HAATBP | Kenneth Medina
HAATBP is a driving force in connecting diverse talent to recruiters and big agencies. Students who are interested in getting into the advertising world can get a chance to network, get their portfolio reviewed, attend workshops led by advertising professionals, and have a chance to show off your talents while pitching your skills and experience for the chance to get an interview with agency recruiters.
At this multicultural networking fair, I registered for the opportunity to volunteer. I was tasked with assisting the portfolio review, guiding people to find reviewers to help them strengthen their portfolio to be more attractive for recruiters. It was great to see so many young people getting guided by professionals. I was helped by other fellow BIC freshmen students. During the moments that were not packed with busy steps, I was able to get more acquainted with my fellow colleagues. I shared some tips that could just maybe guide them in having a smooth workflow while they shared their experience so far in the program.
I, myself, have taken the opportunity to attend three Here Are All The Black People events. I have been fortunate to form strong networking relationships with fellow advertising creatives. The One Club has really opened my eyes to an issue of great value that never passed my mind. Advertising agencies, as well as any other place of business, would be presumed to have equal opportunities among different ethnic groups in the community. That is not the case, just simply from hearing from fellow attendees at HAATBP can shine a light on simple workplace micro-aggressive interactions and negative feelings towards the advertising field. Only recently in my life, I have been exposing myself to the matter of the strengthening of marginalized groups through education, work, and activism.
I was fortunate enough to get reacquainted with some advertising peer with whom I had the pleasure of getting to know at previous Here Are All The Black People. Emely Elyshevitz, Creative Internship Manager at Ogilvy, who my brother, an associate art director works under. I got the chance to even learn more about the agency and their amazing work. She always reminds me to work on my book (a.k.a. my portfolio) while saying to
show your work through motion (GIFs), they show your creativity and give life to your work.
Make sure to network not only with recruiters, networking with other fellow peers can turn into opportunities. Networking is all about growing your circle of peers with whom you can share experiences regarding one’s education, employment, nuances in one’s field. Fellow advertising students can help each other a lot simply by sharing their stories. Finally, you get to make new friends who get you, that relate to your career choice.
Have confidence in yourself and in your work. Do not undersell yourself. As Kelley Garcia , Copywriter at Ogilvy, puts it:
Never Undersell Yourself
If you want to make it in the industry, you have to brand yourself and sell that brand. Having confidence helps a lot in being able to sell yourself to recruiters since they want to get a sense of your personality and be able to decide whether you will be a great fit at their agency. In addition, recruiters want to know if you are the kind of person who can create ideas that can sell and persuade clients and fellow coworkers.
There’s no connection too small – You never know who is connected to who and where people will end up
Carl Desir, Gloabal Executive Director, D&I / R/GA, recommends to continuously network and with whoever you can without worrying about their job titles. Also, to take the chance to network with peers in your field, especially colleagues who will one day be your coworkers or part of your teams, or even your supervisors.
Another lesson to be learned from attending this conference is the important of cultivating diversity in advertising agencies to create more equality in the corporate world. Listen to people’s concerns, whether or not they relate to you and your experience or not. Just as professionals began to notice and demand for more diversity in the roles of advertising agencies, events such as Here Are All The Black People have become necessary. One could simply say “why do we need a Here Are All The Black People?” without acknowledging the staggering number of black or other P.o.C. (People of Color) in the advertising field. Recognizing that there are marginalized groups that do not have a role in the creation process of advertising, strategy, marketing, and communications plans can go a long way. Establishing a more diverse workforce helps enrich an agency and the brands which the agency works with by creating more relatable ads and content that people can identify with. A lot of brands lack a touch of sensibility when approaching delicate topics, images, and symbols that can create a negative response from their diverse consumers.
As you continue your classes and advertising practice, remember to open the door for your fellow peers and to cultivate diversity in agencies and even on the client side and always
Stay hungry, learning and networking don’t stop after you got that internship or dream job.
