How to use marketing skills to land the job you want!

Fri, Mar 20, 2015

Business Buzz

by Candice Sealey

A regular CV is not enough! Do you know how to use marketing skills to land the job you want?

Successful job-seekers understand the value of marketing and apply to themselves those principles that companies have used for years to successfully sell their products. More and more individuals are graduating with degrees, candidates with similar qualifications/experience are often applying for the same positions and college students are graduating, eagerly looking to enter the job market. {{more}}Being able to land the job you desire is about being able to MARKET YOURSELF. What assets do you bring to the table as a job seeker? Your assets include your skills, your attitude, relationships, reputation and public presence. Though in some cases it’s about knowing the right people or the right people knowing you, landing a job is not about luck!… it’s about reaching and selling to “your” target audience.

Here’s how you can employ some marketing skills whether you are looking for a new job or seeking a promotion within your current company:

Define your job search objective

What do you want to do? Where are you now and where will your career be if you do nothing? Where do you want to go with your career? How do you convert your plan into action steps?

If you don’t have a plan, you will not optimize your job search. When one has been job hunting for a long period of time, it’s easy to become discouraged and even depressed. However, once you figure out what you want to do, you will then be able to do what’s necessary to get where you want to be. It helps to make a commitment on paper e.g. My job search objective is to secure a job in xxx, doing xxxx so that I can achieve xxx.

Don’t move to the next step until you have concretized this one.

Know the employers you are going to target

A manager or marketer goes to great lengths to get to know their target audience better. As a job seeker, you should employ the same strategy. During the process of identifying your job search objective, you would have inevitably identified the market in which you want to work. Ask yourself, what do you know about the market? Who are the employers with whom you would like to work in that market?

Get to know them!

Learn about the department in which you would like to work. Use social media or speak to persons who work at the organization. In marketing terms, you are doing competitive research! This information will help you stand out from the crowd; it will help you when writing your cover letter, tailoring your CV and when you are invited for a job interview.

You are a product

You as the job seeker are the product. What characteristics, features and skills make you unique and thus stand out among competing job searchers, in the eyes of employers? What is the one thing that makes you different than any other job-seeker applying for the same job?

Promotion

The strength of your promotion tools can be the most vital part of your career marketing mix. Businesses uses radio, TV, social media etc; job seekers’ promotional tools include cover letters, CVs, phone calls, the delivery CVs and interviewing. In a nutshell, anything that you can use to get a job interview and ultimately get a job offer. How much time have you spent polishing these promotion tools? Do you have a solid CV? A dynamic cover letter? How are your interviewing skills? Do you have what it takes to sell yourself to the employer? No matter how good you are, if you cannot properly communicate your benefits to employers, you will not get the job.

Craft your message

Just like customers are most interested in what businesses can do for them, potential employers also are concerned about what ‘YOU’ can do for them. They will only know the benefits you can bring to their organization if your craft your message correctly. What skills do you bring to the table that can help them to generate revenue, increase efficiency etc ? Your messaging has to focus on what you can do for them… when they look at your message, they should feel that you would add value to their team… the messaging in your CV plants the interest and, if done correctly, can get you an interview!

Know your price

From a marketing perspective, price refers to the perceived value of items in an exchange. For job-hunters, price refers to all aspects of the compensation you can expect from potential employers, as well as the strategies you need to follow to get the price you want — and that the employer feels you deserve e.g. raises, overtime pay, dental/medical insurance vacation days, sick/personal days paid holidays, pension plans, stock options etc.

Know the key strategies and tactics of salary negotiation – know when to talk about salary, how much to ask for and how to get what you want.

Measure results

Marketers always measure and aren’t afraid to change the course if necessary. During your job search, you may have reached out to many people and sent out many CVs. Measure your conversion rate.

How many CVs do you have to send out to get an interview?

How many interviews do you have to go on to get a job offer? This can help you in identifying if you need to make changes in your messaging, your interview skills or even your CV.

Happy hunting!

Candice Sealey is Founder of Ignite! Full service Marketing & PR Consultancy Company offering tailored services to help you succeed. Create new sparks and get better results for your business.

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Email: igniteresults@gmail.com

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