Dallas Advertising and Marketing Jobs Hard To Come By For New Graduates

When I graduated from Texas A&M University in 1987 I was told that it was a difficult time for new graduates to be looking for employment in advertising.  I was a new graduate and I wanted an advertising job in Dallas.  New York, Chicago and Los Angeles were also on my list for potential advertising or marketing jobs.  The sledding was, indeed, tough.  But it was nothing like it is today.  Nothing at all.  Finding an entry-level advertising or marketing job in Dallas, or anywhere for that matter, is certainly challenging.  But it’s not impossible.  Some Dallas ad agencies are hiring.  The LOOMIS Agency, a Dallas-based ad agency, made two new hires in the last month.

Difficult times are just like those big seminar classes you take as a college freshman.  They’re designed to weed out the people who won't make it in the long haul.  For those who don’t have the tenacity to stay in the hunt there are certainly other ways to make a living.  It took me three months to get my first break in advertising when I was a 22-year-old new graduate.  I started at Tracy-Lock, a Dallas ad agency that was the biggest back then.  It was a great first advertising job, but it, too, came with a set of challenges.  The pay was one of those challenges.  I earned a paltry $14,400 per year to work in the media department.  The pay was paltry even by 1987 standards.  And they tapped my net take-home bi-weekly pay of $490 for an extra $50 in mandaroty parking even though I rode the bus. I had to get an evening job at a Foley's Department Store to make ends meet.  Ahaa, the good old days. 

So how can you get your big break and get an advertising job in Dallas just like that today?  I’ve got a few tips for you if you’re interested in landing a job in marketing or advertising here in Dallas, one of just a few very competitive advertising markets.

1. Forget sites like Monster and Jobs.com or whatever.  They don't have the best Dallas ad agency jobs. And. you will never distinguish yourself on a site like Monster.  Have fun with them, but certainly don’t use them as part of your Plan A for finding an advertisng or marketing job. We don’t post many ads on those sites.  There was a time a few years ago when it truly was difficult to find people.  We used Monster a little back then.  But we rarely found quality advertising candidates on Monster, and we gave up. And that leads me to tip number two.
2. Network like crazy.  Employers -- especially advertising agencies -- generally favor personal recommendations from people they trust.  This is especially true of smaller companies that can’t afford hiring mistakes.  In Dallas, we are fortunate to have the Dallas Ad League, which is a very active group and the oldest of its kind in the country.  I once hired a young lady who introduced herself to me at one of those events. Get on sites like LinkedIn, too. 
3. Write.  You can distinguish yourself by showing off your interest in our craft and your general intelligence by simply blogging and sharing thoughts.  There is a troubling paucity of individuals coming into this business who can actually express themselves through the written word.  What a shame.  This is a communications business and the ability to write well should be table stakes for getting into it.  Show you’ve got what it takes.
4. Send real resumes and real letters. They are printed on nice paper and mailed in an envelope.  The best ones have cover letters that reflect a little homework on the company’s business, or – even better – the person to whom you are addressing the letter.  Why?  Because flattery gets you everywhere in advertising and most other businesses.  If you really want a gig, send it Fed Ex and follow up with a phone call.  Call until they hire your or tell you to go to hell. And don’t take it personally if they tell you that.  It is a reflection on them, not you.   And don’t go through HR.  Find the hiring manager and call him or her. If they keep bumping you to HR you probably aren't on their short list. 
5. Finally, when you get an interview at an advertising agency you need to recognize that it’s your time to shine.  There are a bunch of qualified candidates in line with you.  So do something remarkable.  I’ll tell you what I did in another post.  It worked like gangbusters. If you’re dying to find out, give me a call and I’ll take the time to tell you.  If you’ve gotten this far in this post it’s the least I can do.

Mike Sullivan is a Dallas advertising executive and often counsels new graduates on the subject of getting a job in advertising and marketing.  He is a partner and president of The LOOMIS Agency, a Dallas ad agency in business since 1984.  Mike Sullivan is a 1987 graduate of the now defunct Journalism program at Texas A&M University in College Station.