Valuable Insights from an Agency Founder Call

A Call with the Agency Founder

I had an unexpected call with the founder of the agency. He was upfront and mentioned that they don’t have any open positions or opportunities at the moment. Yet, he still took the time to chat with me and provided some valuable insights.

To my surprise, he genuinely conducted a deep mentoring session with me. He reviewed my portfolio and offered a wealth of useful advice.

💚 One key takeaway was the importance of maintaining my LinkedIn profile, even if I don’t have current work projects to showcase. He encouraged me to share my knitting projects, thoughts on the advertising world, and other personal observations.

It struck me that he was right; I noticed that people who clicked through from my message were predominantly checking my LinkedIn profile, which is currently quite bare and inactive.

💚 Another piece of advice that left me feeling a bit down was the need to revamp my portfolio. I wish I had captured the exact phrasing he used to describe the issues with my work. He highlighted that it was cluttered, too text-heavy, and lacked a creative presentation. He noted that while I spoke passionately about the projects, that energy didn’t come through in my written work.

💚 The most significant insight I gained from this meeting was the need to highlight my creative side, which isn’t necessarily tied to my job search.

I had become so bogged down with work projects that I buried important creative aspects about myself at the end of my portfolio. After all, I’m not looking for a job as a lawyer or financial analyst!

To be honest, I had tailored my portfolio more for a marketing specialist rather than a creative professional. Now, I need to reflect a different set of skills.

For now, I’m in energy-saving mode, dreaming up ideas for how my portfolio could look. I’m brainstorming new features in my mind, and the thought of having to share many new tools for its realization does intimidate me a little.

The founder apologized multiple times for not having any tasks for me at this moment. He asked me to send him an updated portfolio and mentioned he would keep me in mind for future opportunities. We agreed to stay in touch.

It’s been ages since I last interviewed in Russia, so I’m not quite sure if this kind of engagement is customary in our culture. I was deeply touched by his willingness to spend so much time with me and the sincerity he showed. He even added me on LinkedIn!