What does "marketing yourself" really mean? What are the benefits of marketing yourself as a competent resource both inside and outside your organization? And what steps do you take to market yourself? When marketing yourself, think of yourself as the "product" and what you can do as the "service." It's your responsibility to identify what expertise you can offer to your "customer." For employees, your customer is your manager and company, and for those in job search, your customer is a potential hiring manager in another company. The challenge is that the workplace and its players keep changing, so the activities needed to build the relationships needed for marketing yourself must be consistent and ongoing. Sometimes when people hear the words "marketing yourself," they say it makes them feel queasy in the pit of their stomachs. Often, it is because they think of marketing as pushing yourself on other people, empty socializing, and superficial small talk. On the contrary, effective marketing creates a pull for your expertise. You establish yourself as an expert in your area and people recognize you for your talents.
When marketing yourself, think of yourself as the "product" and what you can do as the "service." It's your responsibility to identify what expertise you can offer to your "customer." For employees, your customer is your manager and company, and for those in job search, your customer is a potential hiring manager in another company. The challenge is that the workplace and its players keep changing, so the activities needed to build the relationships needed for marketing yourself must be consistent and ongoing. Sometimes when people hear the words "marketing yourself," they say it makes them feel queasy in the pit of their stomachs. Often, it is because they think of marketing as pushing yourself on other people, empty socializing, and superficial small talk. On the contrary, effective marketing creates a pull for your expertise. You establish yourself as an expert in your area and people recognize you for your talents.
The process of marketing yourself is very similar to the kind of marketing plan developed for a product or service. First define your objective. Be specific, make it measurable, make it realistic, and build in a timeline with deadlines. (Consider the type of job you are qualified for.)
Determine the benefits you have to offer. Ask yourself, "What do I have to offer?“ “What are my skills?” Start with self knowledge: natural talents (aptitudes), interests, personality and values Consider the type of job for which you are qualified Handout Skills Inventory Worksheet – have them use this to identify skills they have. Encourage them not to check it off unless they can connect it to a specific job or course. NEXT Hand out Skills Inventory Sheets – Starts with skills inventory tips, review those with group. Next hand out skills inventory sheets, one for courses, one for jobs/volunteer work. Have them list courses and job. Use the worksheet to fill in the sections on skills, knowledge and accomplishments. All of these tools together should give you a clear picture for your next step.
Gather, analyze, and interpret information about your situation, do a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. A SWOT analysis is a structured strategic planning model often used for a project or business venture. Hand out the Career SWOT analysis. Review how to use it for career management and personal marketing purposes. Identify your personal strengths and weaknesses: How do you stack up against your competition? Identify external opportunities and threats: What trends may affect you and your career positively or negatively?
Identify your target markets: Who needs to know you, your capabilities, and professional goals? This may mean that you focus your efforts on industries, companies, key managers, mentors, hiring managers, and human resources staff in addition to professional organizations, social media, etc. Also include the geographic scope of where you want to market yourself, for example, the Chicagoland area? The Midwest? Nationally? Or internationally? You decide what is appropriate for you.
Develop your marketing strategy and activities that are specifically aimed at your target market: How will you network? Who will you network with? What is your social media strategy? Share ideas and trend information with others and solicit advice from them. Take on active roles in professional organizations. Attend conferences and continuing education events, even if you have to pay for them. Write articles for company or professional publications.
Define your implementation time/datelines. How and when willl you get your marketing activities done? Set specific dates to ensure you get things done and don’t procrastinate.
Periodically evaluate your marketing efforts, your resume, your cover letter and make modifications if you are not achieving the results you are looking for. Continuous review and upgrading can be critical to your success.
Continually research all the current tools available for networking, job search, etc.
