I Got Hired: Account Strategy Executive at Condé Nast

Posted on: 1 September 2022 by Richard Finch in Graduate stories

Millie-Anne Birt is a Class of 2021 Communication and Media graduate, currently working as an Account Strategy Executive at Condé Nast.

What is your current role?

I work for a Global Media Company called Condé Nast as an Account Strategy Executive. People may have heard of Condé Nast as they own many big magazine titles- Vogue, GQ, Glamour, Vanity Fair, Tatler, House & Garden, World of Interiors and WIRED.

I have just been promoted to an Account Strategy Executive, but I was hired originally as an Account Strategy Assistant. Both roles sit in the same team, however they consist of very different responsibilities.

During my time as an Account Strategy Assistant, I was given many different admin tasks, although I was also in charge of editorial tasks; e.g. writing the captions (copy) for the paid social posts across the different magazine titles. Paid social posts are the adverts that you’ll see on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc, from the Magazine’s account. Essentially, luxury brands would ask to advertise their new collection under the magazine’s name, I would then write the copy for the advert and liaise with editorial for approval.

Another responsibility of mine was to add print bookings to the system for the Style team. Print is, as it sounds, the printed copy of the magazine and the bookings that I added were for all of the advertising spaces that the luxury brands wanted to buy. So when you open a Vogue magazine, you will see the first two pages are normally filled with a big advert for a luxury brand- most of these will be booked to print by the Account Strategy Assistant. I also assisted all magazine titles with the creation of the promoted Instagram stories.

Other tasks that I had were more admin based- general administrative assistance to my team, organising meetings, collating the advertising guidelines for the magazines etc.

In my current role as an Account Strategy Executive, I will be making media plans and reporting on the success of certain advertising campaigns under the magazine titles. I will be working on the culture division with luxury car, watch and tech clients mainly. A media plan is essentially where I cost up what a client could get with their budget if they wanted to advertise on a magazine’s website.

How did how you find out about the role and what was the recruitment process like?

I absolutely love working for Condé Nast. Both the assistant role and my current role are extremely rewarding and the Account Strategy team are so supportive and helpful.

The recruitment process was very smooth- I saw the job being advertised on LinkedIn and applied on there. I was then contacted via email for an interview with my boss. I had a total of two interviews and then heard back quite swiftly. HR were really communicative which made everything less nerve-wracking.

What is your favourite part of the role, as well as your biggest challenge?

My favourite part of the role is definitely being able to work so closely with the magazines- having my writing used in the adverts for titles like Vogue has been a dream of mine since I was very young, it was my main goal. I started collecting copies of Vogue when I was about 5 years old, not because I wanted to read them, but more because I liked smelling the perfume samples. From there, I became fascinated with the industry and the magazine itself and started writing my own blog at the age of 15. I was then Deputy Editor for The Liverpool Tab at University, all with an end goal of working for somewhere like Vogue. So working closely with these brands is a real dream come true!

The biggest challenge I have found is different for both roles:

Account Strategy Assistant - The fast pace of print bookings around the time the September issue is launched. This is because many adverts need to be booked in and everyone feels the pressure of making sure it goes to plan- it is the biggest issue for many magazines as the most important brands begin to advertise their Autumn/Winter collections.

Account Strategy Executive - Learning about all of the different digital advertising spaces and making sure I use the best ones in the media plans- there are so many!

What are your 3 top tips for any other students or graduates?

My top three tips would be: 

  1. Do your research on all of the different magazines that Condé Nast own- each title has a different tone/branding- this dictates how their writing sounds, what their adverts look like etc.

  2. Emphasise your interest in the company- why would you love to work for Condé Nast? What interests you in the company and what skills can you bring to the role that will in turn benefit the company?

  3. I know it sounds obvious, but have a positive attitude throughout the recruitment process-it will really help with the interview if you can go in confident & happy, but also just be yourself and let them know what you can offer.