The Contingency Plan

Smoke and Mirrors

As part of the London internship at work, we were individually interviewed by, and had to present to a panel of three judges. They included a psychologist and two communication directors that work for some of the the largest and most successful companies in Australia.

The judges were briefed to be harsh. One of them was particularly arrogant and intimidating and would check his mobile phone messages, walk around the room, play with the display cabinets and stop and ask you questions while you were presenting. As you can see, the aim of the experience was to see how we each reacted under pressure, which I think is fair enough as they were offering a free, all expenses paid trip overseas to work with a great agency.

The room was also designed to be daunting: the judges were seated on a solid, wide table with a single chair in front of them in a very large and empty room.

After each person had presented, we were then put through a question and answer session. The questions had been carefully crafted by the management team and I was apparently asked the hardest questions out of the group (I was the last to appear before them).

One of the questions I was asked was whether it was ok to lie to the media. I answered that it's theoretically not ok to lie to the media, but that it's common to divert attention from an unwanted topic to another more desirable one. They then asked if I had lied to the media. I said that I hadn't, but that it was my job to portray my clients in a positive light so I had avoided answering certain questions by spinning them around to focus on something else.

I know it sounds like a fickle comparison, but on 'The Next Top Model' tonight, Tyra Banks was teaching her young disciples to cover their flaws to always make people think they're visually perfect. My first instinct was to think how purely draining this would be, but then it reminded me of the question I was asked during my interview and the similarities didn't seem so far apart.

Yes, I've been examining my line of work a lot lately. I'm unsure whether it's because the industry is so cut-throat and you have to literally watch every little thing you say or do and I don't know if I can be assed anymore, or whether it's because I'm so eager for a break.

On the contrary, there are many times I really get a buzz out of my job. I like how its creativity works in synergy with its strategy. I'm learning to come to grips with my competitiveness, working with very demanding clients who often don't understand what PR is, dealing with consistent negotiations and deadlines, and although I love the drive of working hard to achieve a tough goal, I often feel jaded and uninspired. Every client craves the big bang and wants you to do whatever it takes to get them that goal.

But within all of that smoke, glitter and corporate razzle dazzle, I feel like I'm loosing my edge and creativity.