Hello, industry. Can I pick your brain?
By Carmela Soares, creative director, Isobar
We’re recruiting for a creative director and it’s a pretty sweet role. Lots of autonomy, running your own team, working with big Australian and global clients that get excited by fun, innovative work, in a big, global, award-winning agency. I’d apply on the spot if I didn’t already work here.
Last week we ran a job ad on LinkedIn, Facebook, and a few other sites. Result: over 150 applications in just a few days. But here’s the catch, only three women applied, and none of them based in Australia.
Before you jump straight to the comments and yell ‘FEMINIST’ at me (why, thank you), I’m not stating here that we’re specifically looking for a woman. We are looking to hire the best creative director in the country. And I can’t make an informed decision if the sample I’m choosing from is biased. I need to have a clear picture of the best talent out there, a group of candidates that represents our creative departments, our industry and – one can dream – our society.
The fact is, 0% of female CDs or senior creatives ready to step up applied to a great job. However, statistics estimate there are 11.5% of women running creative departments. While this number is still pretty ‘meh’, it was the least I was expecting to see.
While Kara, Stefanie, Amy, Annie, Tara and I might be happy with our jobs, I very much doubt that we’re the only female CDs in Australia, or that everyone else is not looking into changing jobs. So why are they not reaching out? I spent some time thinking about my own career and came up with a few possibilities.
1. They don’t think they can GET the job.
Several women in Australia do amazing creative work, but the industry suggests only men get the great gigs. Have you checked the Top CDs list on BestAds? Zilch girls. The feeling of not belonging can be overwhelming, and we don’t even bother applying.
2. Language bias undermines confidence.
Bossy, difficult, emotional, not funny. Every single woman in a leadership position has heard one of these clichés at least once, probably several times. Sometimes we almost believe it.
3. We’ve been rejected before for the weirdest reasons.
I once met with the CEO as a final formality for an agency ECD role. Despite four successful rounds of previous interviews, I didn’t get the job, and the official feedback was that the CEO wanted ‘more of a buddy.’ What does that even mean?
It’s no one’s fault this happens, but as an industry we need to call this out to encourage and motivate candidates with diverse gender, backgrounds and ethnicities to put themselves in the running. Because we’re not looking for a buddy, we’re looking for a shit hot CD.
92 Comments
I can sense 147 lawsuits being filed.
So no white males then?
Wow you sound incredibly arrogant. Love to see this amazing client list and body of world class work you have been able to sell through. I can’t remember a single great piece of work from isobar as a matter of fact I’ve never heard of isobar or you for that matter. Perhaps the issue is larger then gender.
To the comments above, she isn’t saying she is looking to hire a female… guessing you are both white males…
Wouldn’t the best Creative Director in the country want to work at the best agency in the country? Have you considered that when looking at where to move next candidates are equally as critical of the work that comes out of your agency?
Maybe it was the job ad’s content or its media/sharing strategy.
Why is there no link to the ad in this pr, I mean authentic query?
Why just pick our brains…borrow them for a while….looks like you could use one.
Nice hijacking for self promotional purposes. To get ahead you need to be better than this.
Well said Cam. Bravo. Keep making us gals proud. Hope this kick starts females to apply.
Sorry Carmela, can’t seem to make out the third paragraph. It just looks like gobbledygook. D’you think you could bold it?
Oh my, are we going to have this conversation again?
When ‘white guys’ defend themselves saying they can’t find female creative talent they are promptly cyber slapped and told they are not looking hard enough.
And now this, a white female looking for a CD is experiencing exactly what happens in the industry everyday. I really wish there was more female talent out there but there simply isn’t. Yes, it’s a problem but again, apparently their out there … you just need to look … look really, really, really hard.
150 responses with only 3 female applicants says it all!
I feel sorry for the other applicants who have been put on hold because the diversity ratio on applicants didn’t meet the criteria. Nothing to do with talent or who is right for the job.
How hard does one have to look?
Maybe someone is looking for a buddy too?
It cuts both ways. Your article assumes agencies including yours are attractive for female candidates. sAgencies need to be attractive places for people of a particular generation and skill set to want to work. Women leaders need to be fully supported in their roles at their stage of life. I say lots of creative leaders at that level are looking at parenting family and needing flexibility. Is it that agencies don’t support creative parents or parents to be including women? It’s not just about women but women suffer the most.
maybe your ad was shit
Fine words and actions as always Carm. Can’t they just clone you?
Hola Carmela, would be nice if you report back in a couple of weeks to share if you got any additional auzzie female applicants that were qualified to take the job.
Society is 51% female.
But 51% of plumbers are not.
The candidates don’t reflect the ideal of our society, as you put it.
Oh woe! Why aren’t we all up in arms about the lack of female plumbers? Surely they should be able to crawl around under houses and stick their hands up pipes. Let’s start a campaign on Kickstarter to raise awareness of the lack of female diversity in plumbing. Better yet, let’s make a female the CEO of the plumbing regulator and funding body, then she can mandate 50% of new plumbers have to be female, or tenders submitted for any Govt jobs need a female CEO and 2 female board members in the plumbing company.
Oh wait, Screen Australia did that.
I’m 100% for opportunities for all, but when you say you want the best talent, but then assume the pool is biased because no women applied…
or do what Screen Australia did, and just rule out men completely for some placements (eg, the director’s attachment to Alien: Covenant HAD to be female.
What if you get 50% female applicants, and a man is still the better one? Would you give the job to a man, after everything you’ve said? You clearly want a woman in the role. Maybe you’re the biased one, not being able to choose a “shit hot” CD from a pool of 150 applicants, 147 of whom just happened to be male. Which… ruled them out??
I’d put the same question to Screen Australia. 50% of homo sapiens are women, so 50% of directors should be women? How about you just pick the best scripts, while providing more opportunities for women to develop the skills needed.
Provide equal opportunity. Don’t try to control “equal success”.
May be you should look at how you are writing your recruitment ad.
Yes agree that there are not enough female creative directors in our industry so why not create a programme to bring some through the ranks. Instead of complaining that there isn’t enough, create an environment that helps the female creative become the next number one on the CD list. Stop winging and start doing something about it for god sake.
My partner is a primary school teacher struggling to get a job. Female teachers far out number male teachers. Yet we accept this. Why?
Is it because all schools principals are gender bias?
Are we not looking hard enough for male teachers?
Do male teachers not have the same skills?
If the principals of a school rejected 150+ applicants because they were all female imagine the out rage! The principal would be labeled as sexist pig.
You hire who is best for the job based on the applicants you receive. Full stop. Unless all 150 were bad?
I’m sure Carmella means well I truly believe that. But this topic in our industry has subconsciously become nasty. And ill considered comments like @proudfeminist#2 doesn’t help us ladies.
This level of blameshift is impressive and with the 3 easy points, you’ve identified (through your own troubling experiences of the industry) the root of the issue, better and more acute than a US poll survey
I really wish the recruiters in the industry would have a pov on this topic. They have been awfully quite.
Wait, there’s 150 creative directors in Melbourne?
nowhere in the article did Carmela say she wasn’t going to hire any of the 147 male applicants. She’s pointing out that not a single female senior creative applied for the role, when clearly a lot of men in the same position did.
But of course, the commenters here didn’t bother to read into that. You all immediately jumped into turning this into a two sided blame game (again). And no, she didn’t start it – apart from one example incident no where did she say the lack of female applicants was caused by the 147 other male applicants.
But of course, the commenters didn’t bother to think about that either. Your fly-off-the-handle, quick-mis instant rage shows you’re a) either afraid of the fact that someone with the same or better skill set than you might actually one day take your job, or b) you’re a troll. a scummy little anonymous troll. So here’s the challenge. Use your creative brain power to actually form an argument, or sit quiet until you figure out how. If your concepts are as loose and unthought as your comments, it’s no wonder that you’re worried that you might lose your job.
Isobar: an agency that manages out great CDs who understands creative better than the ECD. That’s what I’ve been hearing.
The ad business has so many variables that make it not a level playing field for all, you could argue all sorts of socio, economic, personality, nepotism, racial, gender bias factors. It still runs its on race compared to more legislated or PC industries.
Some people get on and get favoured for all sorts of baffling reasons.
There’s cliques and clubs and other secret handshake factors.
But all that said, I reckon it is one industry where the quality of ideas will usually ultimately separate the best from the rest, and in my experience being a female is no setback in any way in that area.
Hardwork, persistence, effort and talent seem to be the major issues.
Those who work that way generally have success no matter which gender they are.
Make of that what you will.
How predictable this industry is. Senior female creative pokes her head up to share her thoughts and experiences only to be largely shot down by a bunch of jerks who clearly derive pleasure from personal attacks. Good on you Carmela. This is a conversation that needs to be had in light of the fact of what we are all here to do. And that women make around 80% of the purchase decisions. And that funnily enough, women are empathetic. Unlike many of the respondents to this article. Hope Santa brings you each a life.
Promote Emma.
You’re welcome.
Commenters:
if this upsets you. You need better shit to be upset about.
Wanting the hire the best person for the job while also considering the future makeup of the company through diversity is really a catch-22.
I know even through personal experience that women are much harder on themselves and just don’t apply for roles they don’t think they are qualified for, whereas men are generally a lot more confident and are more likely to apply for roles they aren’t actually qualified for. (https://hbr.org/2014/08/why-women-dont-apply-for-jobs-unless-theyre-100-qualified)
Based on this fact alone hiring from the pool of resumes you received doesn’t mean you are getting the most qualified person, just the most confident applicant.
These guys seem to have found someone.
http://www.adweek.com/agencyspy/grey-new-york-promotes-debby-reiner-to-the-new-role-of-ceo/122646
If your looking for a female drinking buddy, email me 🙂
well done carmela
the bias here is real, though at times subconscious
the more we talk about it, the more progress we’ll make – towards greater diversity of all kinds
Cam, it took a lot of courage to write this and put your name and face to it, I’m sorry for the toxic comments you’ve attracted from haters. Your article is very clear and articulate.
Congratulations on being one of only 3% of creative directors in this country.
Zzzzzzzzzz
Regardless if you agree or disagree with Carmela it makes me really sad that
she has been crucified by anonymous cowards for having an opinion and expressing her frustrations.
What I would like for Christmas is for our industry to come together and start fixing the problems that the advertising industry faces together instead of criticising those that are trying.
As a male applicant who contacted Carmela regarding the role, I didn’t realise there might be particular criteria that might limit my chances of being considered for the position (but let’s face it, there always is).
I have wondered if my age might be a factor, but surely not, that would be ageist (try being out of a job over 45 in this business).
I have wondered if my appearance might be a factor, but surely not, that would be prejudice.
I’ll just accept that they don’t think enough of my experience, work and skills and move on.
Because I bet I will not be given a reason why I didn’t get the position (or even an interview).
And it’s best not to make one up (at least in my mind).
And as much as I accept and understand there are real issues that do exist in the work place for women, they are not alone there. Inequality has many forms, and all are unfair.
And inferring that the limited number of female applicants is particularly due to male influence is unfair, lazy and ultimately wrong.
Someone is good for the job or not no matter what gender, age, ethnic, etc. Ever considered how the 150 applicants will receive this article? My view on this is that Isobar should be happy with 150 male CD’s applying. As to my knowledge they haven’t create any good work for years. Maybe focus on that first?
Men for the most part, handle rejection much better than women.
We just have to.
We’re pretty used to it, it happens a lot and it happens from early in life.
We generally dust ourselves off, move on and have another go.
We learn to just get on with it. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, but there is only one way forward. Mostly, we learn the pattern of persistence.
In general, I have found girls/women don’t handle this as well and go looking for other answers. They lose objectivity, and draw their own conclusions (often giving up the battle). And in a job like being an advertising creative where “no, keep going, not there yet” is often the mantra, I have found that females often are not as resilient in that situation.
And by the way, there are plenty of alpha-male, egotist men who manipulate and crush the dreams of other “weaker” men in the business too.
I know all of this is horribly generalised, but there’s a bit of that going around.
Carmela – you are and always have been a role model, with a fair and considered point of view. Waleed and Ani above have said everything I was thinking, although much more articulately. Super proud. Keep killin’ it you legend.
I just wish people would give their real names and stand by what they say, like Carmela.
@fiddycent. I’m a woman (have been all my life) and I couldn’t feel more aligned with your comments. Bless you. If I had two more thumbs I would give your ‘fiddycents’ two thumbs up. Provide equal opportunity, don’t try and control equal success.
Um, there is no effort to control equal success. She’s surprised at the low number of females who have responded or applied for an equal opportunity and is simply expressing herself.
There is no bias on her part. Come on people. It’s not rocket surgery.
Let’s be real Isobar. This article is not about females in the industry. It’s about Isobars ability to write a good, target, Ad. You can’t blame the industry because your Ad doesn’t get the outcomes you want. You guys are 100% responsible for this. Good luck to the 150 applicants. There is clearly some work to do in there.
This is an important topic and needs more discussion in order for female creatives to be treated equally.
Change can only happen when more CD’s and ECD’s speak up about the inequality and lack of opportunity for females in creative departments.
As a senior female creative in Australia, I have also encountered a culture of misogyny at the highest levels of agency. It usually trickles down from the top. In some agencies it’s rife, others no so.
The pressure for a female creative to conform in a male dominated creative department is high. Putting up with blatant sexist comments is a normal part of life for many a female creative. Speaking out or standing up to such comments is very hard to do. Will I lose my job? Will the rest of the male creative department shun me? Will I be punished by getting all the crap briefs (thus effecting my career)?
I believe that the most talented and qualified person should get the job, regardless of whether they are male or female. However, as Carmela has pointed out, the talent pool is far from equal. Females simply don’t have the same pathways to success or opportunity as their male counterparts.
Why is gender equality important in advertising? Advertising helps shape contemporary culture. It tells us what to think and how to behave. If the same demographic of white males are always making the ads, we’ll continue this demographic shaping our culture. If you’re a white male, aged between 25-35 it’s great, for the rest of us, not so much.
The industry needs to progress so that female creative talent gets a chance to rise and perform. How can this be done? Here’s a few suggestions;
1 – Provide a pathway to opportunity by creating a mentorship programs for younger female creatives.
2 – Distribute the briefs equally, don’t always give the best briefs to the same male team (or at least share the best briefs)
3 – If you’re a female creative or a female team, get the courage to go and ask your ECD/CD for the best briefs, go fight for it. Your future self will thank you.
Thanks for the article Carmela, well articulated.
How many gay CD’s are there leading agencies in Melbourne?
Or for that matter Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders, intellectually disabled, displaced refugees or trans-gender ones kicking around?
It seems to me there is a huge amount of inequality throughout agencies across Australia. Though all people can talk about is the gender bias.
Isn’t it clear if from 150 applicants only 3 where female – that its not a problem of men hiring ‘buddies’ – more the fact there isn’t a pool of female talent even consider?
Why do we even have to list our gender in a job application these days?
Really it shouldn’t matter.
The negative, personal comments above toward Carmela and her agency, are not even in context to the article that is written here. I have never commented on this blog before as generally I find it atrociously negative and a detriment to the industry. But Carmela has written an interesting article that is about having a conversation about what we know is lacking in our industry. Starting the conversation and having the opportunity to express this kind of reality, is what is necessary to change the current status quo. Bravo Campaign Brief for printing this article and bravo Carmela for writing it.
I feel sorry for the 3 female applicants. They could be 3 really shit hot applicants and one of them could have the job by now.
@What about the rest of us?
Yes diversity is important, absolutely. However, statistically speaking, there are more females in Australia than males. Even if we took it from the numbers alone, based on the male to female sex ratio in Australia, there should be more females in creative roles.
If gay, indigenous, disabled or refugees made up more than half of Australia, I’d like to think that they would be equally represented too.
The facts are, we’re there in number, but not in opportunities offered.
I agree with Carmela and the team @Isobar, it’s pretty sad that’s there’s only 3% female CD’s, we know there’s a positive push to address this number and we should but not at the expense of over-looking talent regardless of their gender, age or sexual preference. One thing that needs to be looked at a lot more closely too is the fact the title ‘Creative Director’ seems to apply to many with only 1 or 2 year’s creative management under their belts, much of this experience is managing two people :_ The business needs to be looked at as a whole, it’s starting to happen where the talent pool move into the likes of Google, Uber etc. Our industry will suffer if we do not address as a collective the bigger problems within the industry – gender equality is one problem but sadly not the only one.
It’s been stated before – for some reason that has nothing to do with male blocking or ‘bloking’ – the media departments, PR shops and Account Management are packed with females. Always has been, probably always will.
Reverse the situation and you’ll find fewer males applying for these jobs than females.
It’s time to stop creating a gender war and just go for the way nature manages stuff.
@Fit for the job said: “It’s time to stop creating a gender war and just go for the way nature manages stuff.”
You’re right, us women should just stick to house cleaning and the preparation of meals, possibly a PR job on the side. God forbid we’d ever want a prestigious CD role.
In other words you want to keep the status quo, mainly because you’re male and have a prescribed notion of ability based on gender. The 1950s attitude of females do the office work and males do the management, ummm because it’s “…the way nature manages stuff” – speechless..
Division exists because of uneducated and mid century views such as yours.
What a brave collection of anonymous trolls.
Good piece, Carmela. The degree of toxic venom littering the comments is pretty ironic, given the content of your article. Then again, they probably also serve to illustrate at least part of the problem.
Couldn’t agree more @fit for the job
Apparently the HR team at Enero is 8x women, led by 1x woman.
Can we please do an exposé on that lot?
Carmela Soares.
You want the best people!? You need to write better recruitment Ads girl.
Best guy get’s the job.
Show me the work. That’s the test.
Not female or male or (gay)
Grow up and move on.
@Pussy Riot. Simply quoted how it all seems to fall. Tell me otherwise. It’s what I and others simply observe. Nothing to do with kitchen wars. I’m adding a viewpoint to this interesting article. Plus be courteous enough not to presume my views about 50s etc are similar to your rather angry rant.
“… mainly because you’re male and have a prescribed notion of ability based on gender.” I’m actually female, senior creative.
As for “uneducated”, I suppose years of studying Women and gender issues at University obviously doesn’t count either in your determined view that women don’t get there because of mean men.
Maybe you should try setting the Iso’bar’ lower….
Advertising on the basis of gender is illegal (Federal Sex Discrimination Act section 86).
Blogging you want to see more females applying for creative director positions, while your very own creative director position is live on the web (which it is currently) could be seen as a direct appeal for more female candidates and a contravention of the Act. It basically comes down to the definition of what constitutes a ‘notice’ in section 86. Is a blog a ‘notice’?
If this is indeed a well-intentioned commentary on an industry wide problem (as it makes out to be) and not a way to side-step legislation then the smart thing to do would have been release the article AFTER you’ve filled the role and publicly PR’d the person’s arrival.
Publishing this piece while the job is still open only acts to raise the prospect that 147 candidates (who happen to be one gender) will follow-up with their lawyers, and that 3 female candidates or the ones that follow will want to accept a role when the industry will rightly question whether they were hired as ‘The right person for the job’ or ‘The right woman for the job’.
Carmela is simply saying – “Girls, step-up. Don’t be afraid to take a leap”.
Don’t take it out of context.
Carmela is stating the facts.
The ad industry is male dominated and that can’t be denied.
All big group companies are trying to change this and are measuring how many females they employ in high positions. It’s becoming a KPI for CEO’s.
Dear commentators,
This industry / country really is becoming a bunch of whiney little bitches.
Some reality:
Advertising has always been an extremely competitive industry that is hard to break into.
The creative department has always been the hardest part of the industry to crack. Everyone wants to be a creative.
Becoming a Creative Director is even harder. Less jobs at the top of a department that’s extremely hard to break into.
If I took 5 years off to spend with my kids, I probably would have to freelance or work somewhere shit until I prove myself again. Or take a pay cut to work somewhere good.
If I took 5 years off to travel / run a business, the same would apply.
Why? Because it’s a serious business and there is serious competition, there’s no ‘participation prize’ in advertising, especially the creative department. It’s brutal.
Women are simply using their sex to get a competitive advantage over the competition, of which the majority happen to be men.
So what. Feminists run this country. Deal with it.
If we’re more worried about this than the coming crisis between China / US / Russia, then I hope WW3 makes us either harden the fuck up or shut the fuck up.
Seriously,
Whiney little man-bitch.
I’m going to call horseshit on your argument.
“The facts are, we’re there in number, but not in opportunities offered.”
Look at the article above. She’s clearly offering a ‘woman only’ role as a CD.
If you’re a chick and can’t get a job in the creative department, look at your folio.
It’s probably shit.
Ask any recruiter, there are tens of ‘women only’ jobs out there. Every agency would prefer to hire a woman, not just to fill diversity quotas. They either don’t exist, or they haven’t worked hard enough to make a good book – even a good book full of spec.
As much as people think these kinds of articles are ‘winning the war’ or ‘closing the gap’, spare a thought for the amazing, talented female creatives already in our industry.
One remarked to me recently she felt she only got her job because she has a vagina. Another felt she was only appointed to an award judging panel because ‘she’s a chick’.
These are exceptional people who deserve to be where they are. Having known them a while I can say without a doubt they got there based on their own merits. Work hard, have some humility and do each job better than the last.
It really saddens me that through (well intentioned) articles and comments you’re completely undermining the confidence and the validity of every woman working in the creative department.
They don’t deserve to be there because they’re women, because women make 80% of purchasing decisions or because people believe the only people who can sell to a woman or relate to women are women.
They deserve to be there because they’re fucking legends who put their lives on hold to make ok work amazing. Like pretty much every other creative in the creative department, whether they be white, black, male or undecided.
I know you’re trying to help, but this really doesn’t help women in any way shape or form, particularly when it comes to the most important thing in a workplace – respect.
I get what Carmela is trying to say, but:
I honestly do not think most creative departments in 2016 run with the gender bias that these kinds of articles refer to. Perhaps 20 years ago, they did? But creative departments these days, from my own experiences, have always had plenty of females, and the males around them have always treated them like they treat each other. I just dont think typical 23-35 year old creative guys behave like the same age bracket of guys on say, a building site, would.
I never saw this kind of behavior at Isobar. Or Smart. Or SapientNitro. Or CumminsNitro. Or BWM. Or Redhanded. Definitely not at Hello I’m Venus.
Perhaps when our current junior, mid-weight and senior female creatives feel the time is right, we’ll see a sudden surge in female CD’s across the industry. Perhaps in 2025, the % of female CD’s will be hovering at 25-35%. Perhaps the current lack of female CD’s is leftovers of an industry that was obviously much more misogynist in the past.
But perhaps being an advertising creative isnt where a lot of creative females head towards anyways. The fashion and PR industries are completely dominated by women. Perhaps the typical ‘creative’ female is generally more interested in other pursuits. Perhaps they dont want to be making Mrecs and radio ads. Maybe they want to be working with high end luxury brands, designing homewares, styling fashion shoots, getting into event management. Perhaps advertising isn’t where a lot of female creatives want to go. Perhaps we’re all a bit insular to realise advertising is just one pursuit of many many different creative pursuits. Perhaps the industry just doesnt attract a lot of creative women on the whole. Period.
Another thing; female suits and producers in advertising – DOMINATE. Why aren’t we asking where all the male suits are? There are quite a few at Isobar but across the industry, it cannot be denied that women make up a much larger % of the those departments. Perhaps it just is what it is?
And maybe, just maybe, by the time a woman is experienced enough and old enough and wise enough to reach CD level, she has had kids, realised they kick ass and take total priority over worrying about some bitsy social campaign with a crap media spend and whether it will make it’s KPI’s or not, and just chooses to put her time and energy into the things that matter to her more.
I know so many women who’ve moved on from advertising for this very reason. Perhaps that in itself is why there are low female CD numbers across the industry.
This isn’t about Carmela, one agency, or even our myopic industry FFS. History and culture have stacked the odds in favour of white blokes. Period. We’re now at a point where we can see that – so we should do something about it by acknowledging that in our hiring decisions. That’s the only way we’ll make any systemic change. And that’s what I took out of Carmela’s piece. See the bigger picture.
PS anonymous commenting – the nasty ones – is just fucking weak.
I’m genuinely shocked by the comments here. She has a valid point and yet has been trolled beyond reason. Shame on you, guys.
At present roughly 33% of award school students are female. The numbers are 2:1 at the earliest stage possible.
Something to consider.
I see very little trolling here, unless you are a super sensitive SJW.
I’ve seen a lot of interesting facts from both sides of the fence.
I’ve seen that discrimination will always be a part of the industry, whether it’s against men or women.
I’ve seen someone articulate a personal frustration of mine – where are all the women? I’ve been trying to hire a decent one for ages. Zero luck.
The great thing is Carmela isn’t blaming men for the lack of women.
Carmela I’d suggest trying what I’ve been trying – look abroad in NZ or the US. The UK are still very male dominated, which is probably why it’s the same here (completely UK dominated industry). The hardest bit is convincing them to come to Aus and work at your agency, but the easy bit is you have a legitimate reason to say they’re more qualified than any other Aussie because they’re female and more awarded than any other female in Australia.
Good luck. I know how tiny the talent pool is here.
Geee. Life is so tough for us women in 2016. When are we going to catch a break?
This article comes from an agency feeling it is fighting ‘the good fight’.
Please visit the About Us page at Isobar: http://www.isobar.com/au/en/about-us/
Look at the faces. 72% are men. 81% are white.
When it comes to diversity, Isobar is great in terms of lip service.
But in practice, it really isn’t in a position to question the industry’s poor record. It needs to look inward.
Camela, if you really want to make real change, you should ask management why there are so many white male faces in leadership positions.
Let’s get the Isobar ‘About Us’ page to 50/50. And maybe a few more POC too. That will help create diverse opportunities and help industry-wide morale.
Um, Isobar and Carmela are trying to ‘get the Isobar ‘About Us’ page to 50/50′. They are looking inward. They are trying to help create diverse opportunities.
Clearly they’re damned if they do and they’re damned if they don’t. Bloody good on them for trying to do something.
And as for the really nasty commentators, they are obviously from irrelevant advertising dinosaurs who think digital is all apps and banners. Sad old men and women (who have drank the cool aid) who no one really respects any more, except each other.
If you’ve still got jobs (god help anyone working for you), go back to preening over your print ads and make way for people who really understand where society is headed.
Well-done Carmela! There is very much a glass sealing in the industry when you get to a senior level. It is much more difficult to get an executive level position as you start climbing the corporate/agency latter. This is not felt as much a junior because there are a lot more opportunities available and you often not expected to lead.
The role of “leading” has historically been defined by males. Being unemotional, aggressive, ability to play political games, being overly confidant and a bit ruthless etc are all seen as great characteristics in this role.
Women lead by nurture, support, humbleness, determination (which is often seen as being aggressive) and sometimes emotion. And those things are good for the team, the company and our world. We just constantly get penalized for those qualities and not being a part of the boys club. And yes, companies absolutely need to go out of their way to hire more female executives and let them create the environment they seek.
In general, male or female there are very few innovative, forward thinking visionary leaders in the world and those who do it well are brave, humble, emotionally balanced and create an environment around the, where everyone can thrive.
Keep it up Carmella, don’t lose your voice. The feed here clearly shows the rife misogyny in Australia and it’s embarrassing. As long as you are a female with an opinion working in advertising everything will come your way to break you. Don’t let it. If women want to be creative directors they have to move out of this country, it’s not right or ok and you’re right you can’t choose equally if it’s unequal.
Carmela, you’re smart enough to know that speaking up like this was always going to invite a torrent of opinion, and thanks to anonymity, much of it was likely to be aggressive.
But you still wrote a well-balance, thought provoking piece you believed in that, regardless of whether we individually agree with the post or the comments, was brave and classy.
As always.
Keep on keepin’ on, mate…
Four quick points:
1:@morons – Dude. Women who have children aren’t going on a holiday. Framing it in these terms is part of the problem. It’s no “5 years off”. Wouldn’t that be nice? It’s more like 5 years full-on. Clearly you don’t have kids.
2: Senior women are absent from creative departments because very few agencies are willing to let them work part-time or flexibly so they can do their other full-time job – taking care of their children – as well as earn an income in a fulfilling career. We really can’t have it all.
3: Senior women can’t rack up the kind of work needed to become CDs unless they can be helped to remain in the industry working at great agencies after having kids. Many mums and dads struggle with the hours advertising demands of us, and many talented folk walk away for a more balanced lifestyle – the talent exists, but perhaps the industry propaganda – that advertising takes priority over family – is harder to swallow for parents than it is for those in their 20s.
4: Gender discrimination is real. It happens too much. Full stop.
Bye!
Count me out.
Yeah, but what’s your point? Advertising IS one of those career paths that is going to be effing tough if you want kids AND get to the top, ie be a CD. This isnt some hidden fine print until you get to 30 and realise you want 3 kids and then suddenly everyone reveals you’ve been stooged for the past 10 years. Advertising IS demanding and it never stops. And agencies just cant grant that kind of flexibility to a CD. CD’s NEED to be at work, across ALL projects, across ALL the work, meeting with the creatives, meeting with clients, there for when all the shit hits the fan, blah blah. “Oh sorry, CD has left for the day cos her 5 year old ate glue in craft class”. NO, CD needs to be at work signing off shit that is due for dispatch or getting across all the pitch work before the pitch. There is nothing worse than an agency scrambling for someone to approve work because the CD is nowhere to be seen. Its just one of those jobs where unfortunately you have to be at the agency while the creatives are at the agency. I daresay a lot of senior female creatives totally get this and are cool with it! I certainly wouldnt want both of those jobs at once!
Gender equality is the point. And all those poorly written gender stereotypes are the reason why women deal with gender discrimination at such disproportionate rates in this industry. And it’s something the industry is trying to rectify, so… yeah, that’s the point entirely.
And every male ECD I’ve ever worked for sounds exactly like that crappily-written CD mum you described: always absent or out of the office, never available to sign shit off, and the reason everyone else works late. Double-standards much? SFC out.
I can’t believe the things I am reading here. It makes me worry about this industry. And it makes me wonder about all the men out there who seem to feel quite threatened.
If you re-read my comment, you’ll see its not targeting female CDs, its targeting all CDs. I’m saying being a CD isnt a part time, flexible job. It shouldnt be. Jobs cant wait while a CD has half a week off with the kids, week after week. Male or female. It’s a full time job with lots of overtime. Plain and simple. I do not disagree with you that male CDs can be bad. They’re never around, always at boozy lunches, gone for hours, doing who knows what where. I’m saying regardless of whether you’re man or woman, flexible hours and being a CD does not work. Ad agencies are too fast paced to work around one persons 21 hour week. Jobs cant wait. Clients cant wait. That’s what Im saying.
@SFC
You sound like a real bag of fun.
What’s been proposed so far:
All girls are ‘going off to have babies’ and dropping out (hardly. sounds very sexist.)
All girls are happy just being a creative (partly likely, having done both I sure am)
All girls are bullied out of the industry / not given opportunities (laughable in this day)
All girls have different skillsets suited to being a suit / producer (ouch. sexist)
All girls have had to go overseas, Australia is too backward (probable – Tony Abbott)
All girl creatives are treated unfairly (not true. bad creatives are treated unfairly – unless you have a shit boss. if you do, then leave and work elsewhere)
All this talk is undermining the good women in this industry (best point so far)
All people who have a break from the industry find it hard breaking back in (true)
All recruiters have ‘female only’ roles on their books (true. and sexist, but who cares)
All people who ask ‘where are all the chicks’ are reverse sexist (who cares)
I’ll make one final point – none of this leads to better work.
Merry Christmas you miserable bastards. Hope Santa gets you a smile.
Carmela had balls to write down but the guys here have pinkies instead of dicks and obviously there’s a lack of brains as well lol
If you want to motive people from diverse backgrounds, genders, ages etc, you should probably treat candidates with respect and respond to applications &/or linkedin messages. It’s not a one way street.
And this is exactly why advertising is the most pathetic industry in the world!
Advertising is the cancer in communications!
It’s polluting every medium, including outdoor, all over the world. If agencies could project campaigns into the sky, they’d do it! They’d fill up every available space with all their ‘consume’ ‘consume’ ‘consume’ messages.
Did you know, that years after banning outdoor Ads, Brazil’s largest city was more vibrant than ever?
Please, Advertising…spare us the BS and start making a real difference in the world.
Gender equality is the point. And all those poorly written gender stereotypes are the reason why women deal with gender discrimination at such disproportionate rates in this industry. And it’s something the industry is trying to rectify, so… yeah, that’s the point entirely.
And every male ECD I’ve ever worked for sounds exactly like that crappily-written CD mum you described: always absent or out of the office, never available to sign shit off, and the reason everyone else works late. Double-standards much? SFC out.
OMW!
All jobs should be equally available to any gender!
To make ad hominum is low and unprofessional.
It shows that, very likely, the commenter can not present a feasible explanation and is responding emotionally and driven by prejudice.
Rather than sticking to answering the question posed, some respondees became vunerable, standalone trolls
What poorly written gender stereotypes are you referring to? I agree all jobs should be gender neutral. Any race, sexuality or gender… who cares what you are, if you can do the job. In saying that, a Creative Director role generally cant be a flexible, part time job. To expect it to be turned into such to accommodate being a mum (or dad) is a bit unfair to everyone who counts on you in the agency. Everyone then has to work around one persons schedule. Ive worked under part time CD’s. It’s a nightmare. They’re only half invested in the work and it makes it harder for everyone else to do their jobs effectively. Theres a big difference between gender inequality, and a woman (or man) having to make the decision to choose between continuing up the career ladder or having kids and taking a career break. Because some jobs and industries, its just not always possible to do both. You cant be a very good part time international airline pilot and a mum (or dad) either, right? A couple of shifts a week and you would never see your kids. Let’s not confuse gender inequality with the realities of a roles expectations.
I am a Snr female creative and I have Creative Director job alerts set up through LinkedIn but I never received an alert for Isobar. May I suggest looking into the job ad settings? Perhaps there was a glitch.
Totally agree with you Carmela!
But I think like most comments here, it’s also the agency in question here. Isobar has yet to produce any great creative work or even known as a formidable force in the agency land. It’s hard to attract the talent if the company isn’t seen as an inspiring platform for them.
I am a Snr female creative and I have Creative Director job alerts set up through LinkedIn but I never received an alert for Isobar. May I suggest looking into the job ad settings? Perhaps there was a glitch.
Carmela is awesome. One of the best CD’s I’ve worked with.
I think putting up this article was a smart idea – a good ‘jerk filter’ for the hiring process.
You need to work with more CD’s then
Holy shit! There are some unhelpful comments.
I hope you found your CD Carmela. If you are looking to improve gender diversity in the workplace perhaps run a targeted proactive campaign to map out where the female talents are in your industry and pursue them. Advertising doesn’t seem to lure the talent out for the reasons you mentioned. Specifically targeting people and having conversations with them has yield better results for me in the past and present. Even if you’re looking for the right talent, gender aside.
It’s a shame you can’t use this feed to filter out who never to hire. Ever.
It cuts both ways. Your article assumes agencies including yours are attractive for female candidates. sAgencies need to be attractive places for people of a particular generation and skill set to want to work. Women leaders need to be fully supported in their roles at their stage of life. I say lots of creative leaders at that level are looking at parenting family and needing flexibility. Is it that agencies don’t support creative parents or parents to be including women? It’s not just about women but women suffer the most.