I’ve been in the industry for coming up to nine months now and oh, what a journey it has been. I started withe Altogether Digital back in May 2007 having come straight from the University of Creative Arts, where I studied Advertising and Brand Management. So I’d say I was pretty prepared for the transition from straight-laced studies to the sexy lifestyle of advertising.

It’s also worth mentioning that I started my mountain climb some eight months before leaving uni to avoid the scary scenario of having to stand in front of Creative Directors and Managing Directors and listing my USP’s, only to be torn apart and brought to tears. But I actually set a personal goal to finish studying and have a job to walk straight in to. Thankfully I was successful in my mission (10 bonus points for me!)

The interview process was not an easy one. Maybe I was asking for a lot. I hadn’t finished my degree and was basically asking agencies to promise to take me on six months in advance of graduating, on the basis of my work throughout my degree and a verbal promise to work my backside off regardless of the clients I ended up working with. Nonetheless it helped me to grow a cast-iron backbone and made me realise what I have to offer on paper qualification wise isn’t ‘the key’, something my parents had drummed into me for all my twenty one years of my living life.

Experience was the butt of every conversation; without that I wasn’t going to get anywhere. I only had a few months under my belt; a month’s work placement at a New Media Agency followed by some online community marketing for the same firm during the summer; 2 weeks at a branding agency; and 3 months doing visual merchandising for a huge department store on Oxford Circus. But this was still proving not to be enough.

The requirements most agencies had were:

• Relevant or transferable qualification – check
• Understanding of Agency processes – check
• Willingness to start at the lower end of the hierarchy table - check
• And a year’s work experience…

I’d say to myself ‘If they give me the chance, maybe I’d get the experience!’ I went for every vacancy I was offered; if not for real opportunities then at least to improve my technique in interviews (or good ol’ grillings, as most of them turned out to be). And I’m glad I did, because by the time I came across what proved to be the most challenging interview, it turned out to be with the agency that ended up giving me the opportunity I needed and putting its trust in me; right here at Altogether Digital.

So, nine months on, what is it actually like to work in the industry?

I won’t lie, there’s a lot of hard work, there’s a lot of proving yourself to those above you and building trust so that you can take on more responsibilities to get on the more exciting projects. I work as an Account Executive so I work across many projects and trying to excel in any particular one can be difficult sometimes when there are so many items to stay on top of. The job role has taken my organisation skills to a whole new level as being able to prioritise is crucial to everyday activity. Do not fear however, it’s not an all work, no play area!

There is a huge social element to working here. My fellow colleagues would say I’ve now gone over to the dark side… I quite like it there! It’s great to be with such a wide range of people (designers, account managers, consultants and developers included) and all be able to get on so well and to appreciate each others talents.

Some projects I have been fortunate enough to work on since starting have been Beck’s Fusions, Bupa, Nokia Siemens, Littlewoods and many internal Engine Group projects such as Abbey and, aptly enough, the new Graduate Recruitment programme.

I sit at my desk returning emails to clients and colleagues, writing up notes from meetings, checking my deadlines for the day and reading the Digital Bulletin from yesterday, which I didn’t have time to read at the time. My desk is scattered with an array of beer bottles, files of organised work for current running projects, fruit to top up my healthy points through-out the day, self moulded blue-tac shapes around my computer screen, and a sweet drawer for my ‘tea at three’ kick… music streaming through my ears, head nodding to the tunes… what more could I ask for on a Friday afternoon?

Header image: wili_hybrid at Flickr

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