Despite the title, I'm going to spare you of baseball metaphors. Today is my first day of mourning the end of football season anyway (congrats Saints!).

If you're lucky (and at the right agency), after months of grunt work, interns and junior creatives are sometimes rewarded with a shot at the big time — an opportunity to pitch for a TV spot or some other high-profile project. It's a looong shot that your work will survive the first round. If you want to better your chances, I always give the same advice: go first. If your work shows a glimmer of promise, this may help you survive.

If you have several creative teams pitching concepts , there's a very good chance some of you are going to have similar ideas. My experiences have shown that by pitching the idea first, you own the idea by default. Unless the other creative teams come up with a much better twist, chances are you may be asked to help develop the spot under more senior supervision. And if no one has a similar idea, a senior team will still be assigned to help you with your concept — or take it over completely. (Sorry. It happens. You're just an intern.)

Whenever a team starts their pitch with "we had an idea similar to (NAME)," your idea further sets the bar others will be compared to.

Now there have been times when going first hasn't worked in my favor. I've had moments where my ideas stunk up the room so badly, I made everyone else look like creative geniuses. But failure has never stopped me from volunteering to present first. And if you are afraid to fail, maybe this isn't the right career for you. As creatives, we are always in the forefront. Agencies build their reputations on your ideas. So get ready to be highly scrutinized for your entire advertising career.

Sometimes interns take my advice. The ones that do are more often given more opportunities to pitch other projects. And those that keep showing initiative are the first to be offered permanent positions over applicants trying to break in the old fashion way.

If you're lucky, you may also have the start of an actual reel at the end of this project, which puts you miles ahead of the competition.

        

There comes a time in everyone's life where you're going to have to sit your parents down and tell them about the facts of life — your life.

Did you ever have this conversation with your folks?

"Mom, Dad, I've given this a lot of thought... I - I want to work in advertising."

Did they give you that "crazy stare" that made you run to your bedroom? Or, did they go completely off? How long did it take until you regained consciousness?

I tried to spare some kids from the pain when I spoke at a high school career fair. Surprisingly, there were a lot more parents in attendance than usual. Normally, I just try to connect with the kids, but the adult presence made me switch gears a little bit.

I asked the students, "How many of you like to draw?" A few hands shot up.

"How many like to write? Stories? Poetry?" I continued and I got a few more responses.

"Parents, your kids can make a living doing this," I said. "I'm proof of that."

Have your parents tried to talk you out of pursuing a more artistic job for something more "sensible," like law or medicine? I know people who were "talked" out of advertising careers and other jobs with creative outlets. I think part of the reason may be that parents don't understand the work we do. I know members of my family don't fully understand my work. According to my grandmother, I'm responsible for every Chevy ad created in the last ten years. (And I would never deny her top bragging rights among her friends.) Fortunately, I have parents who fully supported their son's desire to pursue a career in this business. Not everyone is that fortunate. So I figured I could better help these kids by educating their parents.

After showing them some work samples, we talked about  portfolio schools and universities. Then I immediately addressed that all-important question: How much money can you make?

We pulled up some stats on salary.com. I didn't win any fans with starting salaries, but the earning potential made sure I didn't lose anyone either. The kids were a bit disappointed to find out you don't earn TV star salaries, even if your work is on the air. Still, I connected with several parents that night, understanding that their kids could make a livable wage drawing pictures and writing stories.

"Breaking into this business is not going to be easy," I concluded. "But it won't be as hard if they have your support."

So I told the students don't let anyone talk you out of the life you want for yourself. And if they ever needed help talking to their parents about pursuing advertising and other jobs that let them express themselves artistically, I'd provide information to help their parents understand.

That offer always stands.



 

        

A professor bought me a beer at an Adcraft Club event. An acceptable bribe. He invited several students to the program and was talking up one of the students to me.

"He's a brilliant illustrator," the professor said. "You should see his work."

The professor pointed out this "genius" from across the bar. His student was laughing with some woman over a beer. He wasn't coming over to meet me anytime soon. I didn't blame him. She was cute. I wouldn't waste time with me either. So I gave the prof my card. "I'll have him call you," he said.

You know where this is leading. Genius didn't call.

I didn't have a job for his student or any leads, but I would have answered any of his questions. Thing is, every semester, I meet instructors who love to "sell" their students. Do you know those teachers? Are they talking about you? More importantly, are you taking advantage of it?

These instructors are your first important job referral. I said it before, but it needs repeating: Ad jobs are often filled through referrals. And if you are a student with no experience and no contacts, who else is going to speak for you?

So how do you get in that prof's good graces? (Take your mind out of the gutter for a second – I knew you were going to go there.) It helps to be a good student or a likable one. I can't help you there, but you can start by not doing the mad dash out the door when class ends. You've got to start building a rapport. The best instructors don't just complicate your life with exams and papers with ridiculous due dates, they help open doors.

I've stood on the internship soapbox long enough (for now, at least). If you are looking for a summer internship, now is the time to apply. If you're a more "seasoned" professional, who has gone back to school or is looking for a fresh start, internships are ideal opportunities. And if you've been out of school for a while, don't be shy about reaching out to the prof who inspired you in the past. There's no law saying your relationship ends after graduation. (Anyone read "Tuesdays With Morrie?")

Besides, if you're like most of us, you're probably still paying your student loans. You might as well get your money's worth.

Photo courtesy or stock.xchng.

        

How often do you test your online portfolio?

Are all of your videos running properly? Are you seeing that annoying "broken link" icon where your images used to be?

Hard drives and servers crash.

Files get corrupted.

Someone proposed an interesting question during a conversation: Have you ever lost your online portfolio? I can't say that I have. But as I thought about it, anything is possible. It does make you panic a little. You've got to protect your work to get work. So I put the question out in the universe and tried to get a consensus on the best ways people protect their portfolios.

The Mozy ad campaign seems to be paying off. People are swearing by the online computer backup. But what if you can't afford the minimum $5/month backup plan? Here's a cheap alternative:

• Open a free email account like Yahoo!
• Send file attachments to yourself, without exceeding your file size limit.
• Store all of the emails in backup folders on the site.

That's worked for me for the last ten years. And I have had to go to those files to recover work. Others recommend the usual: multiple external hard drives and/or flash drives. No one recommended brand names. It's also a one-time expense over a monthly one. No, it's not groundbreaking info and many will say that's common sense, but let me ask: If your work was suddenly lost right now, do you have backup?

It's all sitting on the computer you're using right now, isn't it?

If you are sending out resumes fast and furiously, I would check every bell and whistle on your portfolio daily. We know that no potential employer is going to send a friendly email saying, "I couldn't get your video to play. Let me know when it's up and running — I'll wait."

        

Please tell me that you've started applying for summer internships.

Now is the time.

The first jobs to go are generally the paying ones.

So if you are hoping to get more out of a summer job than just college credits, get on it.

Stop thinking about the frat party this weekend. And hold off on trying to find the best hotel rates for spring break for just a moment. If you wait until the end of the semester in May, it's too late.

I told you it's getting more competitive, especially if you factor in the older adults returning to school and the unemployed. I've also noticed that some of the positions from The Ad Grad Project have been filled, but YouIntern is still a good starting point. Next, start hitting up those professors for a few job leads. And now would be a good time to find all of the cards you collected at job fairs and start making some contact. And speaking of spring break, if there are job opportunities in the area where you are vacationing, let a potential employer know when you will be in town to schedule an interview. Believe me, it works sometimes. (And it won't kill you to be away from the beach for a couple of hours.)

Now before you step away from your computer, promise me that you'll send out at least one resume right now. Good luck.



Photo courtesy of tome213 and stock.xchng.

        

They've been spotted.

People talk about them, but few have seen them... until now.

They're almost legendary.

Who are they? Sasquatches?

No. The 40-year old interns.

No longer are they those wide-eyed, enthusiastic, barely-legal college students. These are older students with a lot of life experience. And they are growing in number. Believe it or not, spotting the older intern is a positive sign. Many may be starting over, but they are pursuing their dream jobs. The best part is that companies are recognizing their value and giving them a chance.

So stop thinking you're too old. It's never too late to make a career change (especially if no one is hiring in your old profession). And you have nothing to be embarrassed about. If anything, it's inspiring as it becomes more common. It should give you hope, if you find yourself in the circumstances of starting over.

I met Mya, a 40-something intern, at a college job fair last year. After high school, she went to work on the assembly line for one of the Big Three automakers. Two years ago, she took a buyout over risking a lay-off and enrolled in school to study business. Instead of building cars, she now wants to market them. Last fall, she landed an internship with a Detroit ad agency. I recently got an email from her saying the company doesn't have the funds to hire her full time, but they did extend her internship to the summer.

I like a good Bigfoot sighting in the tabloids as much as anyone, but the older intern sightings are great breaking news.

Check out:
"Never Too Old to Intern." Good story about a woman who learns to write for the web.
"Hiring older interns." A survey of a growing trend.
"A Sprinkling of Maturity in '09 Intern Crop."

And if you want Bigfoot, here are the best Bigfoot sightings of all time. GOONIE GOO GOO.

        

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