I thought I knew what 'agency experience' meant ... until I started working in an agency

Coming hot off an admin role in a recruitment agency that specialised in creative career opportunities, I thought I knew what I was getting into by taking up a position at a copywriting agency. 

I’d spent those admin days reading job descriptions and writing job ads for everything from graphic designers to art directors to copywriters to account managers, many of them in agencies. 

“Agency experience required”, “Agency experience preferential”, “No, we liked her, but she just didn’t have any agency experience and we really need someone with that …” 

Come on, I kept thinking. How is someone going to get agency experience if no agencies will hire them? If they show promise and have the right attitude isn’t that enough? 

Oh how naive I was. 

I was expecting fast-paced, I was expecting deadlines, I was expecting difficult clients … but none of those baseless romanticised conceptions lived up to the reality. 

A month in, here’s what I now know:

  • There’s never any down time, or braindead days

  • “I didn’t achieve much today” still probably means I researched three articles, conducted and interview, signed off on a project and wrote next month’s newsletter

  • Projects never start and end neatly, there’s always delays and changes to meeting times when you’re coordinating clients, partners, and locations

  • Chasing clients for feedback and information could be a full time job in itself some days, interpreting their feedback requires a translator to remind you they’re probably not being passive aggressive or bitchy 

  • A day to be an introvert and just focus on my writing is a myth

  • It’s non-stop, non-stop, non-stop 


Think of the bus in Speed, or the boat in Speed II. That’s the agency, and we creatives are Keanu Reeves. 

Okay, that’s a bad analogy, there aren’t nearly as many explosions or hostage situations in real life. But I can see why not everyone is suited to this environment - it’s tough on the mental health. Employers wants creatives who are tested, who won’t buckle or fry under the frenetic daily energy of the business. 

Honestly though, so far I’m wondering if the right team of people can make enough of a difference. Our office is amazing and supportive and I know we’re all in it together, like the Fellowship of The Ring … another bad analogy, but you get my point. 

I’d be way more stressed doing all this on my own. Four weeks in, no breakdowns yet. 

I’ll keep you posted. 

Becky Carruthers