A booklet I illustrated and designed with Frank Blossom that was used in his Advertising Classes as a guide book for undergraduate students at Grand Valley State University.

1. FrankBlossom DianeTeall
“You want a template for an ad career, you got a template. So what are you waiting for?”
Powerful Personal Game Plans for
Landing the Big One
HIGHLY
SCENARIOS OFTHE
SUCCESSFUL
AD STUDENTS

2. Frank teaches advertising at Grand Valley State University, runs The Polishing Center, orchestrates The Yardsticks
Sessions each October, suffers with the Chicago Cubs each summer, runs Frank Communications, and serves as a
Creativity Coach for businesses and organizations. In his spare time (What’s that?) he walks his dog, Stella.
FRANK BLOSSOM
Diane is a Grand Valley graduate and Virginia transplant currently residing in the Western Mitten. She is a self-taught
artist (Aren’t we all?), graphic designer and cookie connoisseur with a passion for creative and good advertising. This
foodie also loves tastefully bedazzled clothes, Italia, and her boxers Rupert and Stanley.
diane teall

3. So you want to get a job in
ADVERTISING?

4. ell, getting an ad job is hard. Heck, it’s tough to even get an
interview these days.
It’s a job to get a job. So work it. Employers are just as interested,
maybe more, in what you did outside the classroom as in the
classroom. The reality is that grade points and diplomas are table stakes. They
get you in the game. They are important.
But it’s what you do in addition to classes that set you apart from the other
500 advertising and PR majors at GVSU. Yep, 500, plus the students from Hope,
Calvin, Aquinas, Western, Ferris, Central, State… you get the picture.
Why do employers, HR managers, and execs (the people who can hire
you) care about your non-academic stuff?
Ad people are passionate about the business and their companies. Most
will tell you it doesn’t feel like work. They love it. The business is hard work, but it’s
energetic, exciting, and a lot of fun. And those ad folks are passionate and very
committed to their companies and they are looking for signs that you are also
passionate and committed.
WW
It’s the real work, and related activities
on your resume that moves it from the bottom to the top of the
pile, ahead of the 150 other students hungry for that job.

5. What you do outside the classroom shows your drive, your commitment
and determination to be a great ad person. Past behavior is the best indication
of future behavior. So where do you start?
Turn the page and you’ll get a glimpse of seven successful scenarios; seven
GVSU grads who, 30 days after picking up their diplomas, were picking up
paychecks in good advertising jobs at great agencies.
See what they did – the internships, part time and full time jobs, activities,
projects, associations and clubs, to set themselves apart. Read up and wise up.
Some started preparing in their sophomore years; a few late bloomers
began in their senior year. All of them realized they needed to do more to prepare,
to prove to employers that they were ready for advertising.
And it worked. They are all working at great agencies, getting noticed and
getting even more job offers.
So check them out. See what you can learn from their success.
Get smarter. Put your plan together. Get started.

6. “During my sophomore year I realized
that I wanted to major in Advertising and
Public Relations and that I needed to get
involved. I joined the advertising club and
things catapulted from there. I became
heavily involved in Ad Club - helping with
projects, volunteering, meeting up for
events,TheYardsticks, AAFWest Michigan,
PRSSA - I really dove in head first.”

7. When you decide to get into advertising,
“go big
stay in bed.”
or

8. 0101JOSIE
G.
“Use social
media, show
you’re active.
Wieden+Kennedy
searched me
through my profile
on LinkedIn and
recruited me.”

9. JOBSJOBS
Activities
&
STUDENT SENATE, PR COMMITTEE
THE YARDSTICKS, MARKETING COMMITTEE
Internships
GVSU Health Wellness Marketing
Spectrum Health
Reagan Marketing
AD AGENCY
STARTED OWN
AD AGENCY
IN COLLEGE
Reagan
marketing
CURRENT
JOB
Campbell
Ewald
project
manager
@
Reagan
marketing
social media
strategiest
@
Campbell
Ewald
ACOMMUNITY MANAGER
WIEDEN + KENNEDY

10. “I applied to internships across the country, over
100 in all, to no avail. In hindsight, this was a
huge mistake. I should have selected the 10 or
15 places I'd kill to work for and then created a
plan to stand out in their eyes.”

11. (not just people who want to be in advertising)
companies want to hire
people who want to work for them

12. 22
ANGELA A.
jobs
Server @ B.O.B.
GVSU Campus Dining
Marketing Coordinator
@ Home Healthcare
THEN
NOWFREELANCE ART DIRECTOR
Saatchi&Saatchi
{
}
GVSU Men’s Lacrosse
GVSU Fish Ladder
United Way
Ad Internships
A AActivitiesActivities
GVSU Ad club
nsac
the yardsticks
the polishing center
“Network with coworkers, guest speakers,
interviewers, at events - everywhere; you
never know who you will meet and who
they know. Be creative and use your
resources.Makethemworkforyou.Check
out the S.O.C. Bulletin Board, even
there I found several opportunities that
definitely paid off. From experience, it’s
not just what you know, or who you know,
but who knows you.”

13. “I wasn’t really sure about what
direction in advertising I wanted
to take, so I started looking into
internships. I went to a GVSU
internship seminar that taught
me how to search for internships
in the GrandValley andWest
Michigan network. I came across
a non-profit that I applied for
and, for whatever reason, the
director liked me (with the little
experience that I had) and I got
the internship!”

14. FREELANCEWRITER @
&GRAND RAPIDS PRESS
ON THE TOWN
jobs
AD2 AAFAD CLUB
She registered with a temp
agency and picked up marketing
assistant jobs all through college.
Internship
WRITER: Big Idea Magazine
A Communication Arts trade
publication covering Twin Cities,
Detroit, and Chicago
Activities

15. I got my first job by being flexible. I was a
copywriter/traffic manager/office supply organizer and,
eventually, a full-time copywriter.
33
COPYWRITER
GREY MATTER GROUP
MASTERS PROGRAM
SAVANNAH COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN
Current
“
NICOLE C.
”
1st Advertising Job

16. “I had several colleagues
critique my resume and I went
to several resume-building
events. Networking was key
in my success at GVSU.
People I met introduced me
to new opportunities, but it
was up to me to follow up and
earn them.”

17. ANDREW R.
44
INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGY ANALYST
AGENT X
nownowA
AD2
The Yardsticks
Polishing Center
Freelance Photographer
internship
“I SEO’d my web site content to
raise my search position. I
networked with ad industry
leaders through Twitter
and LinkedIn.”
nominated for
30UNDER
PEOPLE TO WATCH IN
WESTMICHIGAN30
STEKETEE GRIENER & CO.
Activities

18. “After I decided to pursue
the creative side of
advertising, I did
everything in my power
to catch up. I read books
like Hey Whipple Squeeze
This, attended seminars
through the West
Michigan Ad Club,
entered competitions like

19. The Yardsticks, ADDY
Awards and CMYK’s
creative contest and
enrolled in programs like
The Polishing Center to
build a portfolio. Then,
as I graduated, I realized
that my journey had
just begun.”

20. 55MIKE R.
ACTIVITIES
RARESIDENCE ASSISTANT
POLISHING CENTER
SPOTLIGHT
PRODUCTIONS
>musiccommittee
ORIENTATION
AMBASSADOR
GVSU
Student Senate
Produced videos for:
Student Life
History Dept.
Career Counseling
Study Abroad Office INTERNSHIPSAd
Suparama Supa Monkey (London)
Williams Group
Hanon McKendry
GRTV
Triangle Productions

21. GET IN THERE AND GET DIRTY
collegeisthetimetofindoutwhatyouhateandwhatyoulove.
JOBS
(Freelance)
FILM/VIDEO PRODUCTION
dance hall craze
productions
english teacher
(Thailand)
Writer
(TV station)
(Freelance)
copywriting
A Current ACurrent
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
17 TRIGGERS (BANGKOK, THAILAND)
COPYWRITER
PHIBIOUS.COM, (CAMBODIA/VIETNAM)
Advertising Job1st
“
”

22. “When I was 12, I had an interview for a
middle school program. To prepare for it,
my dad coached me. He asked me
common interview questions and gave
me lots of encouragement. But here’s the
twist: We did the practice interviews while
playing Ping-Pong. This forced me out of
being rigid. I had no time to think of the
correct script!
It pushed me to speak naturally.
It really made interviewing fun. And it
taught me how to make an interview more
of a conversation and less of a
one-way exchange.”

23. 66
JULIE K.
JOBS
ad jobs current
AD ASSISTANT @ TIGER STUDIO
ASSISTANT PAID SEARCH MEDIA
PLANNER @ TEAM DETROIT
“Get really involved
in clubs, associations,
try out a number of
internships and
network.”
ASSOCIATE PAID SEARCH STRATEGIST
@ MORPHEUS MEDIA, (NYC)
AD INTERNSHIPS
ACTIVITIES
GVSU AD CLUB
PRSSA
THE YARDSTICKS MARKETING TEAM
AAF, PRSSA NATIONAL CONFERENCES
GVSU INTERNSHIP SEMINARS
West Michigan Trails & Greenways
Stevens Advertising
WGVU TV & Radio

24. “The knowledge you gain in
the classroom is far inferior to
that which is gained in an
agency; however, once you’re
inside an agency, you realize
you will be a student for the
rest of your life. In that
regard, be sure to keep
learning, reading not just
trade publications but also any
other area of interest.”

25. Notes

26. 7AJ M.
7
INTERNSHIP
(DEVELOPMENT)
GVSU Student Housing
Activities
JOBS
FREELANCE
COPYWRITER
golf club fitting
technician
@
galaxy golf
sales
@
whittaker
associates
research
The Yardsticks
NSAC
GVSU Ad Club
Addy Awards
GVSU AMA - V.P.
Polishing Center
CMYK Creative Competition
AAF - West Michigan Seminars

27. COPYWRITER
CRISPIN, PORTER + BOGUSKY
CURRENT
“I interned, making
thousands of cold calls for
marketing research, so I got
comfortable communicating with
people who wanted nothing to do
with what I had to say. It wasn’t
directly related, but it’s all had an
enormous impact on how I craft
my creative today.”
1st ADVERTISING JOB
COPYWRITER
TEAM DETROIT

28. “ThehiringprocessfromTeamDetroitwasaninteresting
one.IhadreachedouttoTeamDetroitSEVERALtimesmy
senioryearofhighschoolandgotnoresponse.TheHR
representative,whocontactedmeaboutthepositionthat
Ihavetoday,wentbackandretrievedalltheemailsthatI
sentherandsaidshewasimpressedwithmydetermination
anddiligence.Myhardworkhadpaidoff!”
“Ihadagoodanswer
forthequestion,
‘What’sgoingonin
socialmedia.’”
“I met the AD AGENCY
RECRUITER who hired
me when she came to
GVSU. Look for those
opportunities to start
relationships.”
{{

29. “The HR person said she liked my experience
abroad as well as my portfolio that came with
it. One thing that stuck out to her was the fact I
was a Black Belt in karate. Oh yes, and
“I think Team Detroit hired me because I had
experience in what they were looking for (Social
Media from my previous internships). They were
also very impressed with how highly involved
and active I was in school and for all my efforts
of reaching out to them.”
“I was the only applicant to
send her a thank you card.”

30. I asked the Co-Chief Creative
Officers why they hired me. He
actually said he didn’t want to, but
the other one talked him into it. Their
main motivation in pulling the
trigger was that I had produced a
couple pretty good pieces at what
they considered a sub-par agency.
They said, “If you could get those ads
out of that place, we were curious
what you’d do under our roof.” And
beyond that, they knew coming from
a blue-collar state meant I was ready
to work hard.
”
“

31. “Check out the School of Comm
Bulletin Board, even there I
found several opportunities
that definitely paid off. Because,
from my own experience, it’s not
just what you know, or who you
know, but who knows you.”

32. SO WHAT?
Now what? You’ve seen what seven
highly successful students did while they
were at GVSU to set them up for great
jobs in the ad business.
Seven people who sat in the
same seats, had the same
advisors, took the same
classes, probably ate some of
same lame pizza at Kirkhof.
Just like you.
You’ve seen how they
combined internships, jobs,
activities and associations
along with their major into a power
package that helped persuade some
top agencies to hire them.
These seven people demonstrated their
desire, passion and commitment to the
ad business. So can you.
And guess what? The GVSU Ad Club,
PRSSA, GVSU AMA, the National
Student Advertising Competition, The
Polishing Center, West Michigan AAF
and all the same campus
organizations are still out
there. And they are all
looking for new members,
officers, volunteers and
workers. The internships, jobs,
seminars are out there, too.
These seven highly success-
ful students took advantage
of the opportunities while they
were in college. They didn’t sit back
and wait for something to happen. And
they are knocking down good salaries
at great agencies today. Having a lot of
fun, too.
They didn’t sit
back and wait
for something
to happen.

33. Make your plan.
Work your plan.

34. High fives and chest bumps to AJ Musial, Nicole Corley, Julie Kuhn,
Andrew Rushmore, Angela Antonio, Josie Goldberg and Mike Rios for
sharing their successes.
And huge kudos to Paul Soltysiak and Holland Litho Printing for taking
our words and designs and turning them into a solid piece of successful
communication.
thankyou