In the past few months, we’ve been going on and on about which kind of PPC you should go for, which qualities you should look for in a PPC, the wide variety of work relationships you can have with them, and even the payment arrangements you’d like to use. Every time, we’ve dove into all there was to know about the different aspects of what comes along with working with certain kinds of people, in certain kinds of scenarios, and through different types of contracts. Hopefully, all of this diving has helped you drench yourself in the knowledge we’ve gotten from many years in the field. 

So what does this have to do with anything? Well, basically, all these articles that we’ve shared with you come from the experience and lessons learned from all the time we’ve been in this industry. The PPC and the advertising world are changing everyday, but that doesn’t mean that having a couple of years in your pocket doesn’t put you in a privileged position. And this is not just a PPC thing, it happens in every industry, and even more in the ones that aren’t changing all the time (for example, they don’t change the law everyday, so lawyers don’t have to check to see that the same rules apply every week). So what happens when you are a newborn PPC expert looking for a job but have no experience, and every single job offer out there asks for years and years of similar job positions? 

And this is what brings us to today’s subject: Should we be the first job experience of a PPC? Well, here’s the full analysis of the situation, and why should you and why shouldn’t you do it. So let’s jump right in, shall we? 

Hiring for potential 

In general, when we are posting a job offer to find a new PPC, we have a pre-created list of requirements that include qualifications, aptitudes, and experience. So basically this creates a scenario where you’ll only get to know people who totally fulfill them, and may miss out on some diamonds in the rough. If you keep the experience requirement out of the table, then you may receive a much wider variety of possible candidates, and some of them might even surprise you. 

In this case, you’ll be able to meet a lot more possible PPCs and see not only the awesome achievements that these 10-years-experienced candidates have accomplished but also the incredible potential that PPC experts who have just started their paths in the industry can show. And hey, when you first were a new PPC in the field, weren’t you desperate to have someone -anyone- acknowledging all that you still hadn’t done, but could? 

Someone ready to get drenched in knowledge 

More often than not, when we hire PPCs that have been in the industry for many years, they come with their “backpacks” full of things they’ve learned and acquired throughout the years, and that’s a perfectly valid backpack to carry around. All our personalities are built upon experiences, and we are molded and evolved according to the people we meet, the places we visit, and of course, the jobs we have. So sometimes hiring someone who has so much to carry around can be a bit of a challenge because you may have to erase some of the previous knowledge in order to teach them your company’s way. However, hiring someone who has had little to no experience in the field does not bring along this challenge because they are a white linen to paint on. They don’t have any preconceptions, or habits, or even prejudices, and they are ready to learn everything there is to learn about your company’s way. 

A fun tangent to bring here is what we discussed when we talked about hiring a PPC that was a good fit for you: Skills can be taught, attitude can not. Maybe you have an awesome PPC who has worked all these many years in a big advertising company and knows every tiny detail about the industry, but he’s intolerable and won’t shut up about how great he is and how much he knows. On the other hand, you may have a rather quiet or fun young PPC that has just graduated, and still knows nothing about the industry, but that you have a feeling that will be an incredible addition to your company. So, when all is said and all is done (I hope some of you continued that Hamilton’s quote), you can teach the inexperienced PPC how to properly launch a campaign, or how to do it more efficiently. But you can’t teach the more experienced one to just be quiet and nice to the rest of the team.

Do you have the time that they’ll require?

So the bottom line here is quite simple: Inexperienced PPCs can be a great addition to your workplace, and to your company, but they will definitely require more time than an experienced PPC who probably already knows how to get things done. And the thing is the time invested in the inexperienced PPCs will probably pay off, when you turn them into an awesome fit for your company that is not just great at launching Ad campaigns but also has an awesome relationship with your whole team, but you may not always have that availability. 

Taking aside the fact that experienced PPCs may cost more, time is a big investment to do in employees. Basically, any time we choose to spend teaching them to do stuff or supervising what they do is the time taken away from something else and is perfectly valid to not want to take time from anything else. So, before making the decision, you may have to figure out how much time you’d like to dedicate to being side by side with your new PPC. 

So, to conclude, I believe inexperienced PPCs, if you have the time for them, can be incredible additions to companies. They are eager to learn everything, they are curious and fresh, and will be ready to take on any challenge that you propose. And since we’ve all been there at some point, why not jump right in and give a newborn PPC a shot (and, so we don’t lose the Hamilton’s theme that today has, hope they don’t throw them away)?