ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2007 > June > 29 > Entry
Marketing yourself to employers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of the most common job search mistakes is not having a clear plan for marketing yourself to an employer. We’re all guilty of it. When we need to find a new job, our first thought is to revise our resumes and start applying for jobs on-line.
In a successful job search, you first need to identify the “product” you plan to sell in the market place of potential employers before you even touch your resume. Next you have to understand whether or not your product is marketable. Otherwise, you’ll invest a lot of energy in the application process without getting any results.
Marketable products (candidates) simply make sense to the buyer (employer). For example, an accountant who wants to stay in the same type of job, within the same industry is marketable. This straight-forward product makes sense to the buyer.
Even if you’re making a career change, you can still have a marketable product.
Changing industries but maintaining the same job function results in a marketable product. A good salesperson can sell shoes or computer software equally well. You’re marketing your sales abilities and this makes sense to the employer.
An administrative assistant who has experience in the construction industry, who wants switch to a more interesting or higher paying job function within that same industry has a marketable product. You’re marketing your expertise, your contacts, and your ability to understand industry jargon. Employers can easily see that connection.
Are you a Math major with work experience in the health care and car insurance industries who really wants to work for an advertising agency?
From the employer’s perspective, this is roughly equivalent to seeing a combination toaster/screwdriver/hairdryer on the shelf at the supermarket. There is no clear connection between your credentials and your goals. It’s simply not a product that people are excited about buying.
So, before you polish up that resume, decide on what you’re most interested in changing about your current work situation. Your employer? Your industry? Or your job function? Once you know what kind of product you’re going to be marketing to a potential employer, you can direct your energy toward your goal!
Comments
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By catchem
July 6, 2007 11:10 AM | Link to this
And forget your idealism; look at your most valuable (read; marketable) assets and sell those. Unless you’re young enough and sufficiently wealthy to undergo a complete reeducation process, you’re going to waste a lot of time trying to fit your sales background into a brain-surgeon career.
I’ve just reached retirement age; I will be luck enough to get any job, much less one that I prefer at an income that I would like. I have to continue to shop my skills and experience in an unforgiving work world for the best dollars I can get.
And don’t get lost in loyalty to any employer; they could care less about you or your needs; the first thing that indicates a need for your demise will not even bring them a moments pause - you’re gone! Getting to work early and leaving late would insure your future in years passed; now it just sets you up for ridicule.