IDEA alumni at Will Creative offer career advice to IDEA19 as they prepare for industry Practicums
Five of our grads work at Vancouver’s Will Creative. Thank you to our alumni for the great group photos and career advice for IDEA19!
Shown left to right above: Will Erickson (Grad 2015), Allison Chambers (Grad 2013), Jennifer Hicks (Grad 2006), Briony Crane (Grad 2006) and Rory O'Sullivan (Grad 2005).
“One of my most valuable lessons from entering the employment field is the importance of maintaining an optimistic and friendly demeanour. Having an excellent portfolio is great, but if you present yourself as difficult to work with you simply won’t be seen as a desirable employee. Remember, when you’re feeling stressed out, the people you work with are on your side – they’re there to support you, and you them. So do your best to stay humble and remain positive whenever you can!”
“Be helpful and make yourself useful in your first job/placement. If you have some down-time, ask around if anyone needs image sourcing, presentation set-up prep, sketching, anything. Everything is an opportunity to learn, and you will become more involved. Also, ask to grab a coffee with someone new in the office once a week. People are happy to do it, and you’ll get lots of industry insight and advice, and grow your contacts.”
“The best career advice I’ve received is that to come up with a great idea, you don’t have to be a brilliant, genius, design prodigy. You just have to put the work in, come up with 100 ideas, and trust the process – there will be a great one in there. Working hard is something you can control, but being born brilliant is not. I found this immensely relieving.”
“Practice creative interval training: fast sprints for scrappy concept development, followed by slow and methodical detailed work. In my experience, creatives who do this well often have the ‘healthiest’ careers; alternating between the two states helps to keep creative stamina up while ensuring their energy is going in the right place. Oh yeah, and exercise is good too.”
“Learn from the people around you. From the first day of the IDEA Program to present day in the industry I’ve found that I’ve had the great opportunity to always be surrounded by talented, creative, sensitive, like-minded people that can teach you a lot. Ranging from something as simple as setting nice type to just being a good person. As a result, I’ve never stopped learning.”
Will is a creative agency in Vancouver, BC. Their focus lies on strategic and creative brand development with a strong sense of purpose and emotional connection. Will applies this principle across all communications disciplines – whether by Will or a partner with equal will.
Late Admission to the Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication at Capilano University in North Vancouver, BC for Fall 2019 runs February 8 to April 10, 2019. No submissions will be accepted after Wednesday, April 10, 2019.
