Huckster: What It Takes

If you’re like me, you’re probably asking yourself right now, What does it take to get into advertising? Certainly, some qualifications depend on what department you want to work in, but there are some general traits that are not department-specific, and it’s important to learn what they are. In fact, it’s vital.

Maybe you’re wondering if you need to be good at math to get into advertising? It’s a good question, but also a pointless one, as nobody needs to be good at math for any job anymore, thanks to calculators.

If there’s a question I hear the most it’s, “Are you feeling okay?” However, more relevant to this article is the question, “Is advertising as stressful as people make it out to be?” Indeed, it’s important you have the ability to cope with things like stress, tight deadlines, eternal sadness, and different personalities. Regarding the latter point, consider this: You might have a Type B personality, but account executive Jasmine—the brunette with blue eyes who has the same sense of humor as you but seems to want to keep your relationship on a platonic level—might also have a Type B personality. As you can see, the ability to cope with personalities is important.

Or, to put it another way, vital.

Can you manage multiple projects at one given time and still meet deadlines? If you want a job in advertising, your answer better be “Yes.” If you don’t want a job in advertising, I would still say answer “Yes” and then find a way to nonchalantly slip away from the question, that way you don’t feel embarrassed about the fact that you can’t handle multiple jobs and meet deadlines. For example, I have a friend who sometimes visits J. Crew and, when he sees a shirt he likes, he checks the price. And when he sees that the price is too high, he doesn’t just make a face and bail out of the store—no, that would be a dead giveaway that he can’t afford the shirt. No, instead, he spends some time looking at the other shirts on the rack, as if the one he originally looked at wasn’t his size. You know, it wasn’t the price, but the size that was off. Then—and this part is vital—he walks around the store for, say, another fifteen minutes, at which point he’ll check out that one shirt one last time, like he’s thinking about buying, then acts as if the shirt is not good enough for him. And then, after spending five more minutes looking at the selection of sweaters next to the shirt, he slowly walks out of J. Crew, integrity intact.

Thick skin is another vital necessity. Sometimes people can get awefully critical and, while it can occasionaly sound personal, it never is. “Nothing personal, just business” is a phrase I coined late last year, a phrase that’s really caught on due to its relevancy to so many people. A hypothetical example of something that might seem personal but isn’t would be when your high school guidance counselor calls you “worthless” or tells you that you should “drop out.” Lets call this counselor Mr. Van Warmer and say he has a brown hair-helmet and thick mustache. Maybe he drives an old Datsan, although, before seeing the car, you had never heard of a Datsan. Well, when Mr. Van Warmer calls you “life’s big joke,” he doesn’t hold you personally responsible for being a joke. It’s just his business to label you as such.

Remembering this point is as self-assuring as it is vital.

But if there’s one qualification you need above all else, it’s a good grasp of the English language. After all, advertising is the business of communicating, and communication is so important. In fact, I can’t even find the words to express just how important communication is. But if I had to pick one word, it would probably be ‘essential.’