As much as I would love to say that just starting is all that matters, it’s not.
Where you start matters a lot.
Where you first gain experience solidifies your future path of experience and work.
If you began working at an ad agency and your campaign focused on advertising McDonald’s to five year-olds, it will be a lot easier to then work for Arby’s and Dairy Queen targeting a similar age group.
If you passionately support this advertising campaign, wonderful. But, if you’re like me and don’t quite approve of five year-olds eating that type of food, it’s more difficult to get an advertising job targeting the elderly for the fitness industry afterward. They are complete opposites!
Your first client will be your first real branding experience. Ad agencies looking for someone to target the elderly for the fitness industry (what you really want to do) is going to have a difficult time being convinced that you can use similar strategies on getting five year-olds to nag their parents to buy McDonald’s on the elderly and the fitness industry.
Figuring out where you want to start requires two things from you:
- You need to self-reflect until you’re certain you know what you want to do. No, it’s not seriously difficult to alter your path once you start, but it’s much easier to start down the right one to begin with. Backtracking only helps those who have lost something, not those who want to discover something new.
- Never settle with where you start. It’s easy to take what you can get when you’re first starting out, but I urge you to keep going after the position you want.
This isn’t just for those looking to go into advertising, it applies to anyone that wants to start something.
Stay Positive & Now, Seriously, Go Start Something
Garth E. Beyer
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