Wednesday night, I attended Brian Keenan’s presentation titled “Why Companies Won’t Hire You – Building and Proving Your Creative Skillset.” Keenan currently works for Ketchum Inc., managing three creative engines – most notably, Mindfire. Mindfire is “Ketchum’s crowdsourcing site” which provides college students to interact with corporations and voice their opinions on the site. Mindfire, the 2012 PR Product of the Year, embodies Keenan’s overall purpose of his presentation: creativity. Keenan spoke specifically on three “main buckets” of getting hired: general expectations, myths about hiring, and steps to show creativity.
While Keenan covered several steps about the job application and hiring process, he presented his material in a unique and creative way, driving home his overall message of the effectiveness of creativity. Keenan included videos from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, images, and humorous graphics as he moved through subject matter like relevant resumes, the necessity of honesty during interviews, and common misperceptions of the hiring process. Much of Keenan’s advice was very helpful despite the fact that it was geared toward an audience of juniors and seniors.
The second half of Keenan’s presentation, however, was applicable and valuable to anyone in the communications field. Keenan advocated using passion and creativity with a purpose. He provided several examples, the first being a woman who photographs her dog in creative costumes. Keenan demonstrated that this woman’s creativity in her personal life “proves her passion” while also “showcasing this passion and skill to potential clients.” Creativity is an ambiguous term in today’s world. Keenan termed it as a “unicorn in business.” He elaborated that companies “don’t know what it is, but know they need to have it.” This near expectation in business, especially communications, gave weight and value to Keenan’s advice. Keenan essentially outlined three necessities to improve creativity: a purpose, an inner passion, and the Laura Foti-approach of trying a multitude of activities while also mastering a specific one (or as Keenan called it “swim shallow, dive deep”).
Keenan’s presentation was very different to the others I have attended. However, I feel I truly took away a lot from his story since it is very applicable to all students preparing for a successful career. Moreover, Keenan shared the fact that anybody can easily be “a creative,” even if they don’t currently think of themselves as one.