Last month, I was offered a unique and fantastic opportunity by Rebecca to embark on a new career journey in strategic branding. I was (and still am!) extremely excited and grateful to be working for such a reputable company. Nonetheless, I couldn’t ignore the nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach before starting. I was concerned I would be completely out-my-depth, working with such talented professionals in an industry I have so much to learn about.
I have since completed my first week at rbl and the nervous feeling has completely vanished. The team has been nothing but helpful and welcoming. As cliché as it may sound, every day is different and I am gaining invaluable experience each day about both brand and agency life.
As I continue to learn more about rbl and what they do, I thought it would be advantageous to ask the team if they had any advice for me or anyone else starting a career in branding. Here’s what they said!
Andy Mathias, Creative Lead
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions – everyone will be busy, and won’t always naturally think to offer their time, but will always be happy to share work, advice, and processes.
- Get a good understanding of who does what in the agency – what does each person contribute to the team, and what different skills do they have? It will get you to the right person quicker if you have any issues.
- Find out what good looks like, we’re constantly looking at brands online to widen our knowledge, take in current trends for when we come to brand ourselves – it’s one of the most important things we do as designers.
Victoria Goodwin, Agency Manager
- Be prepared to work hard – get stuck in and offer to help wherever you can.
- Make lists! There’s always so much to learn and take in, so a good ‘to-do list’ keeps you on track and there’s nothing more satisfying than crossing things off when they’re done.
- Make a good cuppa! When we are all in the office nothing goes down better than the offer of a tea round!
Rhiannon Lowe, Strategic Brand Consultant
- If the opportunity is there, ask to be matched to a mentor within the agency who can be there to listen, to guide you, to be a sounding board, and coach you when needed. My experience of agency life is that it can be wonderfully creative, expressive, confidence-building but it can also be pressurized, intense, and sometimes confidence limiting. It’s helpful to have someone you can trust and who looks out for you – outside a managerial relationship – to help you navigate this world in a positive and fulfilling way.
- Ask each person in the agency to give you some time, to tell you about them and their role. You are part of the team, so you need to meet the team!
- Be bold and put your hat in the ring for stuff. Don’t be afraid of failing, learning by doing is the best way and you have a team around you to help.
Liam Churchard, Senior Designer
- Make sure you understand both sides of rbl, the business/client services side, and the design side. The ultimate goal of rbl is to create a visual solution to business challenges.
Jo Taylor, Account Director
- To listen, question everything, there are no stupid questions. Work hard, play hard and just be nice to people.
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