Then I think it would depend on how practical the education was…but rarely does anyone need more education and I bet you could get “in” somewhere in the time it would take to do the studies. Don’t just think agency, lots of brands have pretty sophisticated in-house teams, you could start somewhere like that and keep looking for the agency gig you wanted.

I did a BA Coms at 32, got my first agency job as a writer (degree didn’t really matter), was CD after about 6 years, then moved to Europe to do narrative and strategy for a big brand. No big title but I get to drive ideas which is all I ever wanted.

You’re probably in a good spot at 26! Just knock on every door, meet everyone, then follow up consistently but not annoyingly, just get them to like you.