AUGUST 18, 2000
HIRING LINE
Recruiting Q&A: Leo Burnett's Brad Karsh | If the ad agency's recruitment director asks about your weaknesses, you'd better not say: "I work too hard"
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Brad Karsh, U.S. recruitment director
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It's pretty hard to miss advertising agency Leo Burnett's handiwork. Tony the Tiger, the Marlboro Man, and the Pillsbury Doughboy are just a few of the familiar icons it has spawned over its 65-year history for a roster of blue-chip clients. Now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bcom3 Group, a holding company created after Burnett's merger with ad shop MacManus Group earlier this year, the agency boasts a stable of big-name accounts, including McDonald's, Coca-Cola, and Walt Disney.
Anyone interested in Burnett had better like blustery winters: Roughly 95% of its 2,400 U.S. employees work in Chicago. Brad Karsh, U.S. recruitment director and a 12-year Burnetter, handles hiring for the client-service division. Its staff act as intermediaries between clients and Burnett's various departments, ensuring that projects run smoothly and everything comes together. Recently, Business Week Online's Jennifer Gill caught up with Karsh to talk about opportunities at Burnett. Here are edited excerpts of that conversation:
Q: How do you determine whether a person is a good fit for the company?
A: There aren't any specific questions that have to be answered in a specific way that would either get somebody in or preclude them. Every interview is truly like a story, and how that story unfolds really depends on the conversation that the two people have.
Q: What are some common mistakes that applicants make?
A: One thing that really irks me is when we ask people: "What do you think your weakness is?" and nearly every single person will take some type of strength and turn it into a weakness. [They'll answer:] "I work too hard," or "I'm a perfectionist." I've gotten to the point where I just say: "You know what? That's not a weakness. You've just disguised a strength as a weakness. I'm not an idiot, I do this for a living. I've read the same books and manuals that you have." When people try to deceive or outguess the interviewer, I think that it's a big red flag. My advice when people are interviewing is to be themselves.
Another common mistake -- and this applies more to experienced applicants -- is when a [candidate] turns their resume into a job description as opposed to a reflection of what they've done. They'll write: "Account executive on Marshall Fields account, responsible for meeting with creative team and clients, responsible for managing budgets." I know that's what an account executive does. Instead, what I would like to see is "successfully executed more TV campaigns than ever have been done," or "grew share by 15%," or "promoted in six months vs. the typical time of 12 months." [They should write] something that's going to set them apart as opposed to something that just describes their job.
Q: What are you looking for in candidates?
A: We're looking for smart, creative-thinking doers who are well rounded, have leadership skills, and work great with other people. I realize that's a lengthy list, but...
Q: How do you get at some of these characteristics when talking to entry-level applicants?
A: We typically hire liberal-arts graduates from some top schools in the country. Rarely do we hire someone who has a college advertising background right out of school. When we're looking over resumes or talking to folks, we see what kinds of activities they are involved in, what accomplishments they have made in terms of achieving leadership positions and excelling at school.
Q: Would they be interviewed once?
A: No. They would interview with six people before they get an offer. First, they would meet with three people on campus -- typically someone from the recruiting department and two alums from that school. Those who make the final round would then come to Burnett and interview with three folks at the agency, such as account supervisors or account directors.
Because of the way our system works, we have 16 entry-level people starting in the next two months who we hired [in the] last recruiting season. We go on campus in the fall, hire people in late fall, early winter, but they might not start until August or September.
Q: That's a long lead time. Do you keep in touch?
A: Yes. We send them a Chicago gift basket, congratulating them on their offer. A couple of months later, while they're still at school, we'll send them a care packet that has all of our clients' products in it. We offer them a house-hunting trip, so they can come and look for a place to live if they're not from Chicago. They'll stay two nights. One night they might spend in a recent hire's apartment, so they can see what it's really like to live here and what you can get for your money. They also spend half a day shadowing -- walking around with newer employees and touring the building.
Q: What about applicants with work experience?
A: First, they would come in for a pre-screen interview to meet with me and probably one or two other people, just to see if they would be a good fit for Burnett. If that goes well, we'd bring them back, and they'd meet with four or five people who have openings on their accounts.
Q: How many resumes do you get?
A: If you include everybody who submits a resume for client service -- and that includes college students -- we get 5,000 to 6,000 resumes a year.
Q: How many do you hire in a given year?
A: Maybe 100.
Q: So it's quite competitive.
A: Yes. Not to say that you don't have a chance, because you certainly do, but it's relatively competitive.
Q: What's it like to work at Burnett?
A: When people leave, the things they say they're going to miss most are the culture and the people. Unlike every other large ad agency in the U.S., we are primarily in one location -- Chicago. We have 2,400 people, so it's very social, very big, very fun. We have our own health club, just for Burnett employees, and we have our own bar, located on the 21st floor within our building.
Q: What's the bar called?
A: StarBar! One of our symbols is a hand reaching for the stars. It's only open after business hours, but it's a great place to get together.
And then we have our annual company breakfast at the end of the year, which is an amazing all-day extravaganza. It's literally half company party and half Broadway show. The creative teams are already working on next year's, even though it's just August. [After breakfast,] we all go back to the office, get our bonus checks, and then we hit the town starting at one o'clock.
One of the things I joke about when I talk to recruits is that if they changed Leo Burnett from an ad agency to a couch-making company, I would still come to work every day because I love the people here.
Q: How long do people stay?
A: Longer than they do at other ad agencies. The most recent data we have is that the average tenure in an ad agency is three years, and at Burnett, it's seven years.
Q: Is there mentoring?
A: Upon entry in the company, at any level, you are assigned an advisor. It's somebody that works in your department but doesn't work on your account and is at a level that is obviously higher than yours. We also have people, such as myself and probably four or five others, who work on retention. We're a sounding board for people -- they know me immediately as a resource to either complain or compliment.
Q: What are some complaints you hear?
A: A common complaint, especially among entry-level people, is: "I'm not getting enough autonomy." It's a very interesting dynamic because [the entry-level hires are used] to being the cream of the crop [at college], and all of a sudden, they're slashed back down to the bottom of the totem pole. A lot of people come in expecting to take over the world, but the realities of working in a group environment vs. a solitary environment can be very different.
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Copyright 2000, Bloomberg L.P.
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