By Invitation: Getting the job with the right attitude

By Tim Clark

I’m often asked how I got into advertising. The short answer: I was lucky to get an interview at London’s then top advertising agency and even luckier to pass it.

Fortunately, I knew someone who knew the creative director of Ogilvy & Mather. Unfortunately, he only granted me an interview because he felt an obligation to my contact whom, as I discovered later, he actually disliked.

To make matters worse, I arrived at his office wearing a suit and tie, which was appropriate for my first job in marketing, but the job I had set my heart on was in the creative department, where staff members dress casually.

The first question the tall ogre of a creative director asked me as he took his seat behind an enormous desk was: “So what makes you think you’d be any good as a copywriter?”

I was expecting this. As I passed him a few samples of promotional materials I had written, I answered (and which I blush to recall): “I like to write and play with words.” I thought my penchant for crossword puzzles might impress him. But he banged his fist on his desk. “We don’t play with words here. We work with them.”

He told me he had received more than 300 applications for the job of a trainee copywriter and had only six vacancies, all of which had been filled.

My heart sank.

Eyeing the cut of my suit, he added he could offer the position of a junior account executive.

I replied curtly that I would rather stay in my present job, which was untrue.

There was a long icy pause. “All right”, he said, “I’ll give you the copy test to take. Bring it back in a week and we’ll see.”

In the end, I got the job and embarked on a career in advertising that lasted over 30 years, took me all over the world and fulfilled my dream of becoming a regional executive creative director.

Now, I have far more experience of interviewing candidates than being interviewed, but looking back to that first dodgy but decisive interview, I must have gotten something right.

I was single-minded. I convinced the creative director there was only one job in only one advertising agency that I wanted. The writing samples I offered were rubbish. Yet, he offered me a second chance to prove myself: the copy test.

Why did he bother? Probably because he simply liked my attitude. Attitude is the most important criteria for hiring creative people in advertising. Ask any creative direc- tor in Singapore and I bet the majority will agree.

And it may well apply to other industries. If you have a portfolio to show for yourself, it may get you an interview, but it won’t get you a job. Possessing the right attitude will clinch the deal.

Being single-minded, displaying charm and enthusiasm, showing self-confidence without appearing cocky will endear you. You also need to demonstrate curiosity by expressing a genuine interest in the company you wish to join.

Your attitude is what will distinguish you from other candidates, just like a good ad would distinguish a competing brand.

Remember, with the right attitude you can sell yourself. And if you can sell yourself, you can sell anything.

Tim Clark has spent 20 years as Executive and Regional Creative Director with international agencies in Singapore and Hong Kong, producing advertising throughout Asia. He is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing Communications at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information and he teaches part-time.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Nanyang Chronicle on April 4, 2016, with the headline ‘Getting the job with the right attitude’. Print Edition