Sell Yourself

Planning for a new career and getting a job involves the process of marketing yourself. It involves careful planning, implementation and control. You may have amazing assets including extracurricular activities, relevant work experience, impressive grade point average, solid communications skills and impressive leadership qualities. However, you need to market yourself aggresively and systematically. Even the best products remain unsold without efficient marketing. One of the best examples about how marketing impacts your career comes from Random House and their best seller A Civil Action (1995) by Jonathan Harr. The nonfiction story was gripping enough that Robert Redford acquired the film rights for over $1 million and wanted to play the leading role. Talk-show hosts scheduled author Jonathan Harr and as positive reviews streamed in Random House 200,000 copies, A Civil Action did NOT make best seller list (according to the New York Times) and sold just over 57,000 copies. The book surely bombed. However, Random House did something unusual: it started from scratch and republished the book. This time, though, it used marketing on the entire package as well as the product itself. The publisher replaced the bland book packet with attractive imagery and eye-catching type. It placed the central theme in the packet text and started to advertise. A Civil Action (same exact book) finally made it to the nonfiction best seller (hardcover) list. Years later, the book still was on the soft cover bestseller list. It’s being made into a film and has won a number awards. The process of attaining rewarding employment entails the exact same activities that marketing departments used to develop and insert products into the marketplace. The difference is that you’re marketing yourself rather than a product. You need to immerse yourself in marketing research by studying your personal qualities (like performing self-audit) and by identifying job opportunities. Based on the results of your research, select a market and focus on it. This includes those career opportunities that are a match with your goals, skills, interests, abilities, etc. You then design a marketing package around the target market. Except the “product” is you: decide how to “position” ”the product” in the market. The “price” factor of the market mix represents the salary expectaions and benefits (like insurance, vacations and retirement benefits) that you want to receive. “Promotion” includes communicating with possible employers through correspondence (advertising) and interviews (selling yourself). The “placement” itself focuses on how to connect with prospective employers – job fairs, networking, etc.

Job Interview Tips

Job interviewing doesnt’ seem to get easier – even after going to endess interviews. You meet new people, sell yourself and your skills, and often get the third degree about what you know (or don’t).  Here are job interview tips to help you get ready to interview effectively. Proper preparation will help lower some of the stress involved in job interviews.

Practice

Practice answering interview questions and practice your responses to the typical job interview questions and answers most employers ask. Think of actual examples you can use to describe your skills. Providing evidence of your successes is a great way to promote your candidacy.

Prepare

Prepare a response so you are ready for the question “What do you know about our company. Know the interviewer’s name and use it during the job interview. If you’re not sure of the name, call and ask prior to the interview. Try to relate what you know about the company when answering questions.

 Get Ready

Make sure your interview attire is neat, tidy and appropriate for the type of firm you are interviewing with. Bring a nice portfolio with copies of your resume. Include a pen and paper for note taking.

Be On time

Be on time for the interview. On time means five to ten minutes early. If need be, take some time to drive to the office ahead of time so you know exactly where you are going and how long it will take to get there.

Stay Calm

During the job interview try to relax and stay as calm possible. Take a moment to regroup. Maintain eye contact with the interviewer. Listen to the entire question before you answer and pay attention – you will be embarrassed if you forget the question!

Show What Your Know

Try to relate what you know about the company when answering questions.  When discussing your career accomplishments match them to what the company is looking for.

Follow Up

Always follow-up with a thank you note reiterating your interest in the position. If you interview with multiple people send each one a thank you note.

Identifying your selling points

Begin with a list.

 Get it all on paper so you can look over it afterwards (you can then write it on your CV).  There is no point in knowing what you are good at if you don’t let the world know it.  Write a list. 

Your selling points (strengths) are what people will use to judge you as a candidate (you also have to use them to drive away focus from your weaknesses). 

Selling points are hopefully unique, but you need to cover the fundamentals that most hiring managers look for (i.e. team play, communication skills, reliablity, etc – you’ve probably seen all that on job ads).  Use these basic skills to get started.

 When you get those basics out of the way, you need to concentrate on your “unique” skills.  What makes you different from the crowd?  Why should the employer hire you over the next guy in line?  What are your strengths?

 Don’t worry if you seem to be having trouble when finding out who you are.  Ask your friends.  Ask your tutors or teachers.  Ask your family.  You can even ask your boss and colleagues (as long as you don’t tell them you are leaving).

 Here are a few examples of unique selling points:

 

Good with computers (quick typing, fast learner, experience) 

Customer service 

Working well in teams 

Etc.

 When you have a list of your selling (strong) points you are closer to marketing yourself to the best employees out there!

How valuable is your network?

How valuable is your network?

 Your business and personal contacts make up a network that provides considerable influence on your professional life and career. Recognize the value of your network, tap into it and use it. 

Facebook offers a variety of tools and one of them is the Network Value tool by Xing.
In Facebook, click on the Applications tab in the bottom left hand corner and choose Browse More Applications.  Use the Search Apps box and enter Network Value or Xing and click Go to Application. Follow the questions and find out how valuable your network is.

Blogging

• Create a Blog. You can use either Google or WordPress to create your own Blog or Website. Post your profile there and write about your interests and hobbies. Keep it professional but with a personal touch. Remember, possible employers could be reading your Blog.
• You could record a short video with a web camera and post it as a message to your Blog. Be creative!

Social Networks

• Make sure you use the same email for all Social Networks.

Orkut, Ecademy, Ryze, Naymz, Doostang, Wink, Google, Bing

• You should have at least one international network in your mix. You never know where large firms are looking.
  • Xing (preferred)
  • Viadeo
  • Badoo
• Check QDOS to see your improvements.
• Start using Twitter. Sign up at http://twitter.com and search for companies and topics you are interested in. Follow these companies and engage in conversation. You can use the link to your profile at LinkedIn as a reference to your accomplishments.
• Use Twitter to search for open positions. Many Recruiters are using this new Media to update you with new openings >> www.twitterjobsearch.com <<
• Search Google for advise on Twitter. There are many Blogs with great content.

Facebook

• Facebook go to www.facebook.com
  • Create a new account or login to your existing account.
  • Use your casual picture for Facebook

Become a fan of Recruiting Firms or companies that you are interested in. See the sample below on how you can become a fan of WorldBridge Partners.

• Let your friends on Facebook know you are looking for an opportunity.

Now, choose from the following list of other Networks and create accounts and profiles for each. Use your LinkedIn profile as a template. Invite and find friends for each of the networks you join. Everyone has different preferences. Your friends and colleagues may like some sites over others. Connect to as many people as possible. Keep your profile professional. 

• Let your friends on Facebook know you are looking for an opportunity.

Now, choose from the following list of other Networks and create accounts and profiles for each. Use your LinkedIn profile as a template. Invite and find friends for each of the networks you join. Everyone has different preferences. Your friends and colleagues may like some sites over others. Connect to as many people as possible. Keep your profile professional.

LinkedIn

• LinkedIn: go to www.linkedin.com
  • Create a new account or login to your existing account.
  • Use your professional picture for LinkedIn
  • Connect with all friends and colleagues.
  • Sign up for groups in your field of work. For example if you work in Banking,
    search for a group that specializes in Finance, Banking or any catch phrases you can think of that pertain to that field.
• Engage in these groups with comments and questions.
• Connect with people from your groups. Set yourself a target on how many people you would like to be connected with. I suggest at least 200 connections.

QDOS

Create an account on http://qdos.com and enter all existing personal websites, Blogs and social network profiles. QDOS measures your Internet status and helps you manage your online profile. To calculate your Internet status, QDOS measures your digital footprint – how active, popular and impactful you are online.

The more web activities you reference the better your ranking will be.

 

The Basics of Personal Job Marketing

Personal Job Marketing

 First of all, there are a few basic things you can do to get started with personal marketing:

• Review your current resume and create a professional profile.
• You should have two types of profiles
  • A detailed profile with your last 3 – 5 positions listed
  • A short profile at 140 characters, just like a catch phrase
• Make sure to have two pictures of yourself on your computer
  • A professional picture in business attire (with a tie)
  • A more personal picture, but with a professional touch (nice shirt, no tie)

• Search the web for open positions. Save yourself some time and use aggregators that search thousands of job boards for you. The two leaders are www.indeed.com and www.simplyhired.com.  Create an account and set up a search agent to send updates to your inbox. These sites also provide statistics to current events in your field and provide salaries companies are paying for the line of work you are interested in.
• Stay busy. Consider your job search as a full-time job searching for a job. Put in at least 40 hours a week to find a good position.