The Secret Marketer has an exhausting week

I am flat out at the moment and the last thing I need is a diary full of agency Christmas parties. Call me Scrooge, but gone are the days when I could pack in back-to-back festive fun while creating the illusion of staying on top of the day job. I must be getting old or maybe I have grown up. Maybe both.

Either way, my marketing life is nowhere near as much fun as when I was a Duracell bunny-powered assistant brand manager. Way back then, I would never turn down any form of agency sponsored festive fun, frightened that I might be missing out or damaging my career prospects by not putting in an appearance.

Looking back, the agencies were incredibly generous and their hospitality was the closest thing I ever got to the high life when I was in my early 20s.

Indeed, I remember my flatmates who were training in law, accountancy and other more serious pursuits, were constantly jealous and often bemused by my sponsored social life. Anyway, enough nostalgia for one column. I really must get out more.

“My flatmates were jealous and bemused by my sponsored social life”

On the subject of assistant brand managers, I am on the look-out for one at the moment and have spent an inordinate amount of time this week doing first round interviews. It is completely knackering. All the decent candidates already have a job and understandably are only available for interview at the start or end of day.

My alarm clock has rarely been troubled this early as I put in some serious shifts during the coldest week of the year – so far. I do hope that Santa brings me a digital radio alarm clock for Christmas as the current model has been with me since I myself was an ABM. Sadly, it does not qualify as vintage retro cool.

Still, what a joy it has been waking up at 6am this week to live commentary of the Ashes. I do hope that there are some Aussie applicants for my ABM role because this will make the interview process so much more fun. I shall have to sneak those comments in as I meet and greet the candidates in reception, as there will be a formal reprimand from my politically correct HR colleague if I am not careful.

So finally this week, football isn’t coming home. Bah, humbug! Any budding young marketers boasting an internship working for FIFA in Zurich need not send me their CV. I’m sure that there will be plenty of opportunities for career enhancement in Russia.