Publicis Healthcare today announces that Amma Osei-Owusu and Jonathan Webb have won the right to be part of its unique agency experience initiative, The Lab: A Place for Bright Sparks. Over 250 candidates including non-graduates, apprentices, school and college leavers applied for the chance to join the initiative. 19 finalists then took part in a challenging assessment process, which helped raise money for Stand Up To Cancer.
A delighted Amma said, “What appealed to me about The Lab is that it recognises the potential of raw talent. For someone like me who doesn’t have the usual qualifications required for such an opportunity I was given the chance to demonstrate just what passion, an eagerness to learn and a determination to succeed can really achieve.”
“It was definitely a hard process but I loved every minute of it. I have an amazing opportunity to work with brilliant people and learn about the industry. I’m relishing the chance to get stuck in straight away,” added a thrilled Jonathan.
The Lab: A Place for Bright Sparks is designed to attract people with unconventional backgrounds into the healthcare agency world, making the entry criteria all about talent and not about qualifications. It will enable Amma and Jonathan to have a six-month paid experience working with the five healthcare agencies in the UK that make up Publicis Healthcare (Publicis LifeBrands Resolute, Real Science, Saatchi & Saatchi Health, Digitas Health LifeBrands and Discovery London). They will be paid the equivalent of our graduate entry-level salary and if successful will secure full-time roles with the agencies.
“We're very proud that the scheme, which is the first of its kind in the healthcare space, has uncovered this raw talent, regardless of their education, class or background,” said Shaheed Peera, PLBR Executive Creative Director EU.
Commenting on the recruitment process, Jennifer Gabrielle-Chapman, Publicis Healthcare’s UK Talent Acquisition Manager said, “To ensure we attracted the best talent we needed a fresh approach. We requested they didn’t send a CV and assessed the applicants on their core skills. They were put through their paces, in an innovative selection process using a specifically designed application portal followed by working on live creative briefs with Coppafeel! and finally taking part in speed-dating-style interviews.”
To help attract applicants to the scheme Publicis Healthcare partnered with The Ideas Foundation (www.ideasfoundation.org.uk), an organisation that seeks to increase diversity in the creative industries by identifying and nurturing creatively gifted young people 13-19 who are not thriving in the education system.
