Career cues

Career Cues are brought to you by The Creative Group as part of INitiative, a program delivering inspiration, advice and insights to help in-house design teams thrive.

Take Your Lunch Break

It’s easy for in-house professionals to become glued to their desks, but new research from TCG suggests taking a lunch break can nourish your mind as much as your body. More than four in 10 (44 percent) advertising and marketing executives interviewed said leaving the office during their lunch break makes them more productive. Further, when asked to describe the best activity for stimulating creative thinking at work, workers cited “stepping away from your desk,” second only to brainstorming with colleagues.

In-House Trends

There's never been a better time for creative professionals who work in-house. New research from TCG and AIGA indicates that in-house teams will expand and exert more influence on creative efforts in the coming years. For more information on the inner workings of corporate design departments and trends in-house creative professional can take advantage of in the coming years, download our guide, 5 Trends Every In-House Designer Should Know.

Portfolio Pitfalls

All style and no substance is the number-one critique voiced by advertising and marketing executives about creative portfolios, according to a survey by TCG. Nearly one-third (32 percent) of executives interviewed said the biggest misstep creative professionals make is including samples that don’t show value provided to the company. View our guide, Creating and Presenting a Powerful Portfolio, for tips on building a strong digital and hard-copy portfolio.

Money Matters

Think you should be making more for your efforts? Find out what your skills are worth in the TCG 2013 Salary Guide containing average starting salaries for more than 100 design and production, interactive, advertising and marketing, and public relations positions. Visit TCG's Salary Center to use our online salary calculator to compute local salaries.

About the author

The Creative Group specializes in placing a range of highly skilled interactive, design and marketing professionals with a variety of firms on a project and full-time basis. More information, including online job-hunting services, candidate portfolios and TCG’s award-winning career magazine, can be found at creativegroup.com.