Most of us are about to enter the regular job market again. Applying for jobs often include a Cover Letter to follow your CV, but what is the perfect Cover Letter? And should creative wizards and strategic masterminds even write one?
Well I try to stay off cover letters and just get the other way around to meet the person up front. Sending CV and give them a call or give them a call send in a cv.
But it's been a while since I did some job search. And I never been out in a down turn like this. May the best (wo)man win!
I agree. It is what you can do, that is of relevance and should be considered as the biggest part of the value you give. Like most of us I am also a big proponent of Entrepreneurship and strength in sourcing and consultants. This is truly something the marketing industry is blessed by.
I also belife, this is a big reason why marketing can keep on beeing one of the most Innovative and challenging industries in the world. We simply need more independent brain capacity to stand on their own feets and keep the competition kicking and alive.
I am pleased to hear your arguments Matthieu. Keep up the good work!
"Short and sweet" said Ola. He's right. And since the new standard is Twitter, forget your elevator pitch and let us hear your Twitter-pitch, only 140 characters are allowed! So, are you able of expressing with eloquence who you are, what you're passionate for, who you want to be and what you can do for the Company, all in 140 characters? Come on! Post it here.
mmh.. I'm not sure i'm following you in the other half of your post... if i understand what you wrote in the first half, you mean that the content of an application letter should be expressing your own ambitions and goals, in a totally transparent approach... OK, fine. That's of course very true, it totally HAS to be there in your letter. It's a part of the conversation you're going to have with you potential employer. But only expressing your personal goals won't get you any attention.
What will make the difference is what you will answer when asked "what are you best at?", and how you can prove it. So it's even better if you managed to draw the employer's attention by already showing that at the very first step of your contact, with a creative/surprising/original/relevant way to promote yourself.
Another thing: a vast majority of the large networks (including Aegis) are firing people. That means there are lots of experimented professionals competing with us for a handfull of jobs. Especially when it comes to strategists, that no one is recruiting in Sweden. Things are a little better for creatives, but still far from looking good. That's why i really believe in starting your own business and finding your own way to clients. It's of course risky and extremely demanding, but I think the time is right for that. And there are not that many alternatives, as long as independant agencies or their clients don't understand the importance of employing a strategist, and as long as large networks are struggling with reducing their costs.
Just to pick up some of your points Matthieu. It is not always about what you have done so far. This is what your CV is for, all the facts. Instead you should focus on the matchmaking process. I mean you want something, right. And in this perticular case it is a job. And in return you should also give something back, a value. And the value you give to your new employer is the objectives. Today big companies have to find ways to messure everyone, including your self. Because then you will become a very useful and more tailored resource for the company. So no hasseling and be transperant, this is what makes a good company realize the value of its own employees. And in the long run, Sorry to be a bit deep here. Many-to-Many marketing smart. Your employees are also your tone of voice, and becomes advocates to your brand. And we all knows what that means. Hey this is Psykological and a very sensitive subject for all of us to discuss in this kind of forum. But also maybe the most important subject in times like these for every one of us to understand! This is a huge part of the new economy within companies and marketing strategies.
I agree with Patrik, good research will always give you an advantage. Or, as Pontus says, "know your enemy".
But the most important point is: what is it you're selling? no, i mean, really... WHAT are you SELLING? Since we all have more or less experience in advertising, we should all know by now that it is "what" you're selling that shapes "how" you're selling it.
Let's take my case, an interesting one indeed :-) After our last schoolyear, i started by selling me as: "french, 30-something potential EMPLOYEE, recently graduated from BerghsSoC-Farfars program, with outstanding strategic skills, broad background, deep understanding for creative processes and passion for advertising". I e-mailed about 30 companies that i liked or that i had contacts with. My text was brief, very direct, with links to a funny video, my CV and my ugly and boring portfolio-website. I also made sure i was registered on all the relevant recruitment and headhunter sites (about 30 of them, total). That gave me 8 interviews, among which 3 were real recruitments while the others were more like presenting myself to some curious-dude-who-found-my-profile-exciting. Nice, but nothing more happened. And soon came the bad winds from the economical crisis.
By the end of september, i came to the conclusion that my strategy was going nowhere. Strategists were in most cases assimilated to project leaders, and no one was recruiting anyone without a serious solid senior profile. So i changed. I started my own company and began selling me as: "independant and fearless strategist, digital native, friend with BerghsSoC and Farfar, with passion for communication, can help you do the right thing, right now". And it worked!... i thought. well, it got me 8 very intense and interesting interviews with first-class agencies, where we really talked business and i got to understand how they worked and what they needed. Selling myself as an independant free-lance was the key. At least 3 agencies expressed their interest in starting a collaboration, very very soon.
And then... nothing. As if everyone was frozen under tons of ice. Even just answering e-mails seemed an incredible achievement for my contacts. I understood i'd have to wait very long before anything happens. So i changed tactics, again.
Since selling myself as an independant strategist was not enough, i started to define my services more precisely. I was a product and i needed packaging, with a nice picture, a description of ingredients, nutritional facts, quality labels, endorsement of other people, and even possible side effects! My own brand, as defined just after leaving school, was much to vague and relying on the good faith that companies did care when you come from new and interesting educations like ours (they DON'T). I also needed to practice what i preached, so i started making presentations, like a lecturer, and spent even more time online, to become the most flexible, well-informed, social media-friendly guy.
And that brings me to where i am today. I'm having one pretty hot project with a former top-5 company. But it took lots of surfing, talking, sweating and eating shit to get there. The only next possible step, as i see it, would be to have my own clients, and then i wouldn't need to collaborate with an agency.
This said, that is how things have been for me, i'm a slightly "different" product in many ways, and i hope you guys will have a much easier way in to your dream job (or just good-enough job). So, if i had to give you advices, i'd say:
- The letter you send is important, but its goal is only to get you an interview. Nothing more. Often, the people you'll meet won't even have read the letter. Most important, define what you're selling. And if you really can't think of freelancing, try getting employed, but it's a very risky tactic in this time of crisis.
- Use all possible resources you have in your contact network NOW, not tomorrow.
- Be relevant, entertaining, visible and persistent.
- Seek direct contact. As long as they haven't met you physically, you don't exist, unless you're Guy Kawasaki, Jeremiah Omyang or Matias. So go out and meet people, and make yourself a name.
Knowing you "enemy" and write a tailored letter with the employer in mind is a basic rule. Who wants a standard letter where jsut the address is changed? But today a letter feels a bit old. Why not a film?
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