How to Market Yourself into a Job

This piece from Yahoo suggests how to sell yourself during the job hunt process reminded me that finding a job is all about marketing (or selling, if you prefer) yourself correctly. How so? Consider these points:

• The employer is looking for a product. He wants several things in this product (just like we all do when we buy something as consumers) such as a great return on his money (the more work/accomplishments he can get for the least amount of pay, the better), someone with a good attitude, a person that fits well within the culture of the company, and so on. The "product" (a person in this case) that most closely fits his criteria out of all the ones he considers will get the job.

• As a job hunter, it's your task to identify what the buyer (employer) wants and to market (sell) yourself as having these abilities. The person who does the best job of this gets the offer.

Each buyer, job, and company is different, but generally what do employers look for? And thus how should you market yourself to meet these requirements? These are the two biggest keys IMO:

• Employer wants: Someone who can deliver good results (however the company/employer determines these.)
• How to market yourself: Show a long list of quantifiable business results on your resume and then bring them up in your prepared interview answers.

• Employer wants: Someone with a good attitude.
• How to market yourself: Be pleasant and positive throughout the hiring process -- on the phone, in correspondence, in person, etc. And be this way to EVERYONE, including the secretary at the front door and the janitor you pass in the hallway. You're always "on" during the job hunt process and you never know when a good or bad word from someone not directly associated with the hiring decision could make or break your application.

Of course there are a lot of other considerations that play into the job search decision (just like there are with any purchase), but if you do a good job of marketing yourself as an employee that can deliver great results with a positive attitude, and you can convince potential employers that this is what you are, in most cases you'll be well ahead of any other marketing done by any other candidate.

Comments

[Mike Hunt]

Such a great post and no comments. Sheesh!

-Mike

[Managears]

Agreed wholeheartedly on most of the tips. You need to market yourself properly, not only for future employer, but also to your current boss if you want to get ahead in your career.

[Natasha]

What do you do when you have a job that doesn't have quantifiable results as in a social services or counseling job? There aren't necessarily ways to show how well you have done and sometimes you do a great job and the kids you work with don't improve; how do you promote yourself when you are in that position?

[FMF]

Natasha --

Check out this post for help:

http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2009/09/what-to-do-if-you-have-no-quantifiable-accomplishments.html

[Patty]

Apparently this is what the esteemed Willis was tilakn' 'bout.