If someone isn't nervous, your game is weak

In times when the competition hits its highest point, it's not anymore about nervous questions around the topics on "how to get in" but more about "how to stand out when everyone is trying to differ?". This and a bunch of other questions, I will try to answer in my short compilation of findings. Keep in mind that it has never been a problem if you’re more prepared for your job than expected.

Purpose - why are you here?

The first thing to consider before you even dream to work one day in advertising is your purpose. 

• What do you want to achieve? 
• What you wanna be in the long-term perspective? 
• How do you see your career or self-development?

Answers to these questions hold a key to your clarity when things get tough and dirty. In such moments, people tend to lose their self-confidence, and then it’s really important to step back and put the current situation in the perspective and scale its importance according to your purpose. Your perspective is your currency.

Pay attention to the fact that people who are hiring you are looking for someone who can bring something fresh and bold at the table. Try to put agencies' work in a bigger perspective and understand your purpose in the team and their purpose on the battlefield.

Be courageous enough to challenge their way of thinking. Be prepared to come up with new ideas and initiatives. Have an urge to see the world differently to make a difference. Be patient and keep in mind that all changes come with the time.

Crafts - what agency expects from you?

Work on your writing skills from the very beginning and let others give feedback on your work, so you could improve performance. Say things simply and clearly. If you can’t, your thinking is muddled. Words mean a lot in this business!

• Write as you talk;
• Look for new ways of saying things. Define your words;
• Words which evoke visual images are particularly powerful;
• Learn the rules of rhetoric - the science of how to use words to influence people. Aristotle defines the rhetorician as someone who is always able to see what is persuasive;
• If you want to change the culture, change the language. Language shapes thinking and behavior;
• Avoid bland, tired words. Your brand needs a distinctive personality. Your writing should reflect it. Use small, sharp words and fewer slides. Rarely use jargon.

Be an orator! Record your speeches from different situations and analyze your own words, accent, tempo, stress level, etc. Measure your blood pressure when presenting ideas and remember that pitching yourself requires color and depth. Try to find some speakers who you really admire and analyze their presentation skills. What makes their speech so special?

Be interested in people and try to understand their behavioral patterns and biases. Be interested in what people do find interesting: 

• What are they doing? 
• Watching? 
• Reading? 
• Listening? 
• Searching for?

Be gentle to yourself! Don’t panic about the fact that you don’t know everything. There will be so many things that will happen under your nose but you will not notice that. A deeper understanding of strategic crafts will come with time and practice. Give yourself some space and time to think and digest your learnings. Think generally. Be proactive.

Be a researcher! Do your researches on topics that are happening around you and try to understand why things are happening in one or another way. Try to do reverse thinking - what if these things would never be discovered in our lives? Remember that planner’s strong point is delivering great cultural and human insights. So be the eyes and ears of the consumer. Keep in mind that you’re looking for interesting details, not only common human truths. A great planner adapts to the mayhem of modern times by accessing information in real-time, and continually – concisely – transforming this information into actionable insights.

Understanding politics, history, and cultural evolution is part of our job + understanding what happened during the last economic crisis to be better prepared for the next ones. Understand long-term trends over the centuries. Create a brand archive and gather useful data and research. Document success and failures. Make sure it’s updated, maintained, and used. Don’t get obsessed with what’s changing. Ask what’s unchanged about your brand, buyers, and category? The things that don’t change are the most surprising.

Master your toolkit! Exercise your skills through practice as much as you can. Use your downtime to learn every software program and research platform available to you. You'll be quicker at using them once your time is mostly devoted to meetings, brainstorms, and client deadlines.

Be curious! Keep in mind that curiosity is an act of vulnerability and courage (tough mixture). Brain’s chemistry changes when we become curious. This skill can be very uncomfortable because it involves uncertainty and vulnerability. 

Measure, measure, measure! What is the most effective communication campaign or channel nowadays? Which campaigns solve client problems in the most effective way? How comms drive business growth? Build your deck and try to do reverse engineering. Your goal is to prove that planning matters in front of yourself, team, creatives, client, etc.

Simplify! Your job holds your ability to simplify and explain complex ideas to a 5-year-old in an elevator pitch. So, use frameworks and try to find a very simple explanation. Try to find your golden window when to come up with new ideas. Act as a consultant and show how your expertise can solve the agencies or client problems.

Ask questions! Learn how to ask the right questions that help to narrow objectives down to one. 

Understand politics! Try to understand your office and client politics:

• Who is the key person? 
• Who makes the decisions? 

Build your own relations as much as possible. You need to be on the text message level with them. It’s really important to build relations with key people who influence the decision-making process. Be careful, don’t rush! Do it slowly, step by step.

Team and collaboration - what your team expects from you?

Be truly honest with yourself! Look into your strengths and weaknesses and try to analyze your personality and skills. A good exercise is to create a SWOT analysis on yourself or take the Gallop 34 theme test.

Be an analyst of your team and agency: 

• What kind of personalities works there?
• How you can work with other team members? 
• What is the energy in the working environment? What you can learn from that? 
• What energy can you bring to the table? 
• What kind of leaders you have in your team, agency, client-side? Analyze them by their management style.

Be patient, useful, and listen! Build bridges and be friendly with everyone! On coffee breaks walk around the office and just briefly talk with every colleague from time to time. Try to make connections and be truly interested in their project and challenges. Carefully listen in what they say and how they say it. Be there if they need anything from you. Support them, give them professional advice, or invite them for drinks after work. Be their shelter in the moments when they feel vulnerable (for example, before the pitches). Your goal is to find a hole in the “system” and then fill it with your best qualities. 

Be empathetic! Empathy is at the heart of connection – it is the circuit board for learning into the feelings of others, reflecting back a shared experience of the world, and reminding them that they are not alone. Remember - people don’t care how much you know until you show and they know how much you care.

Be open and don't block yourself if somebody is negative or arrogant to you. Don’t take this attitude personally. It’s not about you. In every work environment, there will be people who will not agree with you. Look for those who want to help you and collaborate with them! Building courage with a partner or in a team is more powerful than doing it alone.

Start with yourself! Unlock your own biases and accept the fact that you're not perfect. Only then start to analyze behavioral biases in others.

Hobby/passion - how to find balance?

• Find a hobby where you can switch your mind from mental workout to a physical one. Something that is connected with your body or/and practical things (yoga, meditation, fitness, gym, running, swimming, etc.).
• From time to time take pauses on your lunch breaks and just go for a short walk. So you could clear your mind and go back to your work with a more fresh eye.

To conclude on what you just read, step back, and think for yourself. How can you be unique in the environment where everyone is trying to differ? What have you done? What can you still improve? Always remember that the biggest driver in your career is willpower that comes from your personal clarity on purpose. After all, the question isn't "how to do it" but "why to do it".

If you have your own POV that you would like to add and share, feel free to drop a comment or write DM. Happy to hear other opinions.