It's the most common question I am asked.  Here are my answers to some great questions from Marketing Magazine for their recent Salary Survey.  Thank you Michelle.  Although they didn't all make it to the article, I thought my responses would be helpful for many people. 

 

Economic fallout

Heidi: The economy is merely the magnifying glass for what has been going on in the job market, and more importantly, the talent market for the past five years.  

MM: Reflecting on the last 12 months, how would you define the job market?

Heidi: On any given Sunday there are less great jobs than there are people who want them.  But more people doesn't mean more talent.  That top 20% are as hard to find as they ever were.

MM: How have salaries fared during all of this?

Heidi Salaries  have stayed consistent.  For example, a $100K creative person still has the same number of years of experience as they had prior to the last 12 months.  However, employers are looking for more from each employee.  They want them to be able to do more than 'win awards'.  They want them to take responsibility, and be accountable, and be passionate about their clients business - both in their hearts and in their minds.  Their business brain is required as much as their creative brains today.  Clients want to work with "grown up creatives".  They want to work with creatives who are as motivated by making the numbers as the client is. 

MM: How has your business changed?

Heidi: Clients like to believe that during times when there are more people looking for work that a recruiter's job gets easier.  It doesn't.  It gets harder.  First of all, the intake of candidates is ten times what it was a year ago.   So the process of reviewing all submissions is ten times what it was a year ago.  BLACK BAG works with a lot of international talent.  I find it exciting, because it gives me an opportunity to get a micro look at what is happening south of the 49th parallel and beyond North America.  Canada is a saught after talent destination. There is great opportunity for Canada in that.  We should seize that opportunity and invite more people in.  Canadians are not as unique as we like to convince ourselves we are.   Whether we're from Prague or Berlin or Chicago or Montreal, I'm pretty sure we all think puppies are cute.  People are people. We have more in common than we think.

MM: What's the major message you're getting from clients?

Heidi: Clients are continuing to demand the best in class talent.  I like that.  It means we're not compromising on quality.  They'd rather wait a bit longer and find the right person than hire just to make a hire.  That's smart.

MM: From candidates?

Heidi: That they didn't see this coming.  Many were unprepared.  Portfolios that hadn't been updated in years.  Resumes that are tragically out of date.  Creative files that weren't archived at some location other than your agency's server. Regardless of how you're currently feeling about your job, you should ALWAYS be ready.  Ready for the worst, and ready for the best.   Ready to receive the call for the dream job you've been waiting for.

MM: What are some of the trends you see unfolding in the next 12 months? Two to three years?

That agencies are going to continue to experience pressure to do the same for less.  That the impact on that conversation will be a decline in creativity because there aren't the hours available to create outstanding work and still have a viable, profitable business (it's like being profitable is a dirty word these days).  That decline in creativity will cause what we do to be less effective - this will lead to further erosion of the respect the business of marketing has - which will cause clients to spend less in marketing - which will cause our industry as we know it today to continue to suffer.

I see digital continuing to grow - but it will eventually correct itself.  The pendulum has swung too far to the other side at present.  Clients believe digital is cheap and television is expensive.  That's incorrect.  An effective and impactful digital campaign can cost as much if not more than an effective and impactful television campaign.

Digital is an important part of the marketing conversation - but it's not ALL of the marketing conversation,  any more than a television only strategy should be, or it.

MM: What's surprised you (pleasantly or not) about recent economic times?

Heidi: Shocked at how many people are completely unprepared for the worst.  And not able to mobilize a full career search on a moment's notice.  I continue to be surprised by how many senior creatives don't know how to market themselves.  The same people who have done superb jobs building client brands, can't seem to build their own brand.  You may believe they're all ego maniacs, but when it comes to thumping their own chests, they're incredibly modest, unassuming, and almost awkward at telling you what they do well.

MM: How specifically have agencies been affected?

Everyone who is still working is doing the job of two, or sometimes three people.  This is going to show up in the quality of our work.  Guaranteed.  Clients who ask agencies to do more with less, and less hands on deck are shooting themselves in the foot.  Creativity is a process, and the best work, the work that moves consumers, gets better when it is given time to let it breathe.   It's been proven a thousand times that creativity and business results are related.  Not always, but often enough that I think you'll allow me to make my point.  Dear Mr. Client:  If you ask an agency to create work that requires five hands, and five weeks, and you've only given them enough budget for two hands and two weeks, guess what's going to suffer?  The creativity required to stimulate your company and turn you into the rock star I hope you want to be. 

MM: Are there some areas worse off than others? Any areas of the business that are still buoyant or at least fairing better than others? What are the differences between how the big shops and more boutique or specialized agencies are being influenced by the economy?

Heidi: The big shops have their hands tied.  They can't hire.  Which is a shame because talent is the way through this.  Talent is what wins agencies business.  Talent is what creates the work that makes clients and brands famous.  Talent is what builds culture.  Talent is what makes us all want to work in this business.  You can't hire?  You can't be nimble?  You can't lure the brightest and the smartest to your company?  You're in a downward spiral.  Many companies believe turnover is bad.  Turnover is good.  A culture is like water.  It should never be stagnant, or else it gets moldy and starts to stink.  It must always be moving, renewing itself, bringing more fresh oxygen.

Big or boutique or independent, this is no time to be thinking that talent is not a priority.  It is as much if not MORE of a priority than it has ever been.  Talent will win you the business you need to win to get your business back on track.  This is no time for good enough.  This is the time to expect the best and hire it. 

(And by the way, the hiring freeze is the company line.  For every hiring freeze, I can give you an example of someone that just hired at that hiring freeze place.)

MM: How are cutbacks and the like affecting marketers? How does it differ from industry to industry? Are there some worse or better off than others? What's your strongest piece of advice for employers and employees trying to weather these unpredictable times?

Heidi: Keep investing in talent.  Keep investing in yourself.

MM: How can candidates position themselves for ongoing or future success?

Heidi: To know where they are going and have a goal and write a plan to achieve that goal.  No one would get in a car and turn the key without knowing the answer to two questions:  1)  Where am I going?  2)  When do I need to be there.  But more people than not, do it in their careers.  In your career, you need to know where you're going and when you plan to be there.  Then plan to be there. 

Harvard University did a survey that proved, "People who have quantifiable goals with a timeline are ten times more likely to achieve them".  Get a goal.

MM: What's the good news?

The good news is that this too shall pass.  It always does.  If this is your first recession, don't worry, it will be over soon.  If this isn't, you know you'll survive this one just like you did the last one.  Times like this are also a great time to re-evaluate the career you've chosen. The good news is our skills are transferable to a variety of other careers.  After all, we know how to sell stuff.  The ability to sell stuff is at the heart of every business, product and service on the planet.  Of all the things to choose to sell, an idea is perhaps the hardest.  If you can sell ideas, everything else is a cake walk.