Invaluable Next Gen Job Advice from the Top

How do you break into the media business and be on your way to impacting the future, or at least growing your career? For sure, not the way previous generations practiced or preached, WPP Digital president and former cable network executive David Moore (pictured above) told dozens of interns packed into an Omnicom Media Group board room last week at the second annual 1stFive summer reception.

Moore offered a checklist of valuable pointers those interns and others might heed to increase their chances of media employment in a digital age.
"Nobody can sell you like you can sell you," he said. "There's no avoiding the fact that you must be the salesperson for you."

Other elements of his job-producing blueprint:

Figure out what to tell people about yourself in 20 seconds.

Identify 25 digital or media companies you want to work at. Find a contact at each company -- not the human resources person. Find someone who can walk you into the HR office at some point. "There's no barrier to entry. Where to go is not an issue. Getting noticed is."

Get a referral when you get interviewed.

Spread the net of your search by spreading your network of contacts.

Go above and beyond the call of duty in the job you're pursuing, including a do-it-now attitude and willingness to immediately start work.

Move fast and be persistent! Give yourself 2-3 months to find the job you want. "You move fast, you usually win," Moore aserted.