It took me a number of years (and an even larger number of interviews) to get my first full-time job as an advertising copywriter.

And so far, Interview #87 wasn’t going all that well.

I sat in the office of a senior copywriter at Ketchum Communications, as he thumbed through my samples, most of which were ads for small retail stores and press releases from Atari. He didn’t say much, which usually didn’t bode well.

But just as he was zipping up my portfolio case, and starting to say “I’ve got your resume, and we’ll be in touch if…,” the creative director burst into his office.

“We just got the Pacific Bell account! What are we going to do?”

And in one of those truly career-defining moments, the senior copywriter said “Well, you could take a look at Victor’s book.”

I ended up starting work there the following Monday.