ugh

Kevin = bad, but fun way to deal with the situation. Capers = more likely to not get thrown in jail and possibly land a job. I say go with Kevin. Seriously though...keep in front of them. If for nothing else, to stay top of mind. Remember... it's frequency that gets your message heard.

Okay, if you guys don't think the "let's team up and charm him/her, with Dan as the target and the rest of us playing wingman," then try something else -- Get the HR recruiter/creative manager out, slip him a roofie, then the bunch of you throw him in a van and take him out to some hideaway abandoned factory.

Take tons of incriminating photos, and get his fingerprints on all kinds of crazy things (guns, knives, tire irons, etc.). Drive the guy back to the bar, and on a Sony PSP (to show you're hip and in touch with interactive media), show the video of him naked doing strange things, touching all the implements, etc. Then tell him, "If I don't get the job, those items are going to show up in bad places that will make the police have a whole ton of questions."

Advertisng is a fluid buisness, sometimes Hr people are told to start staffing up in anticipation of a win or a significant project that never happens. With your conversations, try and gain permission to stay in touch with them. If they will allow you , send them an e-mail or give them a call every month or so to let them know you are still interested. Unfortunately they get tons of resumes and portfolios a week, your goal should be top of mind when a position becomes available. Be persistent and polite and most people will do what they can for you. Good luck.

It's the game all the way around. Not just for the creatives. The worst "we don't want you letter" I ever got basically insulted the skills I do have. I later learned it was a generic letter everyone gets. The worst is getting completely ignored. My friend who runs her own company told me - "well - I don't call people back if I've already filled the position. I don't have time." That makes you feel completely insignificant. sigh

I always bipass HR whenever possible. CD's make the final decisions so I always contact them directly. And from a political standpoint, if the CD hands your book to HR to pass around it carries more weight. Even though it is just a menial event, the HR person is much more likely to actually route your book out of fear of the CD's wrath. And as far as prospective employers blowing smoke up yer ass, I ignore everything but offer letters. When I was full-time and looking for a job, I kept looking until I got an offer letter in my hot little hand.

I'm not going to defend the practices of all managers, but in many creative agencies, the HR and CM's are really following up on the needs of the powers that be. And I can't tell you how much of the whole hiring exercise is based on timing. (I've been trying to get into one agency for three years and I keep hearing about the opening a day late!) Many upper level managers will wait till the last possible moment before deciding on a new hire since it's really all about the finances. Were they waiting to win a new account, and then they learned that the agency was passed over? That happens all the time. And most ECD's have little time to tie their shoes let alone meet a potential new hire. How many times have we all been rescheduled three or four times before getting an interview with the top boss? I guess what I'm saying is don't take it to seriously, it wasn't personal.

Kevin--I know creative recruiters. It's not so much getting them to look at work and pass it along to the creative department. Something is being messed up in that process. Could be a misunderstanding of what their needs are, why the book is to be looked at, etc., or maybe they just didn't look at all and that's their polite way of telling you that "Thanks, your book now has 1.2 inches of dust on it, which means according to company policy it must now be returned along with ambiguous forms of encouragement."

Kevin-- I know who she is--or who she was before they kidnapped her and replaced her with a soulless robot.

Why not find out who the creative manager is at the company you're looking at, then get your buddies to drag him/her down to FuelRay on a Thursday, where you can work on him/her/ with ninja-like, multi-Adhole moves. We could practice this together, over drinks of course, then see if we can't make it work. Thoughts?

Who died and left them in charge? Oh yeah... common sense did... never mind. Seriously, why is it that you have to jump through hoops for somebody you won't even work with... HR, Creative managers... drives me up a wall. (note. I appreciate that HR is a valuable part of any large company, but that they often seem to bugger up the creative end of services, where skills and quality of work are a little less objectively defined).

I've had that happen so many times it's not funny. From an excited "We love your stuff, we're showing you to the executive creative director" to "Your book was well received but we do not have any openings at your level at this time." In a case where I was able to bypass the creative manager, it's been pretty much made known that i can never get a job at this agency while this person is there because I offended her so much by daring to go directly to the creative director. At a huge agency I used to work at, I was blown off by a friend/creative director and told to send my work to the creative manager, so even with "connections" you still have to go through them. Ugh!!