
APG
- Oct 23, 2017
- 4 min
How To Get On: Gen X Edition
This is part of a series of posts selected by Jim Carroll, our APG Guest Editor during October 2017, surrounding the theme of 'How To Get On: Advice on how to manage a strategist’s career in a creative business' Read more posts here Career advice usually consists of gnarled industry veterans dispensing hindsight to starry-eyed millennials. But according to the IPA Census, the average agency staffer is 34 years old, and half of us expect to be in the creative industry at the a

APG
- Aug 1, 2017
- 4 min
How to get ahead in planning? Advice from four wise owls.
Four wise owls of the planning world have revealed what they think it takes to succeed as a young planner. Learn about what they look for in a planner, what routes they think there are into planning and how to impress from day 1. Our four wise owls: What do you look for in a planner? Ben: I look for a planner with a gut instinct for what’s popular. Also a logical mind that can deconstruct anything whether that be a focus group or the ramblings of a client and can then build a

APG
- Jul 11, 2016
- 5 min
Breaking into Planning
In 1982, Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in his first real box-office hit, Conan the Barbarian. Although the bizarre fight scenes and poor special effects make for hilarious viewing today, at the time this represented a cinematic achievement. His career change from world-champion powerlifter to movie star was one many had said wasn’t possible. In hindsight, his transition from Mr. Olympia to Conan the Barbarian (then Terminator, then Governor of California…) seems like a perfec

APG
- Feb 25, 2016
- 8 min
12 Interview Tips for wannabe Planners
First the bad news: getting into advertising is tough. Getting into Planning is tougher still. Not because it’s rocket science, but simply because the Planning department is smaller than account management or creative department; there are fewer jobs up for grabs. Adding to that, it takes a lot of time, money and affection to train a Planner from scratch – many agencies lack at least one of these three. Instead, they prefer people to first spend a year or two in account manag

APG
- Nov 30, 2015
- 2 min
How Not to Write a Creative Proposition
Having one year of planning experience is like being 15 and given the keys to a Ferrari. There’s an adventure under that bonnet, and you’re primed, you understand to the fullest possible extent exactly how awesome that thrill-ride is going to be. But naturally, you have almost no idea how to wield such power and your first slo-mo drift is really a hiccupping sputter round an Asda car park. There are five crumpled post-its barely clinging to the side of my monitor, craggy miss
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