He was hoping to move from market research to being an account executive with an advertising agency. His approach to planning a letter differed from others. He started by summarizing for himself the theme of his letter : "Experienced marketing professional seeks to take next career step by moving to an
advertising agency." Then, he played out a piece of his theme in each of the paragraphs of his cover letter.
Let's take a look at what he wrote and review it.
He started out with a bang by indicating what he offers (marketing experience) and what he wants (account executive). Since his current situation and next job are closely related, demonstrating his well-considered interest in the marketing field is less important than for a recent college graduate or a person changing fields altogether.
He has also provided some positive reasons for interviewing him. Organizations that provide a professional service often benefit from employing professionals who have been on the client side. Notice that he relates his work history as a positive, rather than saying "although I have never worked in an ad agency ....” He also indicates that he has achieved results beyond a narrow expectation of market research. That fact helps bridge the gap between his current job and his next one.
He showed that he is motivated by a positive attraction to a new situation rather than a desire to flee his current one. That approach-focus on the next employer, not leaving the current one-is almost always the best to take. Notice that Anthony indicated an attraction on two bases - the job and the industry. Two
good reasons are better than one.
He has chosen to make his prototype letter generic to a broad situation-namely, being an account executive in an advertising firm. This text needs some amending before he writes to a specific firm. In the second paragraph, changes for a specific firm might reflect parallels between his current employer and some of the ad agency's clients. That information is available in sources such as the Standard Directory of Advertising Agencies, which is found in the reference section of many libraries. Perhaps Anthony could cite something attractive he read about that firm in a trade publication such as Age to add to his third paragraph. Showing that he has researched that particular firm shows a seriousness and thoroughness that employers appreciate.