On the 7^th of April, I listened to a presentation from Anthony Tattum, the founder and CEO of marketing agency Big Cat. A key part of Tattum’s presentation was based around how Big Cat try and solve the problems which other advertising professionals face. One issue which he stated was that freelancers were too specialised, and thus could not see the bigger picture. Tattum stated that Big Cat works collaboratively in multiple sectors so that employees are able to specialise, however different areas are able to be managed rather than encountering issues due to a lack of experience in a certain field. In addition, Tattum made regular points about how technical skills are not the most important aspect of an advertiser. Whilst Tattum acknowledged that experience is important, he claimed that technical skills can be improved upon to an extent through experience whilst further strengths in areas, such as being passionate about a project, are crucial to success. As an example, Tattum spoke about how, before Big Cat was founded, he used to promote youth engagement consultancy for nightclubs rather than just simple advertising, showing his willingness to engage with a project. This idea of passionate employees has multiple characteristics which show why they would be valuable, such as “long term commitment to a specific domain that is goal oriented and unruffled by short term turbulence” (Accolo, 2018). From this presentation, I understood more about particular skills that I need to improve upon. Firstly, whilst specialising would help me to become an expert in one particular area, I have learnt that having skills in multiple areas is much more practical in a workplace environment based around multiple fields. Furthermore, I need to show my passion for roles as this may help me stand out amongst other candidates as an invaluable member to have in an organisation.

References:

Accolo (2018) Why Passionate Employees Are Your Most Valuable Asset. [online] available from < https://www.accolo.com/blog/why-passionate-employees-your-most-valuable-asset/> [8 April 2020]