Guideline #1: You have more job security in the larger agencies
Generally the larger agencies (anywhere from fifty to hundreds of employees) handle a greater number of accounts. The more accounts an agency has, the lower the odds are that you will be laid off even if the agency loses a major account. However, some agencies, regardless of their size, make the fatal mistake of growing too quickly. This happens when an agency takes on one extremely large account that represents more than 50 percent of their billings. Then to service this new account they must scramble around, often thoughtlessly, to hire a number of new people to handle the increased workload. Now an agency that employed 15 people a month ago has suddenly grown to 75 employees and moved into larger, more expensive offices. While this may look like a hot, up and coming agency, the problem is that rapid growth can cause tremendous stress for both employees and management within an agency. Often a whole new operating structure is necessary to accommodate the increases in personnel, space facilities, billing, and financial responsibilities. The agency principals can become so wrapped up in servicing the new account that they do not have the time or see the need for the new structure until it is too late. If you join an "up and coming" agency before they have grown into their new skin, you could well become a part of the shedding process if they run into trouble. Not to mention the fact that they can lose that big account just as fast as they got it
Time is the real test of an agency's stability. The agencies large or small that have been around for over five years are the most stable. And these will be a better choice to target as you begin planning your application strategy.
Guideline #2: You will be pigeonholed into one job area with a larger agency
This is more often true than not. If you are a graphic designer and are hired as an assistant art director by a larger agency, your chances are pretty slim that you will be asked to write copy or do research. Large agencies have copy and research departments for that. You will, however, work closely with the copy and research departments. The copy department will possibly ask your opinions on the copy they are preparing for an ad campaign you are working on. And research will tell you just what images you should be using with that copy based on their market research findings. But that is about as far as your involvement will go with either department. Unless, of course, you show yourself to be one crackerjack copy whiz along with being a superior designer. In that case, you will definitely be asked to do both. Just be sure to ask for more money.
It will also take more time to move up the ranks in a larger agency. An assistant art director will have to wait until the present art director is either promoted or leaves before moving up into that position. Or until the agency brings on enough new accounts to warrant another art director. The same is true for mid sized agencies as well. The smaller agencies tend to move their people into higher levels more quickly. The down side to this is that sometimes people are promoted before they are ready. For those thrust into this rapid paced, upward mobility, it can become an overnight sink or swim situation.
Guideline #3: You will have a better chance of working on national accounts in a larger agency
National accounts can be so complex that they require a large number of people just to service them. Although it is not unheard of, smaller agencies generally cannot compete with the manpower necessary to maintain most national accounts. As an example consider a high profile, multi million dollar national account using television, radio, and print media on a regular basis. To handle that account, it may take a staff that includes: a local broadcast media specialist, a regional broadcast media specialist, two or three national media specialists, four or five media buyers, three creative directors, two or three art directors, three or four copywriters, one or two production coordinators, a traffic coordinator, an account coordinator, an account executive, an account supervisor, and a secretarial staff of at least two or three. And this is just one account! Multiply this number of people by 20 or 30 other equally large accounts and you can see how many more opportunities there are to work on national accounts.
Guideline #4: A larger agency has more internal competition among its employees
The creative departments may work together on campaign concepts, but the writer or designer who continuously produces outstanding work is going to be noticed. Being noticed means that the more important accounts will consequently be directed to that person. And promotions and more money will be offered, particularly as awards are won and other agencies set their sights on this shining new star. This is good and bad for the other employees who have to work with these people. The good part is that superior performers tend to encourage others to work harder and be more demanding of themselves. Being surrounded by talented achievers is a wonderful way to keep yourself growing as a creative individual. When you expect the most from yourself, you usually get it. The bad part is that those people who have tendencies toward low self esteem and self inflated egos will resent those high achievers. This then becomes the breeding ground for back stabbing and a breakdown in the team spirit.
Guideline #5: Medium sized agencies are the best balance
Medium sized agencies (from 10 to 50 employees) can offer a very pleasant employment experience, especially for first timers. I believe that the inherent pressure in advertising is greatest at the opposite ends of the spectrum the small agencies and the large ones. Small agencies really have to hustle to keep all their balls in the air, and the large agencies are usually handling such mega dollar accounts that one slip, one mistake, one misjudgment by any member of the staff can be a catastrophe for the agency. That puts an overwhelming burden on everyone who works for a large agency. The mid sized agencies tend to be a bit more relaxed. There are usually enough people to handle the work load. And while there are still pressures and deadlines, the accounts often seem to be more manageable and the atmosphere more enjoyable.
You still have to look closely at each individual agency. These assumptions are a starting point only. You can find the same problems in large, medium, and small agencies. The most important criteria upon which to base your evaluation of any agency should be determined by the specific information you can collect about that agency.
Agency location does that matter?
Since New York City was at one time the mecca for most major national and many international accounts, there are still plenty of people who think you can only "make it" by working in New York. But the corporate emphasis in advertising has shifted toward finding an agency with the right creative approach. As a result, corporate management has turned its attention to those agencies with strong creative resources. It makes little difference to them whether an agency is in the heart of the "Big Apple" or northwestern Indiana because fax machines and computer modems have overcome the distance gap. If an agency can develop an image that creates a favorable and immediate recognition factor and sells, as well, that is what truly counts in advertising.
Despite the trend to look elsewhere for fresh approaches to advertising, it cannot be denied that overall, New York City still retains a good portion of the major account activity in this country. This fact alone has to be considered if you want to increase the chances that you will work on important national accounts. The flip side is that the opportunity to work on large national accounts also increases the degree of job stress you will encounter. Some people thrive on living in a pressure cooker environment, others collapse. Consider again your answers from Step One, Workshop 1. What do you need to perform at your best on a day to day basis? In the final analysis, it is far better to do exceedingly well in a lesser known agency and later move on and upward than to look for another job after you have fallen from grace with one of the better known agencies in the country.
The growth in the number of advertising agencies from coast to coast in the last ten years has been phenomenal. The entrepreneurial spirit among the baby boomers has been in part responsible for the birth of many agencies, along with the acceptance of women in what was once a male dominated field. Although some people cannot imagine themselves working in advertising without being in a major metropolis, opportunities abound for those who prefer to remain in the more rural settings of cities and towns.
