At some point in your life, you all stumble upon something you're passionate about. Sometimes it's at 5 years old when you get your first two octave keyboard, take your first dance class or pick up a basketball. Sometimes you figure it out later down the line in college, like me.
I fell in love with advertising sophomore year in Jason Chambers advertising history course when I decided that marketing was one of the most powerful skills to master if you want to actualize change.
Beyond the possibilities and the paycheck (given you're willing to put in the work), I was truly inspired by the people. Here are a few recurring traits I've noticed about them that made me fall in love with advertising.
1.) Motivated
I love how intensely passionate and driven the students are. Watching the Illinois NSAC (National Student Advertising Competition) team spend countless hours in the lab this past semester working on campaigns for the competition was extremely impressive. I wasn't even involved, but I worked with some of them in other group projects and they made me feel guilty going to sleep before midnight.
2.) Vibrant Personalities
I'm sure you could probably say this about a lot of major groups, but each individual I've actually gotten to know is not only bright and ambitious, but has such intense personality. Never short of a witty remark and rarely a dull moment with these guys. I can't recall a group meeting that didn't have at least 20 minutes of goofing off and laughter before getting down to business--which leads me to my next point.
3.) Fun
Everybody I've ever crossed paths with in advertising is down for one hell of a good time. They might be all business in the day time, but you haven't been on a bar crawl until you've been on an AAF bar crawl. Maybe it's the inherent nature of the field that requires a sense of humor, a bit of wit and a knack for dealing with people, but they enjoy a good time as good as anybody--maybe more.
4.) Persistent
Could it be that advertising is essentially a sales job? Could it be that to get a job in this economy, you have to follow-up, and follow-up again? Maybe so. Regardless, people in advertising are persistent. I think it's because they have to be; to win clients, to find jobs, to get survey/experiment participants, and to do great work. I think it's just who they are, and I love it.
5) Attractive
I don't know if it's just my personal opinion or not, but I've come to notice that a good majority of people in advertising are pretty attractive. It could be that good account people are typically well-groomed, charming, suave and/or confident. That could be clouding my judgment but in my undergraduate career, I found it pretty easy to attend class--and not just because the lectures were interesting.
Maybe it's just University of Illinois Ad Folk though. You tell me. =P
