Our guide provides some essential info to help you on your way to getting hired as a junior advertising copywriter or art director in an ad agency.
How do junior creatives get hired?
Creatives often work in a partnership of copywriter and art director, and get hired as a team. If you're flying solo but want a partner, the Creative Newbies Network offers a matchmaking service to help junior creatives find a copywriter or art director partner to work with.
Most creatives start out doing paid placements in ad agencies, which gives them valuable on-the-job experience and helps to build a portfolio of work, which is what creative directors look at when they're considering you for a permanent job.
It's a competitive industry to get into, so if you want to stand out it's a good idea to think about your personal brand – either for yourself, or for your team – and how you can market yourself. This D&AD New Blood Academy article on personal branding explains what it means to have a personal brand, and how to build yours.
Where can I find junior creative placements and jobs?
Getting a placement is all about putting yourself out there – these roles are not always advertised, so you'll need to get in touch with the right people at the agencies where you're keen to work. It's also helpful to get on LinkedIn and follow creatives working at different agencies – check your feed regularly as people may post when their agency is looking for new placement teams.
If you need a bit of a nudge with networking, check out this D&AD New Blood Academy article on understanding and unlocking the power of your network.
The Junior Jobs Board on Discord offers a good round-up of junior advertising creative jobs and placements, as well as networking events and opportunities to get your portfolio reviewed by more experienced creatives. And the Creative Newbies Network has some insights on how to get a placement at Saatchi & Saatchi.
Do any ad agencies run early-career programmes for creatives?
Yes – several run talent and portfolio development programmes. Some of these programmes are open to all, while some are for people who've not been to ad school and who don't have previous experience of working in ad agencies. Here are some to check out:
The Kennedys, Wieden+Kennedy: a 5 month training programme for people who've not been to ad school and who don't have previous experience of working in ad agencies. Applications usually close in early December for a start date in late January.
M&C Saatchi Open House:Â an online course where you'll join one evening session a week, over 8 weeks. At the end of the course you'll have a chance to apply for the M&C Saatchi Open House Assessment Day. Pass the assessment day and you'll join the talent pool for early career opportunities across the M&C Saatchi Group.
Adam & Eve First Bite: a 3 month summer placement programme, for creatives, account managers and planners. Applications usually close in April and they post on LinkedIn when applications open, so follow Adam&EveDDB here.
The Crew, Mother: Mother’s grassroots talent scheme, which serves as an alternative route into the industry for anyone with an interest in advertising, but little to no work experience. You’ll spend 15 months as a part of the Crew, then take on a 6-month fixed term placement of your choice within the agency. Applications usually open in December and close in January, for a February start date. You can see the December 2023 job ad here.
Do I need a degree in advertising to get hired as a creative?
No, it doesn't matter what your degree is in, or if you've not been to university at all. Employers will make their hiring decisions based on meeting you and looking at your ad portfolio.
One alternative to doing a BA or MA in advertising is the School of Communication Arts 2.0 – it's a highly respected ad school that offers a 10 month intensive advertising portfolio course, followed by a guaranteed 6 month paid placement in industry. The fees are similar to an MA programme, but you don't need an undergraduate degree to apply.
There are also industry initiatives that are only open to people who've not been to ad school of any kind, including:
The Kennedys, Wieden+Kennedy, a 5 month training programme for people who've not been to ad school and who don't have previous experience of working in ad agencies. Applications usually close in early December for a start date in late January.
Bauer Academy delivers the government-backed Junior Advertising Creative apprenticeship, in partnership with Ogilvy.
D&AD Shift is a free industry-led night school for self-taught creatives entering the advertising, design and creative industry from outside traditional pathways. You can apply if you've not got a degree (in any subject) and you're not studying towards one. The application deadline for the 2025 programme should be in June 2025.
One School UKÂ is a free, online portfolio school for Black creatives, with 2 online evening classes a week for 4 months. ONE School UKÂ is a free, online portfolio school for Black creatives. You're not eligible for ONE School if you've already been to ad school or have completed a similar portfolio programme.
What skills are employers looking for in junior ad creatives?
Starting with the obvious – a creative mindset and the ability to come up with lots of ideas are essential ingredients for working as an ad creative. Your creative strengths might be on the writing side, or the design/art direction side; either way, you'll need to be able think conceptually and see the big picture, but also be able to focus on small details. Other skills that employers look for include:
problem-solving
presenting your ideas and communicating with others
collaborative working
working with creative briefs
understanding and responding to feedback
working with clients.
What other organisations should I know about as an early career creative?
D&AD has tonnes of useful info for early career creatives. You can see D&AD Award winners and watch highlights from the D&AD Festival here.
D&AD also runs the annual New Blood Awards which are open to advertising, design, digital and marketing students, recent graduates and emerging creatives. You work on real briefs set by major brands and have your work judged by leading advertising creatives. If you do well in the New Blood Awards you might get invited to apply to the New Blood Academy training programme – and while only a small group of people get to attend that each year, you can read loads of useful advice and career tips in this online version of the New Blood Academy handbook.
The Creative Newbies Network is a community of placement-level advertising creatives and offers resources including an industry contact book, a portfolio-building guide and a matchmaking service to help creatives find a copywriter or art director partner to work with.
It's Nice That is a great place for creative inspiration and Shots is good for keeping up to date with the latest film work.
HelloYouCreatives is run by a London-based creative and shares interesting work and useful resources.
Are you from a group that's under-represented in the ad industry?
One School UKÂ is a free, online portfolio school for Black creatives, with 2 online evening classes a week for 4 months. ONE School UKÂ is a free, online portfolio school for Black creatives. You're not eligible for ONE School if you've already been to ad school or have completed a similar portfolio programme.
Creative Access offers an annual Career Development Bursary for people from groups that are under-represented in the creative economy, including Black, Asian and ethnically diverse individuals, disabled people and individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Applications close in early November each year and you can read more about the bursary here.