Having spent a few months traveling last year through North America, I arrived in Vancouver as my final destination. After returning to Ireland, I just couldn’t get the place out of my head. Vancouver fascinated me with its diverse landscape and people. There’s such a wonderful atmosphere here, with its rugged mountains, magnificent beaches, attractive city, numerous outdoor activities with sun in the summer, snow in the winter and an unbelievable cafe culture.
I was very lucky to be offered a job before I left Ireland, at Cossette, one of Canada’s leading full-service agencies. All my interviews were conducted on Skype, necessitating me having to tear myself away from the Ping Pong party to get home for an 11pm Skype call, which thankfully paid off!
I’ve been with Cossette for over 4 months now. What initially attracted me to such a diversely creative and forward thinking agency has proved true, and so much more. They were incredibly welcoming and enthusiastic when I arrived in Vancouver, they even had me along to their annual Summer Party before I had actually started working with them.
In Cossette I’m continuing to learn and grow in my career, be inspired by an incredibly varied and talented group of people and be challenged with time zones and the vastness of a country which we’re just not used to on our little (yet mighty) island.
There are some differences between the advertising industry here in Canada to Ireland. With such a multitude of cultures, we need to think about not just English, but French, Chinese, Spanish etc. We also need to think of scale i.e. posting a letter today probably won’t make it to Toronto tomorrow, or the next day!
They do encourage a strong work-life balance, contrary to what could be the perception of the North American way of life. In summer, the beaches are only a bike ride away and in the winter, the slopes are lit up until 11pm and everyone is encouraged to take full advantage of such wonderful facilities on their doorstep. Canadians are also on par with the Irish in the way we celebrate our wins and learn from our losses. But mostly the wins 😉
And, a personal favourite of mine- “Sick Kids VS Undeniable”. Raising awareness and asking people to “Fund the fight” against children’s illnesses.
