Our 60-second interview with David Brent impressionist, Will Bower!

• October 07, 2014
• Author: Give A Grad A Go

 

Yesterday Give A Grad A Go had the pleasure of meeting Will Bower aka graduate job seeker extraordinaire and David Brent impressionist!

 

Will shot to fame last week when his video campaign to find a graduate job (inspired by The Office's main character, David Brent) went viral. Since then, Will's video has had over 10,000 views on YouTube, has been featured in The Daily Mail, The Metro and The Daily Star and was even posted about by Ricky Gervais himself!

 

We were so impressed by the success of Wills' campaign that we thought we'd invite him to GAGAGO HQ to ask him a few questions about his unconventional job hunting tactic, and to see if we could help him land his dream role.

 

Here's our 60-second interview with the man himself:

 

Hi Will! So first thing's first, where did the idea for your video come from?

 

Hi Give A Grad A Go! Well, I've been applying for graduate jobs since I left university this summer, only to hear nothing back. I knew I needed to do something a bit different. I usually struggle to brag about myself, and I knew that David Brent was a character who never has a problem bigging himself up, so I decided to take a leaf out of his book!

 

How many companies have approached you since the beginning of your campaign?

 

About 20 I think - which is brilliant! Not all of them were offering roles in sectors I'm interested in though - I'm mainly focused on getting into advertising or marketing.

 

And what attracts you to those areas in particular?

 

I love being creative, but I like the business side of things too. I like the idea of producing something unique, and using it to persuade people to do something or buy something.

 

What's your favourite advertising campaign at the moment?

 

It's not a very cool answer, but I really like the new Iceland adverts with Peter Andre. They're so bad they're good!

 

Who would be your dream company to work for?

 

Landing a job with any London-based advertising agency would be amazing. Top of my list would be AMV, who work with some of the world's biggest brands - like Walkers, Guiness and Snickers.

 

Do you think that graduates have it tough in 2014?

 

Yes definitely. There are so many of us coming out of university and not enough jobs for everyone. You can apply to tons of roles with tons of companies before hearing anything back.

 

There's been a flurry of grads in the news in the few last years who've resorted to PR stunts or campaigns to help them land their first job. Why do you think this is?

 

Because of the excess of grads vs the number of jobs available, it's getting trickier and trickier to land your first job. You can have the best grades from the best university, and can have done loads of extracurricular activities, but you need to go above and beyond to make yourself stand out from the crowd.

 

In regards to your campaign, have you had any negative feedback from potential employers?

 

I've had negative feedback, but not from employers. When Ricky Gervais shared the link on his facebook page, some of his die-hard Office fans left some pretty brutal comments - they weren't too impressed with my impersonation!

 

Finally, do you have any advice for grads who are thinking of launching a similar campaign?

 

Just do it! Don't think about it too much. If you've got a great idea, go with it!

 

Best of luck with your job hunt Will!

 

Thank you!

 

Find more career advice on our Graduate Blog - or search the latest jobs on our Graduate Jobs board!

• October 07, 2014
• Author: Give A Grad A Go