I also noted that much to my surprise, I wasn't floundering like I had feared I would. That it wasn't causing me a lack of concentration and then I realized why: for the 6 months between school and starting my new job, I was a full-time, stay at home Dad.
And those 6 months have given me a world of experience most of my peers couldn't even fathom.
Because from the moment I woke up, until the moment my wife got home from work, I had to find ways to keep her entertained while educating her and not putting her into too much life threatening danger.
Sort of like what I have to do for a client's brand.
I have to find entertaining and educating ways of reaching the client's audience, without putting the client's identity into too much danger.
I also have to deal with a lot of demanding personalities. And if you ever wanted to know what multiple-personalities are like without actually dealing with a crazy person, just spend some time with a 2 year old girl.
Think about it.
The client has demands, the account team has demands, the creative director has demands, the seniors have demands, and your partner has demands; and as the new junior, I am expected to placate all of them.
Unfortunately, I do not have the authority to spank the client's butt and put them in the timeout chair for 5 minutes if they are being unreasonable.
But you get the point. A junior needs to have two traits to survive: you have to be creative and you have to be willing to compromise.
Because we are expected to come up with great ideas and then marry them with the great ideas of our partners, our supervisors, our creative directors, our account planners/managers, and our clients and just like with a child, we can't simply ignore them and think they'll understand.
Unfortunately, though Fatherhood did not prepare me for the lack of an afternoon nap at the agency.
PJL
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