“Hearing their experience could be the boost you need”

Creative Career Conundrums is a weekly advice column from If You Could Jobs. Each week their selected panel of professionals from the creative industry answers your burning career questions to help you navigate the creative journey.

This week’s question:

I’m a copywriter currently working at a corporate company. My goal is to break into agency, but I’m struggling to create work or transition into jobs that’ll make my portfolio competitive.

I’m pushing myself to create better opportunities in my current role, but what else can I do to improve my portfolio? I’m struggling with the age-old: need good work to get the job, can’t make good work without a job dilemma.

I worry that if I don't get an agency job in the next few years, I’ll get stuck in corporate as my portfolio won’t reflect my potential or the quality of work required.

How do I create great work in a less ambitious company?

Shanice Mears, co-founder and head of talent at The Elephant Room:

It’s clear that you are really keen and ambitious which is always a good sign because it shows how much you want it! Don’t start doubting yourself now. Sometimes success, or what you see as success, has a slow start – or, what you might deem as slow. But everything will align itself.

Firstly, I would say that you need to stay stimulated by doing outside of work projects, try and get involved in things that you think could exercise your skills and show off your skillset, you could do some copy work for an up and coming brand and/or charity.

Or, you could do a passion project with a friend, or, if you follow any independent brands or organisations, you could also offer your time that way.

Go and have a look at places online that might do callouts to try and do a brief e.g. one minute briefs from D&AD and Creative Conscious. There are quite a few!

I think you also have to be proactive in meeting people too – have you considered getting a mentor in copywriting who might have agency experience too? It might be worth looking into industry programmes that could support you in growing your network or professional development.

Being empowered by someone else’s journey and hearing their experience could be the boost you need and could also help you with some clarification for your next direction.

Good luck!

In answering your creative career conundrums we realise that some issues need expert support, so we’ve collated a list of additional resources that can support you across things that might arise at work.

If You Could is the jobs board from It’s Nice That, the place to find jobs in the creative industries.

Want to stay on top of your job search? Or keep an ear out for when your dream job arrives on our site? Click here to set up tailored job alerts arriving straight into your inbox so you never miss an opportunity. See below for the latest opportunities: