Written by Parker Ladle
After graduating from Florida State University’s School of Communication in 2019, alumna Rachel Boyle landed a job as a recruiter at Mother, an independent advertising agency in New York City. The global firm has earned an impressive client roster including companies such as Target, Dave and Buster’s, Wrangler, and the New York Public Library. Rachel earned a degree in Advertising and Studio Art and participated in the Advertising Club, Dance Marathon, and FSU Panhellenic during her time at FSU.
Rachel talked about her time at FSU, her role as a recruiter, and advice she has for students who hope to work at a creative agency in the future.
Q: How did your experience at FSU help prepare you for your career?
A: It was a medley of so many different things. The positions I held at Delta Zeta gave me leadership skills and confidence. The endless advertising group projects taught me how to better navigate team dynamics. The long critique days in my art classes taught me how to think critically about creativity and articulate a point of view. Not to mention, the Ad Club New York trip is the reason why I even had the opportunity to tour Mother’s New York office in the first place.
However, the most valuable thing FSU gave me was an amazing support system –– it’s important to have a few people in your corner to celebrate your wins and to lean on when things get hard.
Q: What does working as a recruiter at Mother look like? What tasks/ roles do you have?
A: As a recruiter, I often feel like a matchmaker. It’s an exciting and rewarding challenge to find the best talent for an agency I really care about. It’s a lot of proactive conversations to get to know people in the industry and maintain those relationships. It’s a lot of communication with internal teams to understand their needs. It’s managing and prioritizing the candidate experience. It’s attending career fairs and industry events. It’s running our summer fellowship program, and much much more.
I typically focus on non-creative recruiting which includes any strategy, account, production, or operational-type roles. However, we have a small team so I’ll chip in on design and creative needs if necessary.
Q: What advice do you have for graduating students who are looking to get a job in a creative industry?
A: Get on LinkedIn ASAP! You don’t necessarily have to post to your feed, but you should absolutely be using it as a networking tool. Beef up your profile and follow companies you’re interested in. Connect with the people who work there – their recruiters, previous interns, and people who are doing the job you want. Shoot those people a note and see if they mind hopping on a quick call so you can learn more about their journey. Cold messaging can be discouraging, but you never know what doors it may open and what relationships it may lead to.