Insights

What has been the most challenging moment so far in your career? It’s both weird and weirdly rewarding to change countries and start over. What is the very best career advice you’ve ever received? Keep your head down and your eyes on the ball. What is the number one quality you look for in talent? Willingness to work hard. If you could attribute one other person or life event to your success, who or what would it be and why? It’s never just one person. Every person I ever worked with started the butterfly effect of who I am today…

What is the number one quality you look for in talent? For me, passion is the most important quality for any creative person. We’re always looking for the ones who dream big, that really want to push the boundaries of what’s possible or not. You launched DAVID in Madrid, going from zero people. What was the biggest adjustment to opening a new office? Definitely working in such a small team. Which I think was actually what made it the fun part of starting an office. We all had to be 100% hands on. We were too small to just do…

What Really Matters to International Talent As a recruitment firm, we search the globe to find candidates and help them navigate the process of moving to and staying in the country in which they are hired. We are facing an uncertain future; the prospect of layoffs is looming and the political landscape is ever-changing in the United States.  I want all foreign nationals working in the U.S.A. to heed a warning: now is the time to reach out to an immigration lawyer. You need someone you can turn to for guidance and who can properly advise you on what is…

What is the very best career advice you’ve ever received? You’re only ever as good as your people. The best leaders surround themselves with people who are better than them. What part of your role as a leader do you find most rewarding? Watching my team find their own feet and giving them the space to do their thing. I love watching people grow into their roles and find their voice. We all deserve a chance to prove ourselves and what we’re capable of. What is one thing you have learned from the pandemic in 2021 that you hope to…

Why It’s Wise for Agencies to Hire During Slow Periods A fair warning before we get into things. I intend to suggest an idea that flies in the face of recession fears and the standard ‘hiring season’ mindset that companies have followed for decades. It’s not because I recommend that leaders make rash decisions just to disrupt the system. It’s because there are real opportunities and advantages to consider. For many agencies in the advertising industry, hiring is fairly steady throughout the year, sometimes spiking in Spring or when an agency brings on new accounts. However, across the board, agencies…

What is the number one quality you look for in talent? Curiosity and kindness. Curiosity because creativity feeds off of it. Kindness because this business and the world can be pretty tough on people. What part of your role as a leader do you find most rewarding? Empower people and open as many doors as possible in the process . Understand that when you help creators and their ideas come to life, you are creating a good and healthy cycle in the agency. Because when they do, businesses prosper, and the people behind these ideas are celebrated, empowered, and grow.  What…

What is the number one quality you look for in talent? Definitely having an opinion and resilience. It’s important to have a voice in a room and be able to articulate why things are great or not. It doesn’t always need to be right. It’s more important that you spark something in the people who are working with you so you can build as a team on the thought. In the moment where you have no opinion there is nothing left to talk about. The second most important quality for me is resilience. Great work very rarely happens overnight. It’s…

Don’t be quick to fire. A skilled leader will spotlight strengths, not give up.  You’ve brought a new employee into your organization with a lot of expectations for success. Within a few months you, or perhaps others in your organization, feel the expectations for that hire are not being met. Ask yourself, what is the margin of error when someone doesn’t work out as intended?  Do you cut bait and move on? Or, do you evaluate all of the dynamics that come into play? For example, do you take into account this person’s strengths, or are you only focused on…

Juliette Cutullic has been helping top creative talent build their careers as a recruiter at Sasha The Mensch. In today’s Q&A she shares her journey. With a background from the French embassy, talk about how you entered the recruitment industry.  I started my career in the entertainment industry, working in cinema festivals and in radio. My interest here led me to working in the audiovisual department at the French Embassy. I later stepped into recruiting and have enjoyed connecting with creatives in the advertising industry.   What would you say to companies who are looking for fresh perspective and new talent…

Sanjiv Mistry, Executive Creative Director at McCann London is our newest Q&A participant: A creative leader with a background in law, his work has been recognised with over 200 international awards. What is the number one quality you look for in talent? Tenacity is an underrated trait. The best people I’ve ever known in this business are able to stare disappointment in the face one day, then calmly spit in its eye the next. Making great work is not guaranteed. On any given day, a hundred different uncontrollable things could happen to derail or dilute an idea. But top talent,…

Sasha the Mensch is expanding its team once again with Josefina Sierra who joins from Argentina as a creative recruiter who will help the firm connect award-winning candidates with top advertising agencies around the world.  “Alongside our talented team, Josefina will guide international recruitment efforts for our clients,” said Sasha Martens, President and Founder. “At each turn in the new recruitment landscape, we are challenged to think critically and get creative. Josefina’s work embodies that spirit and we are eager to continue growing as a company with this team in place.”  Josefina brings years of experience from her time at…

With many agencies working towards sustainable remote structures, ad industry talent has never had more flexibility. Some leaders are still scratching their heads, however, as to how to accomplish successful work streams with agency talent is scattered across different locations. In speaking with agencies grappling with the challenges of dispersed talent, I’ve found a few key practices that work well for all involved.   Set clear expectations.  Now that you’ve got a new hire “in the door” and up-to-speed, the onboarding process is still far from done. Even with the best talent on your roster, employees can’t be expected to generate…