#kb12faces
From intern to account director in 4 years — Regina Mekhnina
Regina Mekhnina came to "Kapibara" advertising agency seven years ago as an intern just graduated from the university. In a short 4 years period she became the Alpha group account director. In "KB-12" structure it is a junior management position - one of the company's top positions. We discussed in a short interview how she managed to succeed, why these years of work in the agency passed like one day and what a newcomer in advertising should pay attention to.
You started at "Kapibara" as an intern. What did you do at first?
When I came to the agency after getting a degree in advertising and marketing, I realized that "in the fields" everything is completely different from what we were taught at the university. Therefore, from the first days in the company, I tried to communicate with the team as much as possible, to help with everything in order to learn from the professionals.
And what's now in your responsibilities?
his question always gets me confused. In advertising every day is not the same: today we create a mockup, tomorrow - an ice cream, the day after tomorrow we're building up a 400 sq.m for an event. The projects are super different, probably that's why 7 years passed for me as one day.
Now my main task as a junior manager is communication with clients, monitoring the group's work processes, preparing and participating in huge and interesting tenders for the Alpha development. Together with the team leader Dmitry Stanchuk, we are trying to assemble a team of people who, just like us, will burn with enthusiasm about what we're doing.
What, in your opinion, helped you to become a junior manager of the group?
The recipe is really simple - work hard and learn how take responsibility for what you do. You must understand that a certain part of common work depends on you, otherwise you can't move forward.
Also, it's important to absorb new content. I don't mean to scroll Instagram constantly, though some accounts can be quite useful. There is no need to live only for work. It's better to be able to switch, relax and increase observation level, otherwise you may just burn out. A balance should be maintained: if you like to dance - go to dance after work, you love exhibitions - do not deny yourself this pleasure. It's cool to learn new things in life. Who knows, you may see an unremarkable showpiece and in a couple of years you'll have an idea about how to integrate it in a project.
When I came to the agency after getting a degree in advertising and marketing, I realized that "in the fields" everything is completely different from what we were taught at the university. Therefore, from the first days in the company, I tried to communicate with the team as much as possible, to help with everything in order to learn from the professionals.
And what's now in your responsibilities?
his question always gets me confused. In advertising every day is not the same: today we create a mockup, tomorrow - an ice cream, the day after tomorrow we're building up a 400 sq.m for an event. The projects are super different, probably that's why 7 years passed for me as one day.
Now my main task as a junior manager is communication with clients, monitoring the group's work processes, preparing and participating in huge and interesting tenders for the Alpha development. Together with the team leader Dmitry Stanchuk, we are trying to assemble a team of people who, just like us, will burn with enthusiasm about what we're doing.
What, in your opinion, helped you to become a junior manager of the group?
The recipe is really simple - work hard and learn how take responsibility for what you do. You must understand that a certain part of common work depends on you, otherwise you can't move forward.
Also, it's important to absorb new content. I don't mean to scroll Instagram constantly, though some accounts can be quite useful. There is no need to live only for work. It's better to be able to switch, relax and increase observation level, otherwise you may just burn out. A balance should be maintained: if you like to dance - go to dance after work, you love exhibitions - do not deny yourself this pleasure. It's cool to learn new things in life. Who knows, you may see an unremarkable showpiece and in a couple of years you'll have an idea about how to integrate it in a project.
What advice you'd give to beginners in advertising?
Work! :-) Ok, a couple more things.
First of all, before you ask for a big money for your work, show yourself. Now at job interviews I often hear from young guys: "I just graduated, don't know a lot, but I want a huge salary". It's great to be ambitious, but when I came to work, for the first 3 months I was just gaining experience and did not even think about what they would pay me for.
The second advice is to set yourself KPI as a goal and not be afraid to discuss with your manager your development prospects in order to know what you're aiming for.
And thirdly when you have a new task first work with it yourself, come up with several solutions, choose a better option and with this go to your manager.
What "KB-12" means to you?
Family, development, interest.
Work! :-) Ok, a couple more things.
First of all, before you ask for a big money for your work, show yourself. Now at job interviews I often hear from young guys: "I just graduated, don't know a lot, but I want a huge salary". It's great to be ambitious, but when I came to work, for the first 3 months I was just gaining experience and did not even think about what they would pay me for.
The second advice is to set yourself KPI as a goal and not be afraid to discuss with your manager your development prospects in order to know what you're aiming for.
And thirdly when you have a new task first work with it yourself, come up with several solutions, choose a better option and with this go to your manager.
What "KB-12" means to you?
Family, development, interest.