Guest Blogger
Varying degrees
Editors’ note: Dorian Burns-Coyne is a recent graduate of the Gerald Schwartz School of Business at St. Francis Xavier University with a Bachelor Business Administration and Major in Marketing. He is now pursuing his passion to establish a career in the ad industry.
It seems that getting an undergraduate degree is a prerequisite to securing a decent job these days, but is it always applicable? When I think back to my high school days, my biggest concern was not if, but where I would go to school. However, as a recent university graduate, I can’t help but look back and question if it was relevant to the career I wish to pursue in advertising.
With a major in marketing and a keen interest in project management, I have yet to yield the results expected (secure a job), which makes me wary of the system I have bought into – and at a high price, might I add! Which brings me to my first conclusion: undergraduate degrees are not fully relevant to a specific career. However, this is not surprising, as the vast majority of students don’t know what type of career they want to pursue upon enrollment, so the undergraduate experience becomes more of an introduction than a means to an end. But isn’t that the key selling point for post-secondary education – you get a better job? In essence, yes, but deep down past the countless number of papers, grueling exams, and bottomless cups of coffee, there’s more to it. The contention that post-secondary institutions are systematic in a sense that after punching in for four years a job pops out, is a misconception to say the least. The graduates who are securing jobs are the ones that have more than just their alma mater on their resume. Volunteer hours, previous job experience, awards – this is what employers look for.
What it comes down to is that universities will never be completely relevant to the avid advertiser, as the market changes quicker than the institutions can adapt. However, that doesn’t mean a degree is less valuable, if anything it adds to the value, after all, the advertising industry thrives on varying perspectives. A wise man once said “you can’t give the client exactly what they want, otherwise they would do it themselves, but you can’t give them what they don’t want either.” Although this was in reference to advertising, it can be applied to post-secondary education as well. Universities can’t teach the students exactly what they want or what they already know, nor can they teach what students don’t want or don’t know, it has to be a blend of both, and this blend is what makes a degree valuable. Thus a degree will never be completely relevant, nor will it ensure you have a job waiting for you by the time the mortarboards hit the ground, but it will broaden one’s perspective, knowledge, and career opportunities.
An undergraduate degree is an introduction, or welcome mat if you will, into a specific field of study. Although, like any good welcome mat, they’re just there to clean you up before you try and get your foot in the door.
I have got all the relevant marketing qualifications, but having worked in the ad industry for 12 years – I’d now go as far to say that a degree is almost irrelevant. As a character building experience – it is a great thing to do. As preparation for being amazing in the ad industry (and you’ll only ever get noticed if you REALLY are amazing) – the best thing anyone could possibly do is choose their favourite agency – and beg them for a job as soon as possible. Run around making tea and toast if possible – or as a runner. Whatever – just get your foot in the door and learn the ropes from the ground up. Also – university teaches you to think within certain perameters – it’s interesting that almost all of the great agency owners and creatives that I’ve ever worked with – very few of them have degrees. Just my opinion – but I think I would have saved myself a good 4 years if I didn’t go to school – and instead spent all my time around the best creatives I could find.
Great blog Dorian. I can actually close my eyes and hear you saying the words.
I think undergraduate degrees are very important. But like most things offered to you in life, you will only get out of it what you put in. I’m not talking about straight A’s and 4.0’s. In fact, I didn’t have great grades in school, because I devoted so much time to other things, like our business society ACE STFX which I felt taught me more about business then any of my courses. Also, building relationships and discovering who you are as a person, who you want to be as a businessman/woman. Some of the best business contacts I have now are those people that I worked with in ACE and not just ast STFX, Nation wide. Even though i’m a couple thousand grand in the hole, I wouldn’t trade in my STFX education for a surplus of 40K. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I wouldn’t be where I am, or who I am today without it.
Also as an end note- I would say 4 of the professors at STFX that I had the pleasure of getting to know, and still keep in contact with today, are some of the best creative minds I could find.
This, of course, is coming from a Management/Marketing student. I know nothing about Advertising
Hi Dorian,
Interesting blog! Thought you might find this excerpt below a little bit of a parallel to what you are trying to say, even though it was written 27 years ago. It is from the book “Ogilvy on Advertising” and is considered the bible by many people in advertising all over the world! You should check it out!
“Eighty-seven American universities offer undergraduate courses in advertising, and some even give degrees in it. With a few conspicuous exceptions, the teachers lack the practical experience to be relevant. All of them are handicapped by the poor quality of the textbooks, and very few do research of their own. Most of their graduates get jobs with small agencies, the big agencies preferring to recruit people who have furnished their minds by studying history, languages, economics and so forth.
The fashion for recruiting at schools of business administration seems to have passed it’s peak. Give or take a few stars… their alumni are more remarkable for stodginess and arrogance than imagination.” – David Ogilvy, 1983
Seems to be pretty relevant to what you are saying 27 years later! Of course, business admin degrees are valuable in their own way, for teaching habits of commitment, effort, discipline, hard work, and for also giving students a broad scope of the generalities of business.
I have a question that someone here might be able to answer. I’m not in advertising myself, but I had this idea today that I thought would be a great idea for an ad campaign.
My question is, if someone has an idea for a company, lets say Subway, what can they do to get it to that company in a way that would be beneficial to the party that came up with the idea? Does this kind of thing ever happen? Is it better to just keep my idea to myself?
Any answers would be helpful, thanks
Andrew