Hi guys,

I'm going to be a graduate from UIllinois in May, and currently I really want to land a job as a creative. However, after going to multiple career fairs and having my book reviewed by several industry people, many of them suggest portfolio school, which is something I'm really hesitant about because I'm not sure if I want to spend the money and more years in school. In all honesty, UIllinois doesn't have a very strong creative track (all creative classes are taught by one professor), and most of the classes are geared for account people. So right now I'm deciding if I should just apply for jobs in media planning or account...hmm.. I really don't mind being an account and I believe I have the skills for it, but I don't know if my passion truly lies there.

If you do suggest portfolio school, do you guys have a preference or suggest one over another? I heard Miami Ad was good, as well as Creative Circus and I'm really thinking about the VCU creative program (you leave their "portfolio school" with a masters in Advertising, which is a perk)

any help would be great!

Hey Diana, thanks for the question. It may be the best question we have had on this board. The first thing I would ask is what type of advertising creative you would like to be: copywriting, graphic arts, multimedia, etc.? My personal experience in advertising per se is fairly limited -- a big campaign with Y&R and my years on the interactive / new media side -- but my take is that where you go to school counts less for creatives than the initiative and talent that you can demonstrably bring to the table. Actually, that applies sooner or later in all professions, but for creatives, the raw "survival of the fittest" happens sooner. In other words, you can go to "portfolio school" for access to professors who can guide and challenge you as a creative, but the school name will carry less weight than it would for, say, management consulting (that industry, I am very familiar with). Any additional schooling may be for naught if you cannot challenge yourself, apply your own imagination and creativity, and find the means to put together your own reel or portfolio that would set you apart from the competition.

Get multiple points of view on such an important decision. I hope you get additional insights from the other members of the Club, but if I were you, I would scope out Screen Magazine to identify and connect with some of the many creative houses in Chicago. Use other social networking to also get connected; you have major ad agency offices here, plus quite a few design boutiques, and of course, TONS of freelancers. Finally, you might also want to check out IIT's Institute of Design, Columbia College, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Illinois Institute of Art (part of the for-profit Art Institutes system), and other local schools and see what they might have to say on the topic.

So let me get this straight...You're about to finish school but all the industry insiders are telling you to go to portfolio school? So your prof didn't prep you enough for you to get a decent folio together. Wow, I've lost count how many times I've heard this. Did you ask the industry people if there were any internships available? Did you get their biz cards? Did they offer any suggestions to portfolio school? Have you checked the market out? Does getting a Masters equate to bigger pay in the long run...or just more student loans? Are you one of the career students or would you rather be working in the field you love?

Landing your dream job right off the bat is hard. Sometimes you have to take a step down and then work your way up. If you get a MP job, is there availability to move up in the company? Your folio might not be as strong as you want, but if you take a "lesser" job just to get in and then move up by showing your skills...you can then move into your dream position.

I agree with Jester..you have to network to get in the in. If you get in the job force now, you'll make the connections and be ahead of the game as opposed to later. A lot of people move up in a company based on who they know, it's a sad fact, but true. The way the job market is nowadays, I would look at this as a race..you between your nemesis. You go off to folio school, your nemesis gets a job in the field. How much experience is your nemesis gaining? How many connections are they making? How far ahead of you are they since they're already in the field while you are still building a folio? Just my 2 cents. School is great, but working in the real world is better. If anything, once you graduate, you can hit up your nemesis for a referral...kidding.

Wow, this board actually has serious activity. In terms of Alan's comment, I couldn't have put it better myself; I didn't want to openly question how you can go through four years of undergrad and not have a smoking -- not just decent -- portfolio by now. I think one of the things people are struggling with is how things are tough and how they will only get tougher in the future. My personal perspective is that everybody almost has to be an entrepreneur these days; that has always been the case for creatives, but increasingly more so for suits (that would be me). You have to find your passion, align that with a realistic measure of your capabilities and opportunities, and then work your career as if you were an entrepreneur.

By the way, if you truly want to be a creative but destiny (whenever that is) were to say you are an account person, that is a perfectly embraceable outcome. The account professionals that I have met are creative people themselves; they just don't "do" the creative. But the good ones live it just as much.