Short guest appearance in the advertising scene
Michael Anderegg on his experiences during and after the BSW Talent Workshop for career changers
Michael Anderegg on his experiences with and after the BSW talent workshop for career changersBy Annelies Friedli He was the only one of the 23 participants in the first BSW talent workshop to get the chance to gain a foothold in a renowned advertising agency: Michael Anderegg still didn't achieve his goal of becoming a copywriter. He completed his internship at Euro RSCG at the end of December.
"It's no coincidence that I'm wearing black to the interview today," Anderegg explains with a mischievous smile. When it comes to clothing, at least, he has already internalized the codes of the advertising industry. As far as the rest is concerned, he quickly understood "how the hare runs". "It takes a lot of hard work to be successful in advertising," he says.
Anderegg, a biology graduate from ETH and graduate of the first BSW talent workshop, worked at Euro RSCG for 23 days in December. As a trainee, career changer and copywriter. And fulfilled a dream: "I had wanted to work in advertising for a long time."
The opportunity came with the Weltwoche ad
This desire developed three or four years ago - because he thought the advertisers in the magazines were so cool, the job sounded exciting and Frank Bodin wrote so interestingly about advertising in Kult magazine. "The image that Bodin
in his texts from the Wer-
fascinated me," admits the 27-year-old.
But he didn't know much more about the industry. "I had no idea that copywriters and consultants are not the same thing," he admits. He had some superficial ideas and the belief that "advertisers always have parties and all advertisers are so creative".
Anderegg's biggest shortcoming, however, was: "I didn't know how I was supposed to gain a foothold in the advertising scene as a biologist. Should I pick up the phone and call some advertising agency and say: Hello, it's me, Michael Anderegg, biologist and currently deputy biology teacher?"
In spring 2002, the right solution presented itself: He read about the BSW talent workshop for career changers in Weltwoche. "I knew immediately that this course was made for me," he recalls. Because his job as a substitute teacher was temporary anyway and he couldn't really get to grips with the teaching profession, he accepted the challenge. "I was really looking forward to the course," he says.
The course, which WerbeWoche reported on in detail in issue 26/02, cost him 600 francs and 7 days. He got a lot out of it, but "not as much as I expected. To be honest, I had hoped for more from the course," says Anderegg looking back. He criticizes the timing of the course. "In such bad economic times, no agency is interested in lateral entrants," he criticizes. He thinks that "the course did provide an insight into the advertising scene, but it is absolutely not comparable to an apprenticeship". And he is annoyed that, apart from him, none of the 23 course graduates were given a fair chance to gain a foothold in one of the 12 BSW agencies involved: "I can't understand why even the agencies that promoted the course and told the course participants that they were constantly on the lookout for career changers didn't give us a chance." He knows that there were jobs available. "But they were filled by professionals." Only one of the course graduates, he reports, found a job with a smaller agency in eastern Switzerland.
Anderegg would have liked to stay longer at Euro RSCG
Anderegg sent 12 applications to the BSW agencies involved in the course. But only Euro RSCG showed any interest. "I'm very grateful for this opportunity that Euro RSCG offered me," he says, "all the more so as the course would have been pretty worthless without this internship."
At Euro RSCG, he was able to write copy, develop headlines and even present his own advertising idea. "I worked on projects for ten clients," says Anderegg. He thinks it's absolutely "cool" that Frank Bodin himself looked after him. "He had time for me, helped me and gave me tasks." He was also well received by the rest of the team: "I was taken seriously as a team member," emphasizes Anderegg.
Nevertheless, he did not manage to gain a foothold in the advertising industry. "The internship at Euro RSCG would have been a good option for me. I would have liked to have stayed longer." The plan was to stay for one to three months. But a job offer from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) thwarted his plans: "I couldn't pass up this opportunity."
Since the beginning of January, he has been working on the client side - as a research assistant for the FOPH's national tobacco prevention program. "As a trained biologist, I can put my knowledge into practice here and apply what I've learned at the agency," he smiles.
However, Anderegg is not yet finished with advertising. "Who knows, maybe I'll try the leap into advertising again." Then he also wants to clarify questions to which he has not yet found an answer at Euro RSCG. Is there a simple guide on how to become a good copywriter? And: Where do the wild parties take place?
The idea of the industry association Schweizer Werbe- und Kommunikationsagenturen (BSW) to hold a talent workshop for career changers was a compelling one: to secure the next generation of creative talent, the workshop was intended to track down hidden talents and attract them to the advertising business. Top shots such as René R. Hürlimann, Jean Etienne Aebi and Frank Bodin tried to convince around 70 curious people at an information day that career changers also have a chance. All for the cat? Only one graduate of the not-so-cheap course found a job - 22 others, like Michael Anderegg, had tried hard to get a foot in the door of the industry, but in vain. The result of this march through the institution of the advertising agency was, however, foreseeable: Very few BSW agencies had registered a need for additional staff (af).
"It's no coincidence that I'm wearing black to the interview today," Anderegg explains with a mischievous smile. When it comes to clothing, at least, he has already internalized the codes of the advertising industry. As far as the rest is concerned, he quickly understood "how the hare runs". "It takes a lot of hard work to be successful in advertising," he says.
Anderegg, a biology graduate from ETH and graduate of the first BSW talent workshop, worked at Euro RSCG for 23 days in December. As a trainee, career changer and copywriter. And fulfilled a dream: "I had wanted to work in advertising for a long time."
The opportunity came with the Weltwoche ad
This desire developed three or four years ago - because he thought the advertisers in the magazines were so cool, the job sounded exciting and Frank Bodin wrote so interestingly about advertising in Kult magazine. "The image that Bodin
in his texts from the Wer-
fascinated me," admits the 27-year-old.
But he didn't know much more about the industry. "I had no idea that copywriters and consultants are not the same thing," he admits. He had some superficial ideas and the belief that "advertisers always have parties and all advertisers are so creative".
Anderegg's biggest shortcoming, however, was: "I didn't know how I was supposed to gain a foothold in the advertising scene as a biologist. Should I pick up the phone and call some advertising agency and say: Hello, it's me, Michael Anderegg, biologist and currently deputy biology teacher?"
In spring 2002, the right solution presented itself: He read about the BSW talent workshop for career changers in Weltwoche. "I knew immediately that this course was made for me," he recalls. Because his job as a substitute teacher was temporary anyway and he couldn't really get to grips with the teaching profession, he accepted the challenge. "I was really looking forward to the course," he says.
The course, which WerbeWoche reported on in detail in issue 26/02, cost him 600 francs and 7 days. He got a lot out of it, but "not as much as I expected. To be honest, I had hoped for more from the course," says Anderegg looking back. He criticizes the timing of the course. "In such bad economic times, no agency is interested in lateral entrants," he criticizes. He thinks that "the course did provide an insight into the advertising scene, but it is absolutely not comparable to an apprenticeship". And he is annoyed that, apart from him, none of the 23 course graduates were given a fair chance to gain a foothold in one of the 12 BSW agencies involved: "I can't understand why even the agencies that promoted the course and told the course participants that they were constantly on the lookout for career changers didn't give us a chance." He knows that there were jobs available. "But they were filled by professionals." Only one of the course graduates, he reports, found a job with a smaller agency in eastern Switzerland.
Anderegg would have liked to stay longer at Euro RSCG
Anderegg sent 12 applications to the BSW agencies involved in the course. But only Euro RSCG showed any interest. "I'm very grateful for this opportunity that Euro RSCG offered me," he says, "all the more so as the course would have been pretty worthless without this internship."
At Euro RSCG, he was able to write copy, develop headlines and even present his own advertising idea. "I worked on projects for ten clients," says Anderegg. He thinks it's absolutely "cool" that Frank Bodin himself looked after him. "He had time for me, helped me and gave me tasks." He was also well received by the rest of the team: "I was taken seriously as a team member," emphasizes Anderegg.
Nevertheless, he did not manage to gain a foothold in the advertising industry. "The internship at Euro RSCG would have been a good option for me. I would have liked to have stayed longer." The plan was to stay for one to three months. But a job offer from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) thwarted his plans: "I couldn't pass up this opportunity."
Since the beginning of January, he has been working on the client side - as a research assistant for the FOPH's national tobacco prevention program. "As a trained biologist, I can put my knowledge into practice here and apply what I've learned at the agency," he smiles.
However, Anderegg is not yet finished with advertising. "Who knows, maybe I'll try the leap into advertising again." Then he also wants to clarify questions to which he has not yet found an answer at Euro RSCG. Is there a simple guide on how to become a good copywriter? And: Where do the wild parties take place?
The idea of the industry association Schweizer Werbe- und Kommunikationsagenturen (BSW) to hold a talent workshop for career changers was a compelling one: to secure the next generation of creative talent, the workshop was intended to track down hidden talents and attract them to the advertising business. Top shots such as René R. Hürlimann, Jean Etienne Aebi and Frank Bodin tried to convince around 70 curious people at an information day that career changers also have a chance. All for the cat? Only one graduate of the not-so-cheap course found a job - 22 others, like Michael Anderegg, had tried hard to get a foot in the door of the industry, but in vain. The result of this march through the institution of the advertising agency was, however, foreseeable: Very few BSW agencies had registered a need for additional staff (af).
