Two new books tackle the delicate art of getting and keeping a career in the advertising industry. I haven’t gotten a copy of either of these (according to Amazon, they’ll be available soon) but I plan to.
From the available-on-August 12 “Pick Me: Breaking Into Advertising and Staying There” by Nancy Vonk and Janet Kestin:
Making it in advertising is tough. Even with a degree and a terrific portfolio, it’s hard to get a job. In Pick Me!, Nancy Vonk and Janet Kestin offer a primer for students and junior ad professionals who want to make their mark in advertising. The creators of “Ask Jancy,” a popular online forum on one of the world’s leading advertising Web sites, answer questions asked by up-and-comers in their trademark straight-talking style. Pick Me! covers everything from choosing the right school to creating a winning portfolio to getting the interview, landing the job, weathering office politics, and starting a successful career. The book also includes career advice from 14 ad industry superstars, including how they got their first jobs, what they look for in a junior ad exec, and what they know now that they wish they’d known then.
From the available-on-September 8 Radical Careering: 100 Truths to Jumpstart Your Job, Your Career, and Your Life by Sally Hogshead:
Do you want to become the most powerful, valuable, fulfilled version of yourself? If so, you’re a careerist. Advertising and entrepreneurial rockstar Sally Hogshead reveals 100 Radical Truths for closing the gap between your current reality and your utmost potential, including:
# 15: Aspire to be the dumbest person in the room
# 31: You can be comfortable, or outstanding, but not both
# 67: Mistakes are tuition
# 96: Expressing your truest self is the ultimate competitive advantage
# 100: Make your memoirs worth reading
With groundbreaking research and startling new ideas for success, Radical Careering will become the indispensable owner’s manual to your future. Get ready to turbocharge your career with smarter goals, higher market value, and killer results.
2 incidental notes here: As a University of Georgia graduate, I do applaud the prodigious use of red and black on the covers of both books, but they’re curiously similar. And Sally Hogshead is also one of the “14 ad industry superstars” featured in the ‘Pick Me’ book as well as being the author of “Radical Careering.”
