Thought I was going to meet with strategists at Saatchi & Saatchi, ended up actually having a great conversation with three incredible account managers. (I also ran into a fellow duck who was on the trip last year on her lunch break, sco!)  Here are my top ten nuggets of insight:

1. You won’t know what the hell you’re doing when you first start at an agency, so use that to your advantage. Ask questions, be insightful, act as a beautiful shadow to someone who actually knows a few things. 

2. 5 years ago, the ad world thought that their jobs were going to be taken over by Google and Facebook, but they weren’t. Looking ahead is a great way to stay competitive, but it can’t loom over your work now. 

3. Portfolios for account people aren’t important to show what you do. Rather, use that space to give recruiters a sense of your passion. (They were all shocked I had a portfolio as a strategist) 

4. If you feel like you want to make a big splash, account management is a sure fire way to make your voice heard in the entirety of a campaign. She said, “Some people think of it as a lot of little contributions to the goal, but I feel that we make the biggest impact overall.”

5. Account managers do copy, make briefs, and even play producer sometimes.

6. You don’t have to respond to a client at midnight, and you should ask if that is in the job description before you start. 

7. Your quickest promotions happen in the first 5 years of your career, so be patient while you’re eating PB&Js. 

8. Junior level strategy is a hard position to get, so if you are interested at all in account management, start there. Get a foot in first and then later be transparent about potential pathways in the future towards something different. 

9. Live in Brooklyn to save money. 

10. There is #fire pizza right by Saatchi called 99 cent pizza. 

-Hannah Kloft