In my year and a half outside of the hallowed halls of Michigan State University and the posh wanderlust of AAF campaigns, I’ve trekked across the US for the fourth time on a two month “soul” trip, had a nail shot into my foot, assailed with “late-onset adult acne”, pumped gas at 7 a.m. for angry commuters, found myself living beneath a couple whose love for BDSM would rival Marv Albert’s love of panties, (never understood the word panty…a cute pant?) and helped my best friend rebuild his house, literally.

All the while I have searched for my agency job.

After seeing my friends get dumped from the Detroit offices of McCann Erickson, Young & Rubicam and Campbell Ewald, the ’01 – ‘03 Get-rid-of –my-prom-date-at-the-two-track-kegger spree, I decided to head West. I always liked it out here and knew I’d get a job in a few months of trying. I’ve always gotten my “job”, whatever I wanted, really, really wanted, I got. My first week in East Lansing, I moved into an apartment above the new Urban Outfitters and thought it would be “bohemian” to work at UO and live right above, so I applied and a week later got a call saying they were full. Minutes later I walked in and asked if they had made any decisions on hiring, my answering machine was busted and I just wanted to make sure. The manager fumbled for a list and in the act of disarray said to come in for the group interview. I went in the next day, sat in the front, answered the questions and got the job. It’s been that way ever since I started working; I always had the job I wanted.

I started by getting to know the Seattle advertising circle and attempting to insert myself with a door-to-door campaign. Loaded up with 80 resumes and a new Express wardrobe (Seattle doesn’t care much for suits) I hit the streets, every day, for a month. I started with agencies listed on various advertising group sites AD2, SVC, Ad Club Seattle, etc. and progressed outward to client side, PR and Marketing firms. A beautiful Excel sheet tracked my progress and my impression of every place I visited. The ones I liked were the ones I frequented, usually a month apart, and the principals were always the people I asked for. After three months I got my first info-view with Dick Hadley. He sat down with me for an hour and went over the current state of the industry, my pros and cons and fielded my questions. One notable act was near the end of the meeting. I asked him if there was a better chance for me to get in the door by offering my services for free, a trial period of sorts. Dick reached over his desk to a small shelf and took a piece of paper from a 12” stack and handed it to me. The name was not important but the fact that she was Summa Cum Laude Valparaiso and had worked for J. Walter and PublicisWest as an AAE. She had offered the same proposal. This was my competition. I flashed to the summer internship offer from Deutsch. The offer stood as such; I had to be there in a week, it was unpaid, it would only be 20 hours a week and there was no help for moving. I couldn’t do it, I had to pay for my housing for the next year and the summer was the only time afforded to me to amass that kind of money.

But, I could have placed it on my resume and it probably would have gotten me an agency job. So there it was, my long road and uphill journey spelled out by a resume. Dick referred me to a friend of his, Bill Fritsch. After a few calls I got another info-view. Bill had just opened a new shop and was starting with a few Health Care clients. Born and raised in Ohio, we immediately had a Mid-Western bond. We talked again about the Seattle industry, my lack of experience and the problems he was facing with a new client. He then referred me to Ron Elgin. Ron offered another info-view, covered the same exact things I had covered with Dick and Bill and was really fond of my watch. Ron then referred me to Chris Lloyd, his Senior Account Manager. This was kind of the end for me. I thought that our meeting had gone so well that this was the real thing, that I was going to be recommended for an AAE position by Ron to Chris and it was going to be up to Chris if I was good enough. I would dazzle him. So I went home and developed a web site with prospective employers as the target audience and me as the product. I did a photo shoot, SWOT analysis, budgeting, and incorporated Gorilla marketing and non-traditional resume take-one boxes. When the day came I showed up with a plans book and a break down of the website. I met Chris and went into his office, sat down and the first thing he said was, “So what are you here for?” taking it in stride I opened with the series of events over the past three months that had lead me to the chair in front of him. I then went on to present my plans book and self-campaign. He excused himself twice during this and after the third time asked me to leave the plans book on his chair so he’d remember it, asked if I remembered my way out, shook my hand and left. BAM! Self Confidence 0 After three pitchers and ten games of pool I awoke to do it all over again. Please, don’t get me wrong, these were invaluable meetings. They taught me how to handle myself in an agency setting with agency people, but my hopes were set so high and brought down so hard after I learned it was just another meeting for them.

Cont.