Sparking - Moving you forward

Do you want to show up more creatively for your clients and your colleagues, your family, and your friends?

Do you want to default to thinking about opportunity versus focusing just on problems?

Discovering Hope is full of proactive steps you can take right now, to achieve a more positive mindset or to help maintain the positivity you already have

Getting Positive reveals that more optimism is close at hand

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Sparkin Blog

SPARKIN is an executive recruitment agency with a difference. We care more about your optimum fit than about making a placement! We are focused on aiding and abetting your career progression and optimization. Our primary target audience is strategic planners of all persuasion. We work with allies in key centers in the United States and around the globe. Our experience is based around the importance of relationships and becoming an expert at building them and through them attaining personal and career goals.

Freelance Help – June 2024

There are many conversations I have with candidates that have chosen to freelance perhaps as a temporary step, perhaps interim and for some, they are done with working full time for others.

In all these scenarios, however you postion yourself, you are now ‘in business’ and in this marketplace in particular, you will have your fair share of ‘getting business’ (versus fulfilling it) unless you’re smart, able and lucky, to be able to line up the client work before you leave full time employment.

Based on 24 years working for myself, as a freelance/consultant/business owner, some key realities/thoughts:

The work you get – Despite marketing yourself, the work you do will always act as the best calling card.

Reputation is key – Being kind with all you engage with is part of the key to building the reputation, which gets you referrals.

Core Referral Group – Despite all the thousands of emails, texts you send and calls you make, you will see that it’s a core group of individuals and those allied to them that provide the bulk of your work opportunities.

Fishing Location – Most of your competition and for a time you, will continue to seek opportunities where others seek work. Unless you have stand out content, find less crowded channels or expect low response rates. For instance, who these days sends anything in the post. Try it, most use social media!

Fishing Timing – The best time to have a conversation is ‘not’ when work is advertised. Decide who you wish to work with and engage them now!

Your Most Effective Channel – Working for yourself requires a range of opportunities and this requires raising your profile. Some newtwork well, some present well while others debate well and others prefer to write. Whatever you do you will do alot of it so, chose a path or combination of mediums which play to your strengths.

The Power of in person – Digital media is amazing but what’s more amazing, the connection you make with a person when you make the effort to travel to see them and the energy that’s exchanged from an in-person meeting versus a phone or video connection. I swear by this simple but overlooked reality.

Targeting – Topline, if you want to identify the lowest barrier to resistance to you getting work, follow the money. For instance, if an agency is pitching business even and particularly in cash strapped times, that is where money will be directed and potential great thinking welcomed and, one of ‘your’ best paths to working. I’ll have a seminar soon to really expand on optimal targeting of freelance/new business opportunities, how to identify them and effectively engage them. Please email me if you are interested to take part at: stuart@sparkinsearch.com.

Mindset – Final thing for now, when you aren’t getting work the last thing you want to do is smile as the pressure mounts. That said, smile, it’ll make you feel better and those you interact with are more likely to respond positively.

Strategy Jobs Market Update – May 2024



Fulltime Roles – In the last several weeks there has been a mild uptick in hiring of creative and brand planners/strategists, but this has to be seen in context. This market is still very tight. I’m talking with a number of you still being given news that your job has been cut.

Freelance Roles – For many of the freelancers/consultants, 2022/2023 were good years but 2024 is a different story. This year many of you have experienced a clear reduction in opportunities. This is a factor of less work generally, of brands and through them agencies, reluctant to spend on freelance, which is more expensive than hiring someone full-time.

Across Markets – In the last three months, I’ve met with
strategists in a number of markets including Sao Paolo, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and London. The picture I am seeing is consistent across markets. There are always nuances that effect each market differently but one that is a key driver (as well as AI) is the cost of money.

Where is the strategy jobs market heading?
There’s plenty in the way of holding company ‘recalibration’ which will drive
uncertainty for some time yet that said the simplistic, optimists’ view

The reason this jobs market feels ‘incremental/replacement/defensive’
versus one of ‘investment’ hiring is because of a CFO fear that until
central banks communicate a confidence that interest rates are on a downward trajectory, they might actually go up! Yes, once we see a reduction in interest rates it’s my belief that CFO’s will then have the confidence to allow greater investment in jobs. We’re getting closer to this point. Stay positive.
Roll on interest rate cuts which if nothing else will cut brands and agencies some slack.
Onwards,

Personal Agency – Key to the next career move you dream of!

The advertising jobs market is a real mixed bag at the moment. And by that I mean, there are as many people losing jobs as gaining them, although the way I see it, there are certainly more losses at the moment.

Many more of you either out of your choice or through those quarterly ‘number balancing decisions,’ are now out of full-time employment and freelancing.

There are so many more of you freelancing now that freelancing has become much more competitive. Everyone it seems, and for different reasons, client, agency and individual, want more flexibility, which post pandemic, most of us have more of.

The point of this post is not to talk about the overall market but more for individuals either in jobs and feeling ‘stuck’ ‘under-valued’ and/or ‘vulnerable and those actively looking for their next role. If you fit in to either scenario, read on.

I was recently talking with a long-standing connection, whose pretty well known in the business both by reputation and in terms of their expertise. And, for the results he’d help achieve.

Like many, he’s been looking for a job/the right job, for a while, but well connected, wasn’t sweating it, and had a meeting lined up with a high-level holding company exec.’ He’d been waiting a month for this meeting but was very hopeful.

Last week I caught up with him having had the meeting and I asked him, how the meeting went.

He told me he’d had forty minute in-person meeting. “It was great. We caught up on the industry, world chaos and the kids.”

I was encouraged, it sounded positive.

“What else” I asked, waiting for the punchline role/roles he was going to be considered for or introductions that were being made perhaps as we spoke.

“What else? He replied?

“What did you ask him for?” I asked perhaps a bit to stern.

“I didn’t ask him for anything.” His voice dying away as he responded. Immediately realizing, that the person he ‘is’ in front of clients had not shown up for himself, when it mattered.

I shrugged my shoulders, and politely let him know what I think many of us take for granted.

“My friend, you ‘HAVE’ to let others know what you want; What you want to be considered for! At the very least, let the person in front of you know, how you want them to help you, even if it’s not a job that you want.”

“You know this!” OK, I know I showed a bit of exasperation here..

The point, everyone you know is busy. When you are upset that they didn’t ‘help you,’ think about it. Did you assume they’d know exactly what you wanted or how they could help you? If you did, you didn’t ‘make it easy’ for them to help you.

So many times, when it comes to ‘us,’ we don’t ask for something, either because we are complacent and assume by our reputation or resume, others know what we’re right for. While others don’t have enough self-belief to understand that there are times when it’s critical to ‘ask!’

Moral of story,  however well-known you are or aren’t, don’t default to others telling your story for you, unless you specifically ‘have’ someone that gets rewarded to tell your story for you or in addition to your own effort.

If you don’t ask, you can’t expect.

If you don’t steer your own ship, you’ll either capsize, run aground or drift aimlessly. Any of these scenarios feel familiar for you?

Take personal agency, ‘the act or intervention producing a particular effect.’ Ask specifically for what you want, don’t assume others will act otherwise.

Ideally tie the ask in with something that will address a need/help the person in front of you and make it about something you really want, then you’ll come across authentically, or as Andy Wilson recently wrote:

‘Our livelihoods and (our sanity) more than ever before, are about doing what we love, with the people we love, for the outcomes we love. This is the good stuff, make sure others know about it!’

Miami Ad School Derek Parkin Empathy Award winner

Many congratulations to Zach Behrmann the newest Derek Parkin ‘Empathy’ Award winner and the recipient of $1500 cash prize and three coaching sessions.
It was great to speak with Zach as well as having sessions with the other students. What a pleasure talking with a group of truly curious individuals.
Congratulations to all the students: Magnus de Pencier, Kumar Derrow, Ian Falcon, Abbidee Fraser, Divesh Mehta, James Murphy, Veronica Pedraza, Phoebe Scherer and Jonanna Ying.
Also, big thanks to all the lecturers: Christopher Owens, Alicia Damiano, Nancy Chang and Craig Sabbatino.
This award was judged through input both with students and the lecturers.
And, thank you also to Manolo Garcia, the fulcrum around which the boot camps happen.
Why this award? At SPARKIN, we would like to see many more empaths in the world.
The ability to work seamlessly and effectively, starts with a determination and ability to effectively understand others. This ’empathetic’ ability is key for effective strategic problem solvers as it is for a functioning society!
Our world could really benefit from folks suspending their beliefs, being truly curious and genuinely trying to put themselves in the shoes of others, believing there’s something to be learnt through every interaction.
#parkinempathyaward #Miamiadschool #careeroptimisation #empathymatters

Strategy Jobs Market Update – June9th, 2023

Strategy hiring Latest June 9th, 2023
‘Functional hiring’ predominates at the moment as opposed to ballsy risk-taking investment of whole teams.
Where the hiring is happening? In replacements for those leaving the business, by agencies that have won business, for clients insisting on a personnel change or, perhaps for a maternity/paternity fill.
Clients are cautious and even AOR work I hear feels more project focused, more performance oriented at the moment. Yes, even clients wants to keep their jobs!
A whole lot of anxiety – It’s palapable – Yellow skies don’t help the sentiment!
Stay positive. For yourself if not for others or better still stay positive through others.
While I’ve always kept my sanity through physical exercize, I’ve increasingly found that the best anditote to anxiety caused by job uncertainty, (and I hear it and feel it via all the conversations I have most days) is to focus on helping/being kind to others.
Being kind? This doesn’t even mean taking up swathes of time in the service of others, but simply being kind when you interact or, being less unkind than you’d typically be!
Do this and you will feel better about yourself and consequently less anxious. Be kind/be who you want to be, and you may also find that the things you want to manifest happen a little faster too:)

Give yourself a break and feel good by being kind.

Identifing an Employer Who Values Strategy/Planning

When you’re in demand, you might be told things that don’t entirely resemble the reality of the culture or the work/It’s not always straightforward knowing whether a would-be employer, truly values what you do.
Below are some questions (open-ended typically provide more information for you) that I’m sure many of you ask, but there might be one or two that you don’t, that could get the clarity you need.

Q’s about department size/growth/effectiveness
What is the ratio of strategists to employees?What has been the principal cause of the growth of the function (strong leader, client demand, other)Does the business enter/and or win effectiveness awards?
Q’s about the seriousness with which strategy is taken.What role does the CSO play as part of the leadership team?How does the CSO or other department head, advocate for planning?Q’s about training/development What off-the-job training is offered to strategists in addition to on-the-job training?How is mentoring carried out for strategists?

Q’s about work processIs there an ECD sign-off for a brief/Is strategy a core part of getting to great creative work

Q’s about agency outputs and the role of strategy to deliver themWhat types of pure strategy projects do clients request?Can you provide examples of the types of projects clients request? Typically how long are these engagements?

Q’s about business development and the role of strategyHow involved are strategists in the process of pursuing new clients?

Q’s about clients/How they value strategyDo clients request strategy or is this something the agency insists on as part of its process?Are there any clients requesting not to have strategic input? If so, why?What do clients see as the role of strategists?

Q’s about creative outputHas most if not all work that has won creative awards been based on strategic input?And a few others:What are the biggest challenge for strategic work here?How many strategists have worked on this account in the last year?/Since the agency had the account?What is the turnover rate for strategists here/For the agency in general?

What other questions would you ask to know whether the job on offer was a career-defining one for a strategist?

All the best,Stuart         

SPARKIN Works with Bernardos to Promote Empathy

In 2021 SPARKIN began working closely with Barnardo’s, to develop a 10-year, UK-wide award program to promote the power of empathy and its ability to transform young lives.
 
A big thank you to the hard work of Barnardo’s staff and particular thanks to Chris Alexander and his team, who has made possible the establishment of an award that will expose over 150,000, 13 -19 year-olds, to a message designed to inspire, engage and empower young people to act empathetically.
 
The first award winner, judged by a mixture of service center staff and children, assessed nominees against criteria including:
#Showing the ability to be present for others in both joy and sorrow, bringing no judgement and a spirit of openness when communicating with others as well as treating others with dignity and kindness.
 
We’re excited to announce the first recipient of the ‘Shepley Empathy Award,’ is Ryan, a 13-year-old from Merseyside (identity protected for legal reasons) who will receive a plaque along with a cash prize of 1000 pounds ($1300). “Well done Ryan!”

All nominees will receive certificates of recognition and thanks. “Well done to all of them too!”
 
“Children and young people are both the hope and inspiration for the future. At Barnardo’s, we want to support them to make the change they want to see. We are pleased that ‘The Shepley Empathy Award’ is a vehicle for them to be recognized and celebrated. – Christopher Alexander, Relationship Manager, Barnardo’s.”
 
For the last decade, SPARKIN has advocated the importance of empathy in the advertising/communications business, creating the ‘Parkin Empathy Award’ for the strategic planning community.

The importance of empathy in advertising is key but absolutely pivotal in the development of all children, particularly those in care.

We hope to continue to bring this award to other areas of society.
#empathy #barnardos #effectivecommunication

Parkin Empathy Award Winner

Many congratulations to Quinn Husney, the newest Parkin ‘Empathy’ Award winner and the recipient of $1500 cash prize and three coaching sessions.
I spoke with Quinn and all the other students, a really thoughtful and dynamic group. Congratulations to all the students: Saad Al Abbassi, Mariona Iturrate, Luciana Gutsztat, Molly Brunett, Emma Stearns and Jennie Wang.
A big shout out to all the lecturers who I know from talking with the students, inspired and brought about newfound confidence:
Chris Kwak, RP Kumar, Mario Moiso, Christopher Owens, Yvette Quiazon, Kristen Knape, Tony Smith, Alejandro Oszjust and Imani Flowers.
At SPARKIN, we would like to see many more empaths in the world.
The ability to work seamlessly and effectively, starts with a determination to understand the perspective of others.
This ’empathetic’ gene is key for effective strategic problem solvers as it is for a functioning society!
This award was judged through input with both students and the lecturers, not the school.
A final thanks to Manolo Garcia, the fulcrum around which the boot camps happen.
#parkinempathyaward #MiamiAdSchool #inclusiveeducation #careeroptimisation #sparkinsearch #empathymatters
All 31 recipients: https://lnkd.in/esGMV5Hb

The Great Agency Talent Crunch

The great agency talent crunch – It’s happening for two reasons:
1. Changed mindset of employees – As the attached article states, the events of the last 18 months have lead to ‘permanantly altered lifestyle changes.’ ie) In what I’ll call ‘the great awakening,’ many of us previously who had no time to contemplate our navels have had a chance to get life in to perspective and become clear about what we don’t want/what we can no longer tolerate, be it the commute or the lack of meritocracy, lack of diversity, or just the incessant meetings and pitching of new business.
2. Meaningful work/Positive use of time – Many of those that have left the agency world have left the business altogether but more have decided to freelance, they are waiting to see if the business will change/keeping their options open. They are waiting to see whether the agency world can become more sensitive to the needs of staff and their desire for personal growth and to have a positive daily experience versus being treated as expendible automatons in entities fixated on short term profit; They are hoping there will be more flexibility in working arrangements, more inclusive working environments, and hoping to find places that walk the talk of new business pitches, where the oft talked words, ‘our employees are our culture, are our business,’ are words that are lived and breathed. Time will tell.
bit.ly/3wsTZRj
#Talentcrunch #Awakening #Greaplacestowork

The number one reason strategists are leaving agencies

One key reason why employees are resigning in numbers is poor management, but what a difficult time to manage! And what truly exacerbates great managament is two agency dynamics that are putting strain on even the best leaders:
https://lnkd.in/d4tNMCKK
Agencies are financially too short term focused – Not just public owned agencies but many private ones too, that copy the public approach – there has not been enough reinvestment into the business. The employee experience has become way too transactional.
Agencies are pitching too much new business – Incessant new business pitching at agencies is a key reason why agencies lose so much business, which in turn needs to be replaced, versus focus on consistently bringing the best ideas to existing clients. This is bad for clients and overworked employees, whose jobs then become vulnerable. Constant uncertainty does not make for a great place to work and it makes it very difficult to make the investments that would help to
create an amazing place that individuals want to work in.
Many strategists, in the ‘great resignation,’ have through COVID 19, simply woken up with a clearer sense of what they will tolerate. And because of this, agencies have been hemorrhaging people.
Strategists deciding whether to work full time. Focus on two key things and you can have a decent experience:
Go to work for an agency that truly values what you do – Strategy
Go to an agency that has five quality people including a great: client, creative team, account lead and manager. If you have
those (whichever the agency) you can still have a good experience.
#strategyplanning #Careersuccess #Manager