Jump Start program is an initiative of The Communications Council WA, and is in its seventh year of nurturing talent. Over 130 graduates have successfully started their careers in the local industry thanks to the highly-popular program.
Following 2018’s intake, 12 grads have now started in the industry.
The 2018 top graduate was Thomas Scott, who is now employed by The Brand Agency.
Thomas told us that he came across the Jump Start program through LinkedIn, where a friend commented on a post about the program.
“I was incredibly lucky to have seen the post a couple of days before the application deadline as I was looking for graduate roles in the communications industry at the time,” he said.
Looking back, Thomas says his favourite components of the program were the advice and the people.
“I had little knowledge of what the communications industry actually consisted of prior to joining the program,” he said.
“I loved going in to the separate agencies every week and going into detail about each of the respective departments’ roles in an agency and how they all merge to create the end products.
“These presentations also helped me understand what roles in an agency would compliment my strengths.”
Thomas isn’t the only Jump Start top student at The Brand Agency.
Colleague Darcy White took out the top honour back in 2013, and after 5 years at the agency, is packing his bags for London.
Darcy said Jump Start gave him a good early understanding of the industry landscape.
“You enter your first role having been inside all the major agencies so you have some grip on what is out there and where you fit within that. I knew how lucky I was to have landed at The Brand Agency so when I got here I threw absolutely everything at it,” he said.
Key Stats
Jump Start WA now has over 134 alumni
This year for the first time we had a 2012 Jump Start graduate be a mentor, Lucy Stoelwinder
Of the 20 who went through this year’s program 12 grads are now working in the industry.
About Jump Start WA
The program runs over 12 weeks, starting with application submissions and a ‘speed dating’ round, from which 20 people are selected for a 10 week program.
Each week, one of our member agencies hosts a session and provides a lecture on a specific discipline
The program concludes with a one day workshop, where graduates are divided into teams, mentored by an agency and answer a brief from a real client, all within a 6 hour period.
