Career Success

Rosie Walford, account manager, J. Walter Thompson Age: 26. Salary: Undisclosed. "I couldn't trade this for a desk job. I work for clients like Persil and BAA, seeing a project through from the initial brief to completed commercial or advertisement. I don't do anything! My role is to delegate. I discuss an idea with a client and then persuade the creative people to come up with the goods. The nature of the work creates the pressure rather than the hours. I find I am constantly on the run, putting my head round doors, saying, "How's such and such coming along?"

There's really a lot of angst among account managers. You are viewed with suspicion by both sides. The client suspects that your loyalty is to your colleagues, and they believe that you are selling out to the client. I am very much the diplomat in the middle and I've had to work very hard to win other people's respect.

On the one hand a furious client will say, "This is not what I meant at all"; on the other, I get language from an artist whose work is rejected which is unprintable! The worst part is when I have worked for months on a brief, the final campaign is just what we initially agreed, and then I find out that the person I dealt with originally in the client company doesn't have the final say. Someone more senior comes along and rubbishes it. Mistakes can be costly. We are working to budgets of millions and cannot afford to get anything wrong. I did once overlook a cost of £5,000,000 in an estimate for a TV commercial. If I did that too often I wouldn't last long.

I love it, though. The adrenaline flows, and the buzz I get when a successful film is shot, or I've sold my idea to a client, is fantastic. There are days when I could scream or burst into tears but I've trained myself to cope in several ways. I need some quiet thinking time and as I'm not a morning person I don't come in very early. I prefer to stay in the office until seven, then go out and socialize. At weekends I like to get away somewhere green."

(from magazine "Cosmopolitan")

to persuade — переконувати, схиляти

creative people — творчі люди

suspicion — підозра

to suspect — підозрювати

to win people's respect — завоювати прихильність людей

estimate — оцінка, кошторис

to burst into tears — розплакатися, розридатися

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І Don't Want a Routine and Dull Job

1. I left school three years ago to take a year off to work out what to do. But so far I have no interest whatsoever in anything that I've tried. I don't want a routine, dull job just for the money and experience. And I don't want to compromize my creativity. Having gone to art and German classes during my year off, I now realize that. But I get very depressed doing nothing and feel such a failure. Is it wrong to want more out of life than money and a traditional nine-to-five job?

— It would be wrong if you didn't want more out of life than this, especially when you're just starting out! But at your stage, you have to do something to get going — it doesn't just happen if you wish hard. The right job, when you find it, can be creative rather than constructive, even at the lowliest stages. Getting money and experience along the way is not to be sneezed at when, as you have found, there is nothing more demoralizing than having neither. In the world of work, as in romance, you have to kiss some frogs before you finally find your prince. If art and German make you feel creative, pursue them. But don't feed off dreams to the point of starving yourself of life.

2. I recently accepted a promotion into management because I was eager to improve my financial and personal status. I was then told that it would be a problem to increase my money because this would mean a quantum leap to put me in line with my male colleagues in a construction machinery company. So I left and joined another company. They agree that I am excellent in my position but, again, I am told that as a woman I cannot expect to receive the same remuneration as a man. I am now frustrated and angry — my work is as good as my male colleagues' and my responsibilities are every bit as great. Am I doing something wrong? Should I leave and think about possibly trying something else? Where can I go?

— It's not easy to fight for your rights. But what you're facing occurs not only in old-fashioned manufacturing strongholds but also in the highest reaches of the professions — I've had the same complaint from women lawyers, accountants and medics. Why should you be driven out of a job you arc clearly good at, by the actions of a few bosses who are behind the times and ignorant of what is due to working women today? Never make the mistake of thinking this is your fault. You are bearing the injustice, which is bad enough — don't accept the blame for it too.

3. I joined my firm four years ago on a special recruitment programme for "fast trackers." Since then my career has progressed dramatically and now I'm up for a very important promotion but what ought to be a cause for celebration has become a nightmare. To get the job in the first place, I lied on my CV. Until now, every promotion has come through career progression. Now I have to go before a board for an in-depth interview and I'm terrified. I feel I should resign and get out now before I am found out and have to face the music.

— To leave a good job hastily and without explanation is the best way to be found out! You made a serious mistake once — now it's vital to calm down and think positively. If you have had four good years with your employers and if they are considering you for an important promotion, the chances are that they will be more interested in your performance and potential with the company than with your CV. Anything that did not come out at your first interview is unlikely to resurface at this stage. So don't jeopardize your future career with an impulsive gesture by threatening to throw in the towel.

But discovery is still possible. If your deception comes to light, don't make the mistake of telling more lies. Tell them truthfully that you wanted the job so much that your zealousness outweighed your judgement, and stress that your recent value to the company has more than outweighed your early peccadillo. Whatever happens, update your CV, drop the false information for ever and resolve never to do this again.

(from magazine "Cosmopolitan")

to feel a failure — зазнати невдачі, провалу

to accept a promotion — одержати підвищення (по службі)

remuneration — винагорода, оплата, компенсація, зарплатня

to frustrate — робити марним, розбити (плани)

responsibility — відповідальність

stronghold — міцність

complaint — скарга

CV (Curriculum Vitae) — біографія

peccadillo — грішок, незначна похибка

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