Here's a confession for you.
For my first 5 years as an advertising copywriter, I only had the vaguest clue what I was doing.
But despite this I rose with surprising ease – right up to creative director level – because the one skill I did have was knowing how to get jobs.
Once I had got my foot on the first rung of that ladder they all talk about – that first job - everything went pretty well. When I wanted to move on I wrote five letters to firms I liked the look of to get a job – and the letter got me three interviews.
And when I tried again to get a job in London (I was from the North whether they paid no money) I was so successful that I actually turned down three job offers before getting one that suited me.
I actually landed a position paying two and half times what I was getting in Manchester – for doing half as much work. So little, in fact, that I wrote most of a novel when I should have been working. It got published, too – but that's another story.
Then I landed a job as head of the creative department of quite a well-known London agency. They actually ended up paying me more than they wanted to because I made them an offer they couldn't turn down. And again, I confess, I still didn't really know what I was doing.
My skill at writing job-getting letters rose to such a pitch that eventually I even got the most famous advertising man in the world to give me an appointment, so I guess I must have born with this uncanny knack.
I have no idea where it came from. Nobody told me what to do. But I can tell you one thing: after 40 years hiring people myself, hardly any people looking for jobs know how to go about it as well as I did at the age of 22. And I might add that some of the advice given by "experts" is rubbish.
Most applicants don't understand the importance of targeting. They don't know how to write for an interview. They don't know how to handle interviews when they get them. They don't understand the dynamics. They are fighting a very tough battle with one hand tied behind their backs.
And it is a tough battle. I have seen as many as 300 people apply for six (badly-paid) jobs in my kind of business.
And it's a shame, because there is no mystery, no magical skill called for. You just have to follow a few simple guidelines.
Like to know more? Go to www.eadim.com. There's a free report there. I think you'll find it worth your while.
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