TCC Insights

Job Stress

By Shannon Holfoth, Account Coordinator

CareerCast recently released their list of the 10 most stressful jobs of 2011.  Surprising to many, including some here at Travers Collins, public relations officers and advertising executives ranked at No. 2 and No. 6, respectively.

To compile this list, CareerCast weighed several factors, including work environment, income, future outlook, travel, deadlines, competitiveness and public pressure. It ranked 200 professions based on how these demands affected the work day.

Now sure, PR and advertising pros have to adapt to evolving mediums, juggle several projects simultaneously, maintain positive reputations and effective brands for their company or clients, deal with crises, handle tight deadlines and sometimes put in long hours.

Long Life in a Small Town

By Bill Collins, Principal

I’ve long lived by the philosophy that you should never burn bridges, especially in a place like Buffalo where everyone knows everyone.  I lost count a long time ago of the number of former students, interns and informational interview candidates who’ve sat in front of me at the age of 21 and who 10 years later were holding elected office or on a client team making a decision about what agency to select.

I remember the people who were nice to me when I was searching for my first job and so I’ve always made it a point to give back to the generations following me. As my late mentor, Dave Levy, used to counsel me, it doesn’t cost anything to be nice.  To which I add, this business is hard enough without having to run up against people you’ve alienated.  We’re not a perfect agency by any stretch but I do think we excel at the human relations side of things—we make it a point to hire individuals who are decent, caring and plain nice and as a result, with the cast we’ve assembled, it’s pretty easy to live the golden rule every day.  In fact, it’s expected at Travers Collins that everyone treats the other person, whether it’s a fellow Associate, a vendor or an intern applicant, the same way you’d like to be treated.  

Recently I was asked to review resumes of candidates for a good job with a prestigious company and on the list were at least three people whose pictures occupied my dartboard at one time or another in the last 10 years.  All of their cases were different and the details aren’t important now but the common denominator is that they were not pleasant to deal with, they were disingenuous and they didn’t treat our agency or our people with respect.  I’m sure they all had their reasons for acting or treating us the way they did but the bottom line is that they left a sour taste with me/us.

And there were a few candidates on the list who also had interacted with our agency along the way and with whom we had enjoyed a nice relationship.  They were courteous, and treated us respectfully and with empathy and understood that we were in business to make money, too, and so they were fair about everything.

It’s a long life in a small town.

Serving You Well

By Jeff Bucki, Senior Copywriter

I was speaking the other day with one of my colleagues about how we both had been servers prior to getting into the marketing communication business. Thinking about it further, it occurred to me that a number of my co-workers had been servers back in the day. It made me realize that the lessons learned waiting tables were quite helpful in our line of work. Which makes sense, as they’re both service industries.

Growing up, I had a lot of jobs that really didn’t suit me, such as hardware and home improvement stores, lumber yards and so on. Driving a forklift was pretty cool, but for the most part, these jobs didn’t really give me a chance to put my people skills and quick wit to work.

Stepping Up to the Lectern

   By Jeff Bucki, Copywriter


Editor's Note:  TC&C's own Jeff Bucki was featured in the "My View" column in The Buffalo News on June 12.  His column is re-posted below.

This spring, I’ve had the pleasure of teaching a public relations class at my alma mater of Fredonia State University. It was something I’ve always wanted to do, and I’m really glad I received the opportunity. As I expected, it has been a really unique and enjoyable experience.

There’s something really neat about being able to interact with and influence young people. I remember what it was like being in their shoes. For me, a lot it is sharing what I’ve learned along the way, what works and what doesn’t.

In my class, I have a mix of freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. I told my students the first week that I was going to give them the inside story on PR. If they were looking for theory, they could get that from the textbook. My goal was to give them the reality of today’s marketing communication world. It’s the real-world insight that adjunct professors bring to the table that serves as our point of difference.

Do You REALLY Want to Work Here?

By Cheryl Lickfeld, Chief Financial/Administrative Officer


We recently hired an Administrative Assistant at TC&C.  Of course, when I posted the position on the traverscollins.com website and The Buffalo News job finder website, I anticipated that we would have an overwhelming response, not only because of the job market, but because TC&C has a great reputation.  What I didn’t expect was over 200 resumes.  And believe me, it wasn’t hard to narrow down the resumes to a few for consideration of an interview.  For all you job seekers out there, a few words of wisdom on the fundamentals of submitting a resume and cover letter.