Breaking Into Copywriting

Lauren Wolf

Senior year was coming to a close and unlike most of my friends majoring in Advertising, I didn’t have a job. It’s not that I hadn’t been applying everywhere. Trust me, I was hitting that LinkedIn apply button like it was hot. I just wasn’t getting responses.

I have to admit though, I wasn’t leaving myself with many options. I was applying only to creative internships, which meant I was being judged on more than just my resume. I was being judged by my “book”. For those who don’t know, your “book” is jargon for your creative portfolio. Today, a book most often comes in the form of a website, not a bound stack of paper. I knew my book was nowhere near finished, but I had gotten a nice start on it by taking Peter Sheldon’s Creative Concepts classes. However, I knew that I was competing against applicants who went to portfolio school. That meant I was competing against people who went to school with the sole purpose of landing them a job as a creative in advertising. So yeah, I was becoming a little pessimistic. But I didn’t want to call it quits on my dream of being a copywriter just yet. Portfolio school was my fallback, but I wasn’t that excited to spend a bunch of money and another two years in school.

One day, I heard about a summer internship at an agency in Chicago called Havas Worldwide. The application stood out to me compared to the others. The prompt was to create a story of images and words on an app called Steller. I flipped through the stories of the 300 or so other people that had already applied and I noticed several similarities between them. I decided that if I wanted to be remembered, I’d have to do something a little risky and maybe even a little stupid. So, I told my story in the best way I knew how: awful puns. Long story short (see, another one!), I was chosen.

Portfolio school was my fallback, but I wasn't that excited to spend a bunch of money and another 2 years in school.

The internship was incredible and way too short. Regardless, I learned more about agency life and the industry in three months than I ever could have from student testimonials. It’s something that you just have to experience for yourself. My main role was a Copywriting Intern on the Citibank account, but I touched on many projects for different accounts as well. Under Citi, I worked on Direct Mail pieces and bank branch signage. I also helped with billboards for Cracker Barrel, Insta-Content videos for Sears, and a little bit of digital for Liberty Mutual Insurance. It was great getting to work on so many diverse projects and accounts because I got to see how each one operated in its own way.

As the internship came to a close, I was really nervous about my future. Did I prove myself enough to be hired or would I have to start applying to portfolio schools? A week after the internship ended, I got a call from my boss asking me to come back and work freelance until I could be brought on full time. I was ecstatic, not only because I would get to stay at an agency I had grown to love, but because I would be paid hourly and would get time and half for overtime.

I’ve been working as a Freelance Copywriter on Citibank since August and I’m being brought on full time in January. It took a month or so for me to transition from feeling like an intern to feeling like a full-time employee, but it happened eventually. There are a lot of perks at the agency like a complimentary cereal bar, a beer cart on Fridays, and a dog-friendly workspace. I’m on the retail team which means I work primarily on the exterior and interior signage of bank branches around the world. I work really closely with a great team and I’m working even closer with a Senior Copywriter as my mentor. The real world isn’t all that bad.

Looking back now, I’m really happy I enjoyed the end of my senior year and didn’t stress to much about jobs. I’m also happy that I didn’t give up on wanting to be a Copywriter. Here is the best piece of advice I can give about following your passion: I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t hard. But I’m telling the truth when I say it’s worth it.