Journal.
How to get a job at a web design agency
I’ve had a number of conversations recently with clients past and present on how to make the transition into an agency-side role. I’m sharing my thoughts on this more widely, because I’d love to get some feedback from other people who’ve recruited at agencies, and the learn more about the experiences of those who’ve made the jump. But most of all, I want it to be useful for people thinking about moving from client to agency-side.
A disclaimer. This is, naturally, based on my own experiences, not just as someone who has worked on both sides of the client/agency fence, but having recruited designers, developers, information architects and user experience designers regularly over the past six years or so at two NMA Top 100 agencies that employed around 50 to 100 people. Those agencies might be typical, they might not.
Pick the agency, not the role
Agencies are often less structured than the clients they work with. There is sometimes less in the way of an HR function, formal appraisal process and even a meaningful job description than you might be used to. This doesn’t sound great, does it? But actually, it can be a good thing. This lack of structure and fluidity can provide the space and opportunity if you’re prepared to go after it, find a niche and make it yours. Some of the best and brightest people I’ve been lucky enough to work with have risen through the ranks, from personal assistant to senior consultant, from project manager to information architecture specialist.
This suits agencies because it’s frankly cheaper than recruiting externally, but also helps them provide career paths that keep good staff with them for the longer term.
If you are thinking of moving to an agency, pick that agency with a lot of care. How they treat their people is as important as their portfolio. You need be confident that they can give you the confidence that they will support you and your career and help you progress. Don’t be afraid to ask about how they promote and reward staff, their commitment to your own personal development, and their examples of how people have progressed through the agency. And, of course, listen to what other people have to say about them too.
The greatest fear that agencies have is non-agency people
Working for an agency is hard. It requires an ability to multi-task like crazy, to work fast and often independently, to be good at negotiation and handling tricky client communications. For many agencies, knowing that a new recruit is going to be able to cope and thrive in this sort of environment is the most pressing issue.
If you’ve not experienced working for an agency, you’ll need to be able to provide reassurance that you’ll be able to cope and deal with the demands it will make of you. This might not come from your current job client-side, so be imaginative about you multi-task in your everyday life.
Don’t be a Jack of all trades
If you’re working client-side at the moment, then the chances are that you’re combining a number of roles. Project managing one minute, building the next, acting as editor and making user interface decisions continuously. It can be hard to determine the bit that you’re best at, and similarly hard for agencies to know where to put you.
If you’re making the move, think hard about what you’re really best at it, where you can give most to an agency and focus on it. Coming from a client-side background, your experience of cutting across disciplines can be really important, but just remember that ‘I do a bit of everything’ isn’t an answer that often inspires confidence in agencies.
It isn’t necessarily about qualifications
I get asked a lot about the need for formal HCI/UCD qualifications. We might be the last generation that this is true of, but while a good academic background and relevant experience is the perfect match, the former isn’t a substitute for the latter. Most agencies, right or wrong, will put more store on your attitude and what you’ve done than your academic achievements. And speaking of attitude…
Share your passion
Get involved with your community, be able to demonstrate that you are on top of current thinking, know where the best sources of information in your field are, and be able to talk confidently about process and methodology (even if you’ve actually not had much chance to put them into practice). And ask for help – if this community has one thing going for it, it’s a natural inclination to share and help others, so make the most of it, whether that be by getting mentored through the Information Architecture Institute, joining the discussion on Interaction Design Association, or being a part of one of the many user experience bookclubs around the world. This community is also the place where you are most likely to find about the best jobs too.
When I worked client-side, I assumed that everyone working at agencies must live, eat and sleep all things digital. Depressingly, it often isn’t the case. Happily, those people don’t always tend to last, but don’t be one of them. If you’re really interested in a career in this field, write about it. Help define what you believe in by committing it to a post somewhere, and sharing it with others. This simple exercise of writing will make you a better communicator, a better thinker and help you develop, fast.
Lastly, a friendly bit of advice. If you don’t have time to blog, you really aren’t in the right career. If you don’t have time to read your RSS feeds, read the books your peers are reading, and actively seek out ways to become better at what you do, do something else. Seriously.
Leave a comment
Cennydd Bowles
12 January, 11:09 AM #
“The greatest fear that agencies have is non-agency people” – it’s a stupid, stupid bias but you’re absolutely right, and there’s no getting around. I know plenty of smart, individualist designers who’ve been rejected by agencies in favour of people who’ve spent the last three years pushing out microsites about deodorant.
“If you don’t have time to read your RSS feeds, read the books your peers are reading, and actively seek out ways to become better at what you do, do something else. Seriously.” – I think you can be a proficient and employable web design person without this level of commitment, but who wants to be just proficient and employable? :)
Farhan Lalji
12 January, 11:21 AM #
I’d also add connect with people and nurture those relationships. Not necessarily exclusive to web design agency roles, but with the way the web is moving having an identity online and connecting with others who you respect is a good way of getting noticed.
Build stuff that’s exciting. When you and I were client side, we built a CMS, we built CSS and we did stuff, we needed the agency to take us to the next level, but the agency respected what we had done before in our client side roles. Same can be done today by client side peeps, build twitter profiles, facebook pages, etc and show that you get the medium.
Pete Williams
12 January, 11:47 AM #
Couldn’t agree with that last paragraph more. When recruiting that proof of passion is probably the main thing I look for.
Simon Doggett
12 January, 01:17 PM #
Having made the agency-side switch back in October, I can agree vehemently with all of this.
Another thing to add would be to source a mentor you really want to work with.
It’s easy to meet senior-level agency folk at the events you’ve mentioned, and sourcing individuals you want to work alongside and learn from can be just as fruitful as finding the agency as a whole.
Andy Massey
12 January, 01:34 PM #
Sage advice from a very nice fella who gave me a job at a lovely agency.
:)
Note to self: must make time to blog.
Now all that’s needed is sister article: How to get a job client side.
Andrew Travers
12 January, 02:22 PM #
@ Simon Doggett – that’s really good advice Simon. Cennyyd, myself and others offer mentoring via the IA Institute, and it’s a good place to look for mentors.
@ Cennyyd – couldn’t agree more. I do wonder sometimes whether that attitude towards people moving from client-side is a little related to a lingering (and utterly misguided) snobbery of agencies towards clients.
@ Farhan – you’re right, but then, I always say that…
Mr Bootle
15 January, 08:54 PM #
“if this community has one thing going for it, it’s a natural inclination to share and help others”
Couldn’t agree with this more and it’s one of the constant reminders of why I love my job so much.
Yes a blog; I know I need to do that. At least I’ve kicked my reading quota up this year :-)
Mark Sherwin
5 February, 09:08 PM #
Great article Andrew!
I guess the natural question to lead on from this is why do the switch at all!
All I can say is that it is one of the most rewarding careers you can imagine. Yes the pressure is high, the need for multi-tasking a vital survival tool and the willingness to try something new whilst only just keeping the current balls in the air a necessity. But it gives you the chance to experience and interact with more varied industries and organisations than you could possibly imagine. You will meet great people at an astonishing rate – oh and meet some pretty awful people along the way…but for me the chance to come to work everyday wondering genuinely what the next challenge will be makes it worth all the effort.
If you’re thinking about doing it – check that you have the stamina and commitment to really keep up the pace – then go for it – keep knocking on doors and networking until the right job at the right agency manifests itself – Good luck!!
Ryan Sackett
20 February, 10:21 AM #
Super useful article. As someone looking to make the switch, the views above have been valuable in helping shape my thoughts and ‘position myself’.
I think the reduced structure and increased emphasis on fluid working is great from a personal development point of view, but I am wondering how an ‘outsider’ pitches at a job description knowing that their are unstated aspects?
For example, I’d like to get into a consultant role (though I’m basically looking for an opportunity to prove myself), but if the facets to consultancy (beyond the core skills) can vary, how does someone like me know what to focus in an application?
That made sense in my head :)
Andrew Travers
25 February, 02:31 PM #
Ryan, thanks for the post. Great question.
I think in part it’s having the confidence to go into an interview prepared to interview them as much as they interview you. It’s in doing that that you’ll uncover what matters to them, but also assert what matters to you.
Asking around helps too – knowing what others think of an agency’s work, what they’re good (and not) at, really helps you understand how to pitch yourself most effectively and get a feel for whether they are likely to be right for you.
Ryan Sackett
26 February, 06:08 PM #
Thanks Andrew. I’m grateful for the advice. If you have five minutes take a look at rmsackett.wordpress.com. I’m trying to move the writing forward.
Thanks again.