How to get a job in advertising? Auction your talents on eBay

Former Leeds Girls' High School pupil and ex-Big Brother contestant Amy Jackson and friend Hollie Belton have bravely put their names on the internet auction website in the hope of landing full-time jobs in the competitive world of London's creative advertising industry.

The self-titled "Conjoined Creatives" have already attracted 30 bids, with 40,100 the highest so far from a private bidder.

It may sound a lot of money but, as Amy has pointed out, it has to stretch to two salaries.

The Oxford University graduate, who has a first class degree in fine art, has recently been working for as little as 100 per week on placements with London ad agencies.

"We are not selling ourselves to be cleaners," she says firmly, "we are selling our creative minds. We are two minds and one team." After a year of placements and earning "a pittance", London-based Amy and Hollie are hopeful of landing jobs with a modest salary of about 20,000 each.

"We are feeling a lot more optimistic now," says Amy, an ambitious 24-year-old who once applied to replace Carol Vorderman on Countdown and reached a shortlist of five.

"There have been times when it was soul destroying and there just isn't an end to it. I think we do feel a bit more positive now.

"On average it takes someone six months to two years to break through in this industry and some never break through. It's not necessarily because they are not good enough, just there's only so long you can spend with no money."

And after living hand-to-mouth in a shared flat in Kilburn, north London, she says she has learned a little about living on the breadline.

But she became further disheartened with her situation when recently told more people were chasing creative advertising jobs than who applied to become a trainee astronaut. "There are about 25 people in the UK chasing each job. The statistics are pretty grim and it is probably going to get worse next year because of the recession. We want to feel like we belong somewhere," Amy says.

"I always thought things would be fine because everything else in life worked out fine. I thought people were exaggerating but it was exactly as they said – they were not exaggerating." The pair, who met around a year ago through mutual friends, are hopeful their current placement boss at agency 20:20 London, Peter Riley, will see the eBay ad and snap them up.

Hollie, 23, who is from Horncastle in Lincolnshire, said their placement ends this week and they have another one-month placement lined up from March. In spite of money being tight, however, Amy admitted she is preparing to jet off to India for a three-week break.

Her parents Alex and Jacky, back home in Scarcroft, Leeds are crossing their fingers the eBay job hunt will work out.

Mother Jacky, who runs a riding school near the family home, said: "Advertising place-ments don't pay them a lot and they have to work terribly long hours. It's slave labour I think. Amy is a bit like a whirlwind.

"She can work forever if it's something she wants to do."

For more information go to http://conjoinedcreatives.

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