THERE are no bad creatives.
Just bad fits.
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Sure, you can witness the experience and technical abilities of a creative candidate by reviewing their résumé and portfolio––but knowing how they ideate, communicate, respond, reason, and produce work is even more important in a creative role.
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This is why I've developed a high-touch creative talent evaluation method that helps business owners and hiring managers like YOU make all the right organizational decisions, so you can hire and retain the best creative talent.
Let me guess, right now you're...
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
• You need to hire but don’t have the time to deeply assess the creative candidates or go through several interview rounds.
• You want to understand exactly HOW someone works, and more importantly, how they will interact with your team, clients, and stakeholders.
• You need to make sure your creative talent will perform well in the position so your deadlines are met without drama, frustration or stress.
agency owner
• You have loyal, tenured creative talent that is struggling to evolve with the needs, direction, and culture of your agency.
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• You feel unsure of how to bring this person along, or if that’s even possible, and want to stop feeling guilty and stressed over this.
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• You want a clear picture of specific creative strengths and risks, along with actionable recommendations so you can move. FAST.
marketing pro
• You need to hire creative talent, but since you’ve never done their role before, you are unsure of how to assess fit beyond the technical requirements of the position.
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• You’re working with an HR team who is inexperienced at hiring creatives, or outside talent staffing firms that send you questionable creative candidates.
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• You want to keep your creative talent supported, engaged and challenged, so they stay with your organization.
TALENT RECRUITER
• You want to expand your business to include creative candidate placements, but you don’t have experience within the creative field.
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• You’ve never done creative work and feel a bit unfamiliar with how to spot potential red flags when screening for these types of roles.
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• You need to ensure the candidates you are referring to clients are going to be the right fit for the role and organization beyond just what their portfolio and resume displays.
HR SPECIALIST
• You need to shorten the path between the job posting and finding the right creative talent for your organization.
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• You feel a bit unfamiliar with all the subtle nuances of the creative process, and want to spot any potential red flags or challenges before sending candidates to the hiring managers.
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• You want to avoid the high cost of an unsuccessful hire by filling the knowledge gap around creative processes, skills and behaviors to ensure successful placement.
CREATIVE OPS
• You want to optimize the processes and overall efficiency of the creative department, and need to zero in on team dynamics to do so.
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• You need to make sure the right creative talent (both managers and individual contributors) are in the right roles to maximize the team’s synergy and overall productivity.
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• You’re unsure of how to navigate some of the hiccups in the creative workflow process, and wish a specialist could provide some insight.
WHY ARE CREATIVE HIRES SO COMPLEX?
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DIFFERENT STROKES
All creatives work differently. Gaining a clear understanding of how they ideate and develop work is MORE important than what is shown in their résumé and portfolio––but it's unfortunately not very easily detected with general interview questions.
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algorithm schmalgorithm
General skills assessments based on algorithms have a low predictive value for professional success in general, AND the criteria which determines success for a creative is even more complex and often missing from these general evaluations.
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cult of personality
Many candidates interview really well. However, personality is very different than creative process. This can be misleading AND lead to the wrong fit for your organization––especially when it comes to actually getting the work done.
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mo' money, mo' problems
Creative recruitment is much more volatile than other professional disciplines––20% of all new hires fail within the first six months, 36% within the first year. This puts your organization at risk for revenue loss due to creative team turnover.
I’m Jamie Roberts.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR, DESIGNER, BUSINESS OWNER
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I’ve spent the last two decades building and managing creative teams in both agency and in-house environments. I've closely studied the behaviors of creatives, clients, and stakeholders to figure out exactly what makes a creative successful in different environments and roles.
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I’ve observed that creatives succeed or fail in specific roles based on the way they express 5 core traits. I've also tested and proven this method when building my own creative teams, and while helping others build theirs. And I can't wait to use this knowledge to help you make all the right organizational decisions!
want more deets?
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Check out my conversation with Drew McLellan on the Build a Better Agency podcast (episode 309).
We discuss how this method can enable hiring decisions that lead to long-term success while also giving more insight into how to best leverage your existing creative staff. Drew also puts my skills to the test (on the fly!) when I evaluate him.
introducing
5 core TRAITS OF
A SUCCESSFUL CREATIVE
These 5 core traits translate into the skillsets that are required for success in creative environments, and will directly determine the behaviors creatives display in professional contexts.
but wait, there's more
Each trait also has a SPECTRUM OF EXPRESSION, which is the KEY to understanding HOW creatives work. When you understand how a creative expresses these 5 traits, you can understand how likely they are to succeed in a specific role or environment. This method tells you everything you need to know to make the best creative hiring decisions.
listen to HOW THIS WORKS
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ADAPTABILITY
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Responding willingly to the demands of the moment and changing course when required
CURIOSITY
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Approach to ideation, generating new creative concepts, and changing or improving things that others accept as the norm
AGILITY
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Navigating large quantities of information to stay focused on what’s most important at any given time
CONFIDENCE
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Pushing creative boundaries, sharing ideas, accepting feedback, defending ideas and concepts, and making key decisions
COMMITMENT
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Aspiration to have mastery in their creative field and willingness to continue improving their skills and abilities over time
don't sweat the technique
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You barely had enough time to look at portfolios. You definitely don’t need a complex, 20-page skills assessment report that rattles off a list of general traits that don't translate to clear creative skills you can count on.
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What you need is a quick, accurate, no-nonsense way of assessing the right creative fit. You want a simple process with a high predictive power that tells you everything you need to know to make the best creative hiring decisions. I got you.
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I TALK TO YOU
I'll ask you about your team, your clients, and your biz. This only needs to happen once for me to evaluate creatives for a specific creative role.
I TALK TO THEM
I engage with your candidate in a lengthy dialogue (e.g. not a test) to truly understand exactly how they express the 5 core traits.
you get the deets
You get a no-nonsense visual report that outlines the styles or challenges you may face with this person in their creative role.
YOU MAKE greaT HIRING
DECISIONS
You now have x-ray vision and can more accurately predict creative success on your team and within your org.
here's what happens when
I'm part of your hiring process
YOU HIRE A PERFECT FIT
• know how a creative will communicate ideas and decisions
• ensure success across your staff, clients, and stakeholders
• predict the way a creative will integrate into your org
• see beyond a candidate’s résumé, portfolio and experience
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YOU KEEP TALENT LONGER
• maximize your creative talent success rate
• better support creatives’ needs to accelerate growth
• know each candidate’s motivations to ensure longevity
• gain clarity around how to manage, coach, and support
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YOU MAXIMIZE YOUR TIME
• gain back the time spent in multiple interview rounds
• shorten the path to hiring high-value creatives
• more quickly prepare for interview conversations
• spend less time managing frustrating staffing issues
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YOU INCREASE BUSINESS SUCCESS
• make clear, fully-informed organizational decisions
• only hire creatives who actively contribute to the business
• increase profitability by predicting team performance
• maximize your recruiting placement fees