Vogue Magazine global talent casting director Ignacio Murillo shared insight on competing in a competitive advertising job market at the University of Mississippi Ad Club on Friday, Nov. 14 via Zoom in Farley Hall.
Murillo highlighted his career path and gave students advice on how to get involved and stand out in a competitive job market.
Kirsten Arnsdorff, a senior integrated marketing communications major and vice president of UM Ad Club from Pass Christian, Miss., led the conversation, asking Murillo questions about his career, experience and advice for students in attendance.
Murillo graduated from UM with a journalism degree in 2014. He advised students to get involved during their university career, stating he wished he had become more involved earlier in his educational career on top of working with the sports desk at The Daily Mississippian.
For students looking to stand out in the hiring process, Murillo listed a few key pieces of advice.
He expressed the importance of internships and gaining experience you are able to showcase in portfolios to show hiring managers what assets you bring to the table.
“Be clear and showcase to the company why you’d be the right fit for that internship,” Murillo said. “If you have the opportunity to work in more than one department, I suggest doing that.”
He also emphasized the importance of researching the history of the industry you are trying to work in. For the fashion industry, he recommended students have a complete understanding of the industry’s “key players” from the past and present.
“Overly educating yourself is really important,” Murillo said.
Murillo advised attendees to reach out directly to the person hiring individuals for positions, not just submitting an application.
“Wherever you want to work, make sure you’re actually contacting the person who is hiring,” Murillo said. “If you have your one shot at one email, make an impact there.”
Murillo suggested trying unconventional routes, detailing his experience working with Harper’s Bazaar to illustrate this point.
“I started to tweet images that I would photoshop of myself and Harper’s then-executive director/special projects editor. I found out that she was a big Game of Thrones fan, so I photoshopped her as Khaleesi on the throne and myself as her servant. That got her attention and she tweeted me back asking me to call her office,” Murillo told Oxford Magazine when asked how he first landed his internship with Harper’s Bazaar.
Murillo emphasized the importance of individuality and being open to new experiences in pursuing career success.
“Make sure you’re the best at knowing every angle to differentiate yourself. Make sure that you are getting work experience and also try something different. You’re the one who has to be happy with the rest of your life,” Murillo said. “Sometimes you have to follow what you want to do.”
The event concluded with a question-and-answer session for attendees to ask Murillo about career advice, the fashion industry and more.
Murillo urged students to always be themselves when applying to any job. He explained that he applied four times for the position he is in now before actually being hired, and the only difference on his fourth try was that he answered questions honestly and not how he thought they wanted them to be answered.
“When they’re calling you to interview, they know you can do the job, but it’s how you can fit in with the publication,” Murillo said.
For Arnsdorff, Murillo’s emphasis on being true to yourself is what is most inspiring.
“I think the most important thing (that Murillo said) is in any type of marketing or (integrated marketing communications) or journalism field, be yourself in every situation no matter what,” Arnsdorff said. “You don’t have to make yourself into a person that is exactly what you think an employer or a person would like you to be. You can be yourself and still show off your skills and your ambition and be able to get the job of your dreams.”
Arnsdorff first spoke with Murillo in one of her classes and wanted to have someone from the fashion industry talk to interested students.
“For Ad Club every semester, it’s the (executive’s) role to invite professionals from the advertising and marketing fields to come and speak to our department, or just Ad Club in general,” Arnsdorff said. “One of our ideas was to get someone from the fashion industry because we wanted to have more of an emphasis with IMC and journalism-related fields.”
Mary Cate Crum, a junior integrated marketing communications major from Dallas, attended the event.
“My biggest takeaway was to know more than everyone else about what you want to do, like always know the history of it and pay attention to everything that’s happening in the world,” Crum said. “I had no idea that he went to Ole Miss. I was shocked about that, so that was kind of encouraging because sometimes I feel like being in Mississippi doesn’t set me up for as much success as going to (New York University). That was really encouraging.”
