Should I just send away for 6 phone books and sit down with some post-its?

July 6, 2009 12:06 PM

I would like to find an internship for next summer at an ad agency in eastern Ontario or somewhere reasonably close by in the US (think NYC, Chicago, etc). Unfortunately, my school doesn't engage in a lot of recruiting partnerships with ad agencies. Is there some type of industry insider directory I could consult for a list of potential ad agencies to call up about information interviews and such?

A lot of big name consulting and accounting companies come to my University to recruit. Practically no advertising agencies do the same. The one interview I had a few months ago with an ad agency was a result of meeting someone who worked there by chance and getting his card.

I want to get more proactive next year about researching and contacting companies I'd like to work for, and maybe conducting informational interviews with them. Should I find an online phone book for the cities I'm interested in and just look up "advertising", or is there some sort of directory / networking service that I'm not aware of that would give an overview of ad agencies within a particular geographic constraint and what type of work they do? Or is this one of those things where industry insiders all know each other but it's next to impossible to research from the outside?

Bonus points: Do similar directories exist for other creative industries, e.g. publishing?

Thanks in advance! I'm looking for jobs in the Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal area specifically, but may eventually want to move down into the States (hence NYC, Chicago). Oh, and I'm studying business, FWIW.

posted by Phire to work & money (10 comments total)

I'm pretty sure ALL of the US internships (or at least NYC, Chicago) require you to inquire sometime around January, if not earlier.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 12:47 PM on July 6

Bonus points: Do similar directories exist for other creative industries, e.g. publishing? (Phire)

Not really. In publishing, just do some poking around at the companies you're interested in to see if they have an established internship program. If they do, contact the person in charge of that. If they don't, send a letter to an editor whose work you've enjoyed (look in the acknowledgments section of a book you like).
posted by ocherdraco at 12:50 PM on July 6

Which is why I'm asking now about a job for next summer, roomthreeseventeen.
posted by Phire at 12:53 PM on July 6

Figure out what the major industry events are (conferences, shows, awards ceremonies, whatever) and get the lists of participating companies.
posted by kathrineg at 1:10 PM on July 6

Seriously, it's as simple as just calling up the individual companies and asking.

Try to get the name and number of the person in charge of the internship program at each company and give them a quick follow-up call when you submit your resume.
posted by hamsterdam at 1:53 PM on July 6

I'm trying to figure out who the companies actually are, hamsterdam. I want an easy way to compile a list of potential companies that I can call.
posted by Phire at 1:55 PM on July 6

Here are some more resources from a Canadian advertising industry charity called NABS--

http://www.nabs.org/about/friendsofnabs/
http://www.nabs.org/events/resources/
http://www.nabs.org/about/sponsors/
http://www.nabs.org/careersite/

Hopefully that's a good example of what I'm talking about.
posted by kathrineg at 2:17 PM on July 6

Phire: you want to look for Marketing Magazine. Published by the Rogers Borg, I think. It would be a great place to start.

Alternatively, just call Cossette, Y&R, O&M, Taxi, etc and ask for the HR department.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 2:20 PM on July 6

Thanks dnab and kathrineg - that's exactly the type of info I'm looking for.
posted by Phire at 4:39 PM on July 6

LexisNexis publishes the Advertising Red Books, and Rogers publishes the NAtional List of Advertisers.
both of these would be available at most academic libraries.
posted by jambina at 12:19 PM on July 8