Standing out from the Adland crowd is tough

Liz Nottingham, chairman of the IPA People Management Group, HR director at Starcom MediaVest Group and country talent & transformation officer at VivaKi, on the importance of thinking diagonally…

Standing out from the crowd as an applicant in today’s job market is tough but standing out for a much coveted role in Adland is even tougher. Candidates must prove that they have the skills to manage the world’s biggest brands and that they have that extra edge, and recruiters must be able to recognise this talent.

This is why, two years on, the IPA’s Diagonal Thinking Self-Assessment is still a vital tool for prospective Adland candidates, recruiters and agencies.

Diagonal Thinking is a free online self assessment profile, which tests the hypothesis that the most successful individuals in Adland are both excellent linear and lateral thinkers – they think ‘diagonally’, and which has been designed to aid recruitment into the advertising and marketing services agency business.

Any prospective candidate who takes the psychometric self-assessment will gain a better understanding of their thinking style (ie linear, lateral, diagonal thinker), and as a result, will be able to identify their strengths and approach to work and see their skills and style in a different light. Once completed, they can then submit their test results, along with their CV to their prospective employer.

But it’s not just potential employees that benefit from the tool, recruiters will also find it extremely useful. Experience shows that an interview will only confirm whether or not they interviewed well and has as much predictive validity as selecting the first person you meet on the street. It will not tell the employer, unless they have a highly structured recruitment process, whether or not they can actually do the job.

Diagonal Thinking, however, gives real insight into thinking skills and styles. For example, if you want someone who can make and create links that others may not see, you need a diagonal thinker. Or, if you want someone to be good at the process you have in place and not reinvent it, you need a high linear thinker.

I show extremes to make a point but I must stress there is no right or wrong in terms of thinking styles. Humans are complex and the organisations and the cultures in which they operate require even more understanding. Diagonal Thinking can simply be a most insightful tool to help recruiters understand more about the people they have, to make sure that they are allocated to the right accounts, the right teams and the right roles. In this same vein, it can help with promotions and has been used successfully for self development.

Finally, it can also help identify the talent you want to attract. With ethnic minorities not well represented in the industry, Diagonal Thinking is a way to reveal hidden capability and open up a new pool of talent. Ultimately the success of the talent pool depends on a very mixed gene pool.

In the two years since launch, over 6,000 people have taken the Self-Assessment and I urge all potential candidates, recruiters and agencies to follow suit. At the end of the day, there is nothing to lose. It’s a no cost, low risk option and I promise you will learn something about yourself and the next person you meet who has completed it.

For more information about Diagonal Thinking and to access the tool, visit diagonalthinking.co.uk

The newly published Diagonal Thinking second year status report is available to purchase from the IPA website