Want to Work at Saatchi & Saatchi? Meet Creative Recruiter Kathryn Loving
INTERVIEW BY TREY ALSTON / CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Kathryn Loving is a creative recruiter at Saatchi & Saatchi. But like many in this profession, Loving didn’t know that recruiting talent was a career option until after she accrued a number of different experiences in the creative industry.
Loving grew up in Memphis, TN in a creative family, first falling in love with art as a kid. It wasn’t until college that she dipped her toes into advertising and got a taste of what the agency life was like, joining an account services department after graduation.
This would be short-lived because the creative life called to her. She adventured to Los Angeles with family and friends and pursued acting and wardrobe styling—all while working the front desk at multiple restaurants. Six years later, a friend who knew the scope of Loving’s experiences recommended that she become a recruiting coordinator at 72andSunny for non-creative roles. She accepted it and instantly fell in love.
Loving next got an offer to join Saatchi & Saatchi as a junior creative recruiter—more aligned with her background in creative pursuits. A year later, she was promoted to her current position and is now an integral part of shaping the agency’s roster of talent. She’s scoured thousands of portfolios, set countless interviews, and discovered what makes her and other recruiters most likely to remember great creative work.
Here’s Loving on her favorite part of being a recruiter, how many portfolios she checks out a day, and how to capture her attention as a creative.
What is your favorite part of being a recruiter?
I truly love connecting with people. I like that part. It's been such a hard year or two years for a lot of people. 2020 was so unexpected and I tend to work with the more junior roles, which I really like. I like working with the juniors and the interns. I remember that part of my life so well; there's so much uncertainty already, without piling on the pandemic year that we had on top of it. So I really like to provide as much hope as I can for other people. Connecting and lifting other people up. I think that's so important and probably my favorite part.
What’s a day-in-the-life like for you as a recruiter?
Lately, it's just been crazy busy. We have certain open roles that we work on. So right now I’m focused on a junior copywriter role and a copywriter role. Again, I tend to work on the junior roles but I'm helping my boss with the more senior roles too. So you just kind of go with roles you're working.
It's so much about discovering and connecting with people, seeing if they're interested in the roles that you have to offer, and then getting on phone calls. It’s really just all about connection.
I can imagine you probably get inundated with a bunch of portfolios each day. So how many would you say that you check out on a daily basis?
A lot. This morning, I've already looked at over a hundred portfolios. Normally things are on a smooth level. I will say right now, not just at Saatchi & Saatchi but for recruiters at other agencies, we're all in the same place. I think with the year we had last year, we all took a pause. Now, it's full force. Guns are blazing. Roles are open. Companies are seeing that we can do this thing remotely and still produce good work. We're still seeing we can make things happen in this time that we're in. So there's just an abundance of openings right now. It's the opposite of last year when things were on a freeze and more hesitant.
“There’s just an abundance of openings right now. It’s the opposite of last year when things were on a freeze and more hesitant.”
This morning I was in a meeting all day with my boss and another junior recruiter just going through Dallas, Los Angeles, Denver, and Detroit and all the agencies there, making a list of agencies. We’re going through books and people who might be a good fit. We have a database where people submit to open roles and we’re reviewing those resumes as well.
What are some common qualities to some of the best portfolios that you see?
It's so simple, really. I think sometimes people get so overwhelmed with the idea their book has to be this unique, crazy creative thing that really stands out. But it's really simplicity that speaks to us the most. We love a clean book. We love when you're direct and you know what you want. Sometimes people will apply for a job, say a copywriter, but they've been mostly doing art direction and they don't have any copywriting experience. Or they have their foot in different areas. When you're reaching out to someone, know what you want. Know that you have those skills that would fit that particular job.
A good, simple book is really about showcasing your work. It doesn't have to be a ton of work. Put your best first because when I show the books to our hiring managers, our creative directors, they're so busy that they usually just look at the first few pieces.
We like to see how your mind works with the work that you do and the kind of stories that you tell. It’s funny, my experiences as an actor translated to this. My teacher was always saying that "what sets you apart is bringing yourself to the work." And I think that's the same with a portfolio. What sets you apart from someone else is bringing yourself into the work. And you can kind of see that. You can kind of see people's unique personalities.
So it's just being clean. Showing what you want. Knowing what you want. And just telling a story.
So what would you think that most people don't know about being a recruiter?
To be honest, going into recruitment, I didn't even know this job existed. I didn't know that I could even have a job where I worked for a company and got to look at portfolios all day and connect with people. Recruiting is a really fun job. It's busy and it can be intense. I would've never even considered myself an extrovert. I can be shy, but these jobs that I've had have forced me out of my shell.
If you like connecting with people and have a heart for creative work, recruiting is a great job to look into. And it's a hot job right now since companies are hiring. People are building up their teams.
“If you like connecting with people and have a heart for creative work, recruiting is a great job to look into. And it’s a hot job right now since companies are hiring.”
What are some red flags that creatives can address about their portfolios?
I would say red flags are when you get a book that's just all over the place. Where you can't tell exactly what direction the person wants to go in. Again, it's when you're looking for a certain role and people submit to you and they don't have the background for that role. They're not writers when they're submitting for a writer role and they're sending me strategy books. That is probably not going to be a fit.
It’s a specific kind of writing for advertising. So it's different than maybe if you have a travel blog. There is training that goes into it. If it's a job or career you're looking to move into, there are definitely a lot of online courses you can take. Not everyone has the funds or the means to go to a portfolio school, but there are a lot of opportunities online. General Assembly is a place that you can take courses to learn things. There's The Book Shop in LA that has courses to learn different areas of advertising and to see which one appeals to you.
What would you say overall makes someone a great fit for Saatchi & Saatchi?
I think it's just a desire to put out good work. When our creative directors look for people, they don't necessarily go for someone who's looking to win a bunch of awards. That stuff is great and that's wonderful when it happens because it feels good to be rewarded for the hard work you do.
But a great fit for Saatchi & Saatchi is someone who is eager, hungry, and just wants to come in and do good work. Someone who’s excited about collaborating with a team and creating something that reaches out to people. That moves people. The whole goal, again, is that storytelling thing, making someone feel something with your work. We’re always looking for someone who wants to come in and put something really beautiful together.