You think dating is tough... *face palm* Finding a great copywriter or art director to work with is even harder.
Your partner is your work wife/husband. You sit together, work, eat, whine, win, lose and cry together. You bring all your awesome copywriting skills to the table and they bring all these amazing art direction skills and together you can do anything.
You need someone to bounce ideas off of. To help you push things further. To lay stuff out or write headlines. To go to meetings when you're busy/sick and to stand up with you when you're presenting and nervous.
Having a great partner makes everything easier/better. EVERYTHING.
I'm always concerned about schools that don't have people work with partners. When you get to an agency you're most likely going to have to. Maybe not the same person all the time if you're on a rotating team (I worked with 5 to 8 different ADs at one place, which made me feel promiscuous at times but I mostly loved it because I have commitment issues.) but you're almost always going to be working with at least one other person. So start looking for the right now now.
Plus, if you find the right person in school, you can interview for jobs with them, which makes the process easier for everyone.
Tips on Partner Picking
Shop around. If you can, partner up with different people and see who you click well with. You need to be on the same wavelength personally and professionally. Especially professionally. I've worked with people who have great personalities but were mediocre art directors. There are also people who are great copywriters but are assholes. Find the right balance for you.
Know your style. What is your work ethic like? Do you prefer working at night or in the morning? Do you prefer concepting on your own first or brainstorming together off the bat? Knowing how you like to work and what your needs and expectations are will help you find someone that matches.
Pick someone better than you. Choose someone whose work you admire and respect. It will make you work harder and be better.
Set goals. Talk about your goals - whether it's just for this project or for the long term. You don't want to approach something thinking you want to enter this for awards while your partner is thinking they want to get this done so they can go nap. Have a few conversations to make sure you're on the same page before going into anything.
Hang out. Spend some non-working time with your partner. You're going to be with them for majority of your day and you're going to share a lot of frustration, disappointment and late nights together so make sure this is someone you somewhat enjoy being around.
Be good. If you're a good writer/art director, people will want to work with you. If you have a great attitude and even better work ethic, folks will be knocking on your door.
