AboutPeter Gabany Expertise Strategic planning:
Objective based advertising, Ad creative, Writing, Photography - buying and making, Illustration - buying, Print, Outdoor, Event, Media, Media Planning, Broadcast, How to select an agency, What the client must provide, Pitching a client / being pitched
Experience Over 25 years in the business - 22 years operating an agency. Creative direction and agency management.
Question Hi i was wandering if i could possibly send you my cover letter, which i want to send to advertising agencies with the view to becoming an account planner? thankyou very much, Melissa
Answer Melissa,
RE: Applying to work at an ad agency.
I have no problem looking at a cover letter but to all people asking questions through All Experts it is difficult at best to know so little about your objectives and the subtle details, such as location, type of firm/business that you are interested in etc. Please be thorough.
Further to this we receive on average 4 resume's / request for employment per week (and we are a small company). Some people believe that the cover letter and resume should be short and cover the fine points. Others believe that there should be all pertinent information. However we know both by experience and witness that the ones that get read are not cover letters, not resumes at first glance. We get like I said about 200 job requests per year - I remember about 4 or 5 of them.
The ones that I remember are simple - they break through. They position the person looking for the job. I have had one cover letter that I could not put down. It was exciting to read. This person lived for adventure, wanted to experience the most in life and led me through his journey of jumping out of a plane. It all fit on one page. The writing style and pace was such that you live every moment of his journey. It was witty and enthusiastic and didn't really directly get to the question - are you hiring.
What his letter did do was get him an interview and as it turned out he got an interview with the roughly 15 companies he sent it to. He eventually landed his plum job and has remained in contact ever since. In his interview he drew upon the story and used it to discuss his journey towards working with us. It was brilliant. He drew similarities of he and I both stepping through the door together not knowing how it would feel to free fall with one another and again drew the parallel back to the business - we're not certain how we will fall together but we won't know until we step through that door together.
I have several other examples, all more than a simple letter but each one of the presentations positioned the individual as someone I had to meet. And meet we did.
Make it relevant and make it interesting - we are looking for creative people in every sector of our business and get off your email asses and get out to see people - ad agencies, design agencies, marketing companies. We all need informed and creative workers - demonstrate what you can do for one another.
