How to get an advertising internship in London
Where to go and what to do if you want industry experience this summer.
Obviously you could spend hours farming out your CV to hundreds of agencies offering to work for free. However, for those of us that who need to fund our lavish lifestyles of eating food and paying the rent, you have a few less option. Lets go through them:
IPA Ad School
The daddy of them all. The IPA is the industry body for advertising that represents lots of agencies in the UK. They’re running two different schemes for university students and graduates:
For penultimate students there is IPA AdSchool
This is six weeks long, spending a fortnight at three different agencies. On completion you get £600 quid (which is below minimum wage but better than nothing :/ [make it up by “borrowing” the stationary])
Whilst final year students and graduates there is IPA AdAcademy
This involves eight weeks being spent with one agency. Plus you work with other participants on a brief delivered at the end. This is paid minimum wage (huzzah!) so don’t blow it all on after work drinks.
Both programmes also include weekly evening seminars where you can learn from and network with your fellow participants and agency heads. However, this scheme is now well known and thus is highly competitive. If you get on, you are likely to be rubbing shoulders with the best and brightest (or super lucky freaks). Give it a crack though. There are certainly no other ways to apply to 50 odd agencies in one fell swoop.
DEADLINE: Monday 7th April 5:30pm
Rufus RAW
Rufus Leonard is the agency that gave me an internship last summer. They are super nice. I can honestly say it was the best summer ever. They are one of the largest independent digital creative agencies in London working with clients like British Gas, Lloyds Bank and Williams F1.
They are looking for five interns for 3 whole months to work on real work supported by loads of fantastic mentors. So if you are a coder, designer, copywriter, UX, web developer, information architect, animator, potential account manager, or are just generally brilliant they want to know.
It has only run for one year and isn’t super well known. So all the more reason to apply! Your chances will be better. If you get into the selection round, Rufus will bring you into the studio to work on a brief and you get a bit of mentoring either way. It is a fantastic experience even if you are not chosen. Plus you can meet Pingo the pug! You will not regret it.
DEADLINE: April 25th
Zenith Optimedia Talent Hub
I personally don’t have any experience with Zenith, but apparently they are always looking for talent and have the website to prove it.
OTHER PLACES TO FIND WORK
The IPA’s blog has an excellent list of all the current graduate jobs. It is always worth checking in on, although most of the graduate schemes are now over for the year.
Run by Young Creative Council, this tumblr is regularly being updated with jobs and internships all the time. It is where I found out about Rufus Raw last year. Have a look!
Often used by startups, enternships tries to put interns into small, growing companies. However, all these companies need to market themselves and you can often find interesting roles up for grabs. You can even search for which roles are paid or not (and ignore the paid ones, because you’re worth it).
Go Think Big was set up by O2 a few years ago and I still don’t think it is as well known as it should be. Either way, it is an absolute treasure trove of amazing work experience. You can filter quite effectively the opportunities by location, sector and company.
HOW TO ACTUALLY GET SELECTED
Now I am certainly not an expert on this. However, I’ve gone through enough interview/workshop days to know a few things by now.
- Be polite. Nothing will ruin your chances as quickly as being an arrogant prick. Still be confident though. They want to hear your thoughts. That is why you were selected to come in the first place.
- Plan your time. On these selection days, they deliberately don’t give you enough time. Impress them by showing off some project and time management skills. You will probably have to deliver a pitch in the end, so work backwards from that. Break up the project and give yourself mini-deadlines.
- Stick to the brief. Like essays and exams, there is no point doing lots of work if it was not what you were asked to do. Keep checking that what you are making, actually answers the challenge you were set.
- Have some personality. On your application feel free to be yourself a bit. These are creative agencies, not banks. The cover letter or email may be a better place to do this, than your resume though.
- Breathe. Stand out at the pitch by speaking slowly and clearly. Obviously easier said than done. Have a few deep breaths before you speak and keep your head up. The worst thing that will happen is that you say something dumb. You do that every day anyway, at least you will never see these people other again.
- Be social. If there is free booze at the end it can’t hurt to stay around (unless you get so drunk you embarrass yourself). This is the point where you can get a real impression of the place and the people.
- Steal all the pens.
SET YOURSELF UP FOR AN INTERNSHIP NEXT YEAR
Run Free Hype at your University or College
If you cannot get work experience at an agency this summer. Do not panic! It was exactly that, that resulted in me setting up Free Hype. I set up the first Free Hype two years ago. It is basically a volunteer creative agency run by students. That way you can volunteer for charities, as you get better at making branding, videos, posters and websites etc. You are going to have to build up your portfolio somehow, so why not help others as you do it? You will also get actual experience of working with clients, and not just making theoretical work like most interns anyway!
We have learnt a lot in the last two years (and won a few awards for our work). Now we are looking for more people to take our model to other places around the UK. We can help put you in contact with local charities in your area and give you a framework that will help you make amazing stuff.
Nothing impresses employers like taking initiative. Plus, who would not want to give a job to a charitable and thoughtful person like you? Running your own Free Hype will make you really stand out. If you are interested, give us your details and we will get in touch!
Become a FutureRising ambassador
So this one is not exactly an internship either. FutureRising is an organisation that tries to promote and inspire the next generation of the creative industry. You should check them out.
The lovely chaps are seeking some ambassadors to represent them at universities around the country.
What they’re offering:
• Meet ups with other ambassadors and exclusive industry talks.
• Introductions to perspective employers.
• This role on your CV to impress employers.
• A place for you to produce content for other students.
• Be part of exclusive FutureRising projects.
• Help us plan and host events at your university
If this tickles your fancy they are having an event on Wednesday 23rd April in London. Give Donald an email!
Whatever happens, always remember that you’re trying to break into an ever changing industry that doesn’t necessarily know exactly what it is doing sometimes. If one agency does not like you, it does not mean another won’t absolutely adore you. It is all about personalities and how they mix together. So until you find the right place…
PS. Any complaints or suggestions, feel free to tweet me!
