"I painted myself gold to land my dream internship"

"I painted myself gold to land my dream internship"

Jade Delaney really is the Fearless Girl...

Advertising graduate Jade Delaney hit headlines when she bagged her dream internship in a pretty unusual way...

Sometimes, in order to make yourself stand out from the competition you've got to do something pretty drastic - and that's exactly what 23-year-old Jade Delaney did. 

The advertising graduate hit the news earlier this month after her daring attempt at getting her dream employer's attention paid off, and she landed an internship with advertising agency McCann. 

Jade covered herself in gold paint and stood outside McCann's Bristol offices emulating the Fearless Girl - a New York statue which was commissioned by the agency for a campaign in 2017. 

We caught up with Jade to find out what led her to do something so brave and get her advice for fellow graduates struggling to get their foot on the career ladder...

When did you graduate and what's your degree in?

I graduated from the University of Gloucestershire in November 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts honours degree in Advertising.

Can you tell us a bit about your job hunting process before this? Do you think you were properly prepared for how hard it was gonna be?

I spent some time after graduation looking for work with a creative partner. We had a three month placement with an advertising agency and attended The Big Book Crit and the Advertising Unlocked event hosted by the IPA at McCann Bristol. We weren’t having any luck being hired as a creative team though, so eventually decided to split.

After that I got a job in retail while I continued to work on my portfolio. I attended another Big Book Crit hosted by Prophecy Unlimited, and from that experience I realised I should be open to the idea of working in different roles within an advertising agency.

After uni you expect it will be difficult to find work, especially in this industry. I knew I had to do something big if I wanted to grab McCann’s attention.

Where did you get the idea for the Fearless Girl stunt from?

During the Advertising Unlocked event, McCann were talking through their Fearless Girl campaign. Instantly, I loved it - the campaign really broke boundaries. She’s fearless and so am I, so I thought, why not become the Fearless statue for the day and see what happens?

Can you tell us a bit about the day and your preparations?

I prepped my dress with a few layers of gold acrylic paint a couple of days in advance. I also painted my shoes and created the plaque. I changed the original plaque that reads, ‘Know the power of women in leadership. She makes a difference’ to, ‘Know the power of women in advertising’.

On the morning of the stunt a makeup artist called Shari Knowles arrived to do my hair and makeup.  She spent 1 1/2 hours turning me into a statue, putting layers and layers of gold paint on my limbs and face.

I arrived outside McCann for midday, just in time for the lunch time rush, and spent two hours standing outside the building. It wasn't long before I met Jon Elsom (group creative director) and Andy Reid (MD of McCann Bristol) who offered me a work placement on the spot.

 

How did you feel on the day? Were you nervous or at all hesitant?

On the morning of the stunt I felt excited. I kept wondering how the day would unfold. Every time I had a moment of doubt I reminded myself why I was doing it. It’s a great idea, it would be a shame not to follow through with it, to see what happens. What have I got to lose?

When I arrived outside McCann, I thought: "Am I mad for doing this?" I continued to hope for best though and thankfully it paid off!

Obviously this worked out for you. What would you have done if it hadn't? Were you prepared for that?

I’m glad it worked out so well, but if it hadn’t I had a couple more stunts up my sleeve I had planned to do the following week. Obviously now I don’t need to do anymore stunts because I’ve landed myself a dream placement at McCann.

I hoped that things would take off as much as they did, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up, so I expected the worst. When I got such a great response from people, I was shocked and over the moon.

What advice do you have for other graduates who are finding it hard to get on the career ladder?

Professionals in advertising have said to me in the past: “If you want to make it in advertising you have to be resilient”. This is so true if you’re looking for work in any competitive environment. I think if you have grit and you work hard you can achieve your dreams.

It’s important that you don’t lose faith in yourself along the way. You need to keep that confidence in your ability, because no one else is going to give that to you. Keep trying, and if you knock at a door and it doesn’t open, consider kicking it down.

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