Possibility
Possibility
‘THEY’RE CALLED COPY TESTS,’ LAURA REDMOND said. ‘All the ad agencies have their own – they’re aimed at prospective employees, but they’ll give them out to anyone looking to put a portfolio together. Basically, they’re asking you to create im-aginary ads – some for press, some for radio, maybe some TV advertising – so you can show what you’re capable of.’
She wore a cream and navy striped blouse with a bow at the neck, tucked into dark wide-legged trousers. Her waist was tiny, her blonde hair big and shaggy like Farrah Fawcett’s. She had a beauty spot on one cheek, and she was from Carlow.
She didn’t seem fazed by Ellen’s inexperience. ‘There really isn’t a normal path into advertising – and you don’t need any kind of formal qualification if you’re looking to work in the creative department of an agency. What you need is an aptitude for words and ideas. You need to be quick-thinking and versatile, and able to work in a team.’
‘OK.’ Ellen tried to look as if she was all those things. ‘So my first step is to compile a portfolio?’
‘Exactly. Do a round of the agencies – you’ll find them all in the Golden Pages – and collect as many copy tests as you can, then basically work your way through them.’
‘What about pictures to go with my words for the press ads? I’m not artistic.’
‘Don’t worry about that – anyone looking to hire you as a copywriter will be focusing on your words and your ideas.’
‘How do I show a TV ad?’
‘Do it like a comic, giving the rough sequence of events – and again, drawings won’t really matter. If you get a job, you’ll be working with an art director.’
If you get a job. She wasn’t ruling it out. Ellen tried to quell a rising excitement. ‘Thanks so much for your help.’
‘Not at all. Come back to me with your portfolio and we’ll take it from there. Best of luck.’
Ellen thanked her again and left. On the Tube home she made a list.
Find book on copywriting.
Collect copy tests.
Buy portfolio.
Fill portfolio.
Bring portfolio to Laura.
It looked simple on paper, a straightforward path to a better job. All she had to do was work through the steps – so the following morning she left the flat a little earlier than usual and called into the bookshop next to the sandwich bar. There she found three books on copywriting, and she bought the one that seemed to be written in the plainest English, and she read and reread it until it sank in.
After that she took the Tube into central London and located five ad agencies within a few minutes’ walk of each other. All of them were glass-fronted and stylish, and she was hugely intimidated by them. All featured revolving doors through which she watched well-groomed men and women coming and going. Did she have the nerve to walk in, in her not very stylish clothes?
What if you try and don’t fail?
She found the nerve, and went home with five copy tests.