In response to an Open Forum question, let me talk about teams in terms of your job search.
Should you try to get a job as a team or an individual? Frankly, there’s no right answer. And you’ll hear a lot of conflicting advice on this because everyone has a different experience.
Y&R hires both individuals and teams, neither with more frequency than the other. I’ve seen people apply as teams only to have the agency extend an offer to one of them.
Every agency I’ve ever worked for hired me as an individual. My first job hired me because they only needed a single copywriter. I followed my old partner to Y&R, and having worked with her before made me an easy candidate. But they could have easily hired someone else.
But I once missed out on a job I really wanted because the agency decided it was safer to hire a team who’d already proven they can work together than gamble on hiring a writer and art director that had never met.
Every team I’ve ever interviewed has made it clear that they are applying as a team, but are okay if their partner gets an offer and they don’t.
So the only team advice I can really give is this: Never apply as a team because you think it makes you more marketable. Apply as a team because you genuinely like your partner and you get your best work done together.
If you have any questions or issues you’d like to see me address, please put them in the comments section of the Open Forums post.
