Personal Marketing Strategy for Your Job Search

Personal Marketing Strategy for Your Job SearchPersonal Marketing Strategy for Your Job SearchBefore you begin yourjob searchyou need to develop a personal marketing strategy. A personal marketing strategy is a game plan for your job search campaign much like one a corporation would use to sell a product. Instead of trying to get people to buy widgets, you are trying to sell the product you believe in more than any other- youEvery product, even the best ones, wont succeed without a strong marketing strategy that is comprehensive, yet flexible enough to accommodate any changes that you have to make along the way. Identify Your Target Audience The first thing you have to do is figure out who you want to market yourself to. Identify the types of employers who would be looking for an employee with yourqualifications. For example, you must figure out if they are all within a certain industry or if a variety of industries hire workers with your background. Do you want to work for a par ticular type of organization, for example, anonprofitversus a corporation, or a small company as opposed to a large one? Decide if you are going to conduct a national (or even international) search or look for work in the same city in which you currently live. Plan for Locating Job Leads Decide what sources you will use to find eignung employers. Everyone you speak to will have a different opinion on how you should do this. Some people feel that published job announcements, for example, those you will find on a website likeIndeedorMonster, are a waste of time because of the number of people applying for the same position. They feel thatnetworkingis the only way to go. Others believe thatexecutive recruiterswill get them the job they want. To use a couple of old cliches, leave no stone unturned and cast a wide net. If you utilize all possible methods of tracking down potential employers, you will have a better chance of finding something. Just remember to stay focused on the jobs for which you are best suited and dont apply for everything you see. Contacting Prospective Employers After you identify employers for whom you would like to work, you will have to figure you how you will contact them. If you are responding to a published job announcement, follow the instructions given there. Generally, they will ask you to submit aresume, most likely online. It should be accompanied by acover letter. If you are working with anexecutive recruiter, he or she will probably forward your resume to the employer and then will set up an interview. If you find out about a job lead through someone in yournetwork, you must decide whether totelephoneoremailthat person.Often your contact can advise you. Remember, if you want to use email, send an introductory message first and ask if it is okay to send yourresumeas an attachment before you go ahead and do so. Most people wont open an unexpected attachment. Set Up a System to Organize Your Job Search During your search you may be responding to job announcements, using an executive recruiter, getting in touch directly with employers, and networking with people your associates have connected you with. One of the most important things you can do to help your job search is to stay organized. If you dont, there is a good chance you will misplace important names and contact information and lose track of email messages. When you have to follow up, you will end up wasting valuable time trying to find everything. You can set up a simple spreadsheet with a program like Microsoft Excel or you can use a note-taking program likeEvernoteto keep track of your job search. If you prefer, you can even keep a paper file as long as you keep your notes in one place. Once youve established a strategy for your job search campaign, you can begin to move forward with it. Your next step is to put together a great resume and to start preparing for yourjob interviews.