Graduate recruits - one year on

So, one year on, have they put their money where their mouths are?

Omnicom, and PHD in particular, were notably vocal about the need to pay more attention to bagging the right graduates. Media Week even profiled Omnicom's newly launched summer school, for which the organisers had high hopes. However, the summer school did not run again this year.

According to Diane Murphy, associate director for people development, Omnicom Europe, the school was a pilot and, although one of the participating grads did end up getting a place on the highly competitive Omnicom graduate programme Accelerate, the initiative was ditched.

Murphy's energy is now focused on organising a careers fair for Omnicom agencies in 2009, suggesting she is looking for something more wide-reaching than a select group of 30 bright sparks. "The idea is still in the making, but we're going to take the lessons from the summer school and make it bigger and better," she says.

Likewise, Pearl & Dean has woken up to the fact that graduates are crying out for more in-depth information about a rapidly changing media marketplace. While the company is too small to run a programme of its own, it is soon to launch a Graduate Academy for those people joining media agencies.

Clare Turner, sales director at Pearl & Dean, says: "Our idea is to provide graduates with an introduction to cinema and how it fits in the media landscape. As well as sessions here, we plan to do a roadshow in 2009 to ensure the grads of today turn into the savvy communications planners and buyers of tomorrow."

Lara Ashworth, who is talent director at ZenithOptimedia, is one agency director who has certainly put her money where her mouth is. When interviewed last year, she had just been appointed, having joined from Metro. However, she promised to bring about great change when it came to graduate recruitment. And she has.

After listening to what graduates were saying about their difficulties in applying to the media industry, she has overhauled Zenith's strategy.

Rather than assuming that if graduates can't be bothered to do their research, they are not worth the effort, Ashworth has decided to give them a helping hand. After all, some people working in media don't even know what their colleagues actually do, so why punish an inexperienced but potentially brilliant graduate?

Zenith now has a "talent hub", accessible to grads via its website. The idea is that they sign up as having skills to offer, but don't have to limit themselves to a specific role. Instead, Ashworth's team decides where they best fit.

One way they do this is through the "Big Day In", a new assessment centre (see Zenith profile, above). Again, listening to graduates, Ashworth has ensured they hear the results from the test centre within two days, so they aren't left dangling.

Last year, Zenith took on 60 graduates - this year the number is only 36. But, rather than attribute this to the economic downturn, Ashworth explains that the new strategy has led to less attrition. Recognition of the good job she's done has also led to her promotion to the executive management board after only five months.

Other agencies and media owners agree that the credit crunch has not affected plans to recruit graduates. Garry Lace, managing director at AdMedia, says he's committed to bumping up and formalising graduate recruitment, and two grads started in September to kick this off. He advocates a focus on learning client-handling skills.

"Too much emphasis is put on media sales in the graduate recruitment process," he says. "AdMedia is going to make much more of an effort to hire and train grads, so they are capable of understanding a client's business first, and selling second." Lace adds that media companies who see grads as "cheap labour" are making a mistake.

"Graduate recruitment is a critical part of any company's growth strategy. Companies that get that right are almost certainly likely to have a much better handle on their people strategy. Graduates are an important investment."

Tim Jones, HR director, Aegis Media UK & Ireland, says an economic downturn naturally affects budgets, but that companies stop graduate recruitment "at their peril". When he worked at Marks & Spencer in the 1991 recession, he saw the danger of giving up on grads at first-hand.

"We took on 300 management trainees at the beginning of the year, but 250 had been fired within eight months. M&S never recovered from the message that sent to the graduate population." Jones says that while there will be a slight "reduction" in recruits, graduates will be channelled into fast-moving sectors such as digital.

Since joining Aegis four years ago, he has made several changes to the graduate recruitment strategy. "Typically, grads only used to stay with us for two or three years, partly due to competition, but partly because we were sometimes not recruiting the right people. They became disillusioned, leaving the industry. That suggested they didn't fully understand why they wanted to join us," he says.

Now, Aegis is ensuring it has a good presence at many of the UK's top universities and has also overhauled its recruitment process, bringing it online (see Aegismediagrads.co.uk). This site gives graduates valuable information, a multiple-choice questionnaire to help them identify if media would suit them, and background on the assessment centre recruitment phase.

Paul Farrer, chairman of media recruitment agency pfj, also advises against culling graduate intake to cut costs. He says: "I know companies are looking to make savings as revenue streams come under pressure, but surely there is a place for compromise between short-term need and long-term strategy. Otherwise, in just a few years, we will again be facing an extreme skills shortage due to the lack of talent rising through the ranks."

Once recruited, the next big challenge is retention. Marc Mendoza, managing partner at MPG, strives to create a family atmosphere. "My co-managing partner and I personally interview every graduate who applies to us," he says.

"A sense of family is really important to us," he adds, sounding more like a proud dad than a ruthless media mogul.

750 - Estimated number of people who enter the advertising industry (media and creative agencies) each year Source: IPA

697 - Number of candidates who passed the IPA Foundation Certificate in 2008 (more than 90% of all first-year trainees)

281 - Number of candidates who passed the IPA Foundation Certificate in its launch year in 2003 (about 50% of all first-year trainees)

RICHARD VINCENT, planning assistant, ZenithOptimedia

- What attracted you to working in media?

I spent ages trying to get a job because I didn't want to rush into anything, but I knew I wanted to work in media. I had an image of the media industry being young and trendy, and I'd say that stereotype is largely true.

I got my job through taking part in Zenith's "Big Day" graduate recruitment event in April. We did workshops throughout the day, such as getting a taste of what it's like to be a buyer, receiving a brief, working with raw planning ideas and brainstorming. It really helped me clarify the different roles in media.

- What do you think of the training you have received?

When I started, there was a two-week intensive graduate training programme where we received an insight into different departments. It showed me that I wanted to work in planning because most of it is quite creative, with lots of brainstorming. Since then, media owners have come in to speak to us regularly, as have media specialists.

However, a fair proportion of the job is learning by being thrown in at the deep end. I believe that's the best way.

- How has your role developed over the past year?

I work on a music account and I have been given a few more artistes to look after by myself. That's a nice feeling. I work on up-and-coming as well as established artistes.

- What are the best/worst parts of the job?

The best thing is that my role is a creative one. The worst thing about it is the admin, which I suppose is one of the necessary evils.

- What are your ambitions for your career in media?

I'm only 23, so it's early days, but I can definitely see myself staying in media and staying at Zenith.

- What is your advice for other recruits?

Job searching can be a daunting task and it can get you down, but don't accept something you don't want to do. I've got so many friends who wish they had waited for the right job as I did.

CHRIS SKONE JAMES, planner/buyer, Mike Colling & Company

- What attracted you to working in media?

Like many grads, I didn't know what I wanted to do when I left university, but I did know I wanted to do something project-based and client-facing. A friend was already working for an agency and recommended I look at media. The opportunity to work for such varied clients across so many different sectors really appealed to me.

- What do you think of the training you have received?

Very good. The first year involved spending three months in different departments and then shadowing and assisting the managing director, which gave me a basic but wide-ranging knowledge of different media.

- Is working in media as you imagined?

I never anticipated the level of detail and research that goes into planning a big campaign.

- How has your role developed over the past year?

I started as a media assistant, doing basic admin and research for plans, and progressed to doing buying/negotiating, putting together basic plans, and helping client presentations. I am now planning and buying whole campaigns, producing analyses of results, and presenting to clients.

- What are your current responsibilities?

Planner/buyer on the Which? account.

- What are the best/worst parts of the job?

The best part is when a campaign I have been involved with since the start is successful. The worst is repeatedly having to explain to my family that although I work in advertising, I don't actually make the ads.

- What are your ambitions for your career in media?

I would like to work on more digital-focused accounts at some stage, as the opportunities for doing new things are so much broader than in traditional media.

- What is your advice for other new recruits?

Keep your eyes and ears open from the start. And don't mind doing some of the boring stuff initially - if you show you can handle that, you'll soon be given a chance to do something more exciting.

PATRICK MARTIN, communications planner, OMD UK

- What attracted you to working in media?

I wanted to do something creative. I spoke to friends who worked in media about the different roles, and one suggested a media agency. I then did more research through the IPA website. I like working on different briefs and the fact that media is a lively industry.

- What do you think of the training you have received?

Training took place for the first nine months, which was really useful. I've been on internal programmes where each department works in another department such as TV, press or finance for a week. The best training I've done is through the Omnicom network. It arranges courses with creatives and researchers where you're sent off for a week to work on a live client brief. We worked with grads in different departments and were mentored by industry professionals.

- How has your role developed over the past year?

I'm doing more and more of the client-facing work on my own. I get ownership of the work - although I discuss it with my seniors as I go along, I have free rein to go with what I think is right.

- What is the best bit of the job?

Being involved with how media is changing so quickly. I feel I'm on the cusp of that change and shaping it at the same time.

- What is the worst bit of the job?

The occasional late nights. Because we have such high standards, we have to double and triple-check work. Then again, working late at a media agency is not like working in something like accountancy, where I've heard from friends that you're chained to your desk. Here we order in pizza and have a bit of a laugh, even go for a drink.

- What are your ambitions in media?

I'm just focusing on the goal in hand at the moment.

- What is your advice for other recruits?

Think about the brands you want to work on, as your job enjoyment and your performance will probably be affected if you're not interested in them.

GEOFFREY SPENCE, agency sales executive, Channel 4

- What attracted you to working in media?

You interact with people on a daily basis and are not just crunching numbers. The industry is dynamic and allows for creative thinking. And, of course, the job requires you to entertain clients - people in media are always up for a good party.

- What do you think of the training you have received?

I have been extremely impressed by the training I have received at Channel 4. When you join, you are obliged to attend weekly one-on-one training sessions for about the first six months.You learn about the in-house systems used at C4, and about how the TV marketplace works and the role C4 plays in the market. We are then encouraged to continue with job-specific training, but are also given the freedom to pursue training that may benefit us.

- How has your role developed over the past year?

After starting as sales assistant, I have been promoted to sales executive and been given a lot more responsibility and ownership of my portfolio.

- What are your current responsibilities?

Dealing with media buyers on a daily basis and managing a portfolio of campaigns. We need to ensure these campaigns meet all deal parameters negotiated in the share deals, while also looking to source new and incremental money for the company.

- What are the best/worst parts of the job?

I love the people and, actually, the pressure. The worst part is dealing with media buyers who are unrealistically demanding, although I understand why they are.

- What are your ambitions for your career in media?

I'm quite happy at Channel 4. I would eventually like to be involved in more client-facing activities and work on cross-platform initiatives.

- What is your advice to other new recruits?

Find out a bit more about the different types of jobs there are in the industry, and what is best suited to your skill-set. In addition, get some work experience and chat to people in the industry.