I am a soon to be graduated b-school student with a specialism in marketing. I also read lot of stuff like literature and books on advertising, branding, etc.

Like pretty much any organization, creative agency have ‘non-design’ jobs too such as account, strategy, even finance and HR. I have so much declines from agencies due not having a portfolio with visuals, visuals that graduates in art academies and those from advertising and multimedia design do have. So, how does one enter the ‘creative realm’ of agencies that are in branding and digital media for instance? Would you recommend me to learn graphic design anyway, just for the sake of having a portfolio?

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Jay’s Answer: If you don’t have visuals, create them. Volunteer your skills for local non-profits. Also, create marketing pieces for companies that haven’t hired you – to show off what you could do (but make sure it’s clear they were self-initiated samples).