DDB) primarily because several DDB Needham clients wanted him to direct their commercials. So have P. Diddy, Russell Simmons and others in hiphop. But save for the occasional minority with cultural cache that can be co-opted, professionals of color seldom benefit from “take a flyer” hiring.
