6 Ways to Market Yourself for a Job
In a world full of billions of rejected applications and tons of candidates, having to market yourself for a job is a necessity. Just sending a simple resume may be a futile attempt. Today, more effort has to be placed in your hunt for work if you are determined to secure your next position. Incorporating these self marketing tips in your next job search will be a surefire way to land the job of your dreams.
Identify Your Strengths
What tasks do you perform well? Write down a list of your skills and recall a time in which you had to utilize them. Be sure to create a section or bullet list of skills on your resume. Displaying your own strengths in this way makes it easier to respond to these types of questions when being interviewed. Revisiting past feedback is also a great way to identify your strengths. It confirms your strengths to be true not only for the employer, but for yourself. Also be aware of what you love in and out of work. If you love to write, but don’t have the opportunity to often do so, explore opportunities in your job search where there’s an internal blog or newsletter from the companies you’re applying for. Setting yourself up to do what you love in a future position allows you to maximize your strengths. Make sure that your strengths and skills are also in alignment with the position you are applying for.
Use Anecdotes and Examples
In addition to listing your strengths, tell a story on what you’ve accomplished using those skills. Be sure to include buzzwords in your statements as well. Maximizing your specialties in your statements creates a lasting impression on an employer.
General Example
“My co-workers voted me best team player two years running.”
Good Example
“I am a wizard at conference planning.”
Develop Your Brand
A branding statement is just like an elevator pitch. Your branding statement should include what you do, your skills, and how you can offer help. A branding statement is good for including in your cover letter, LinkedIn account, resume and online CV (optional). Creating a professional online presence is very effective in marketing yourself. To make yourself stand out even more, create an online resume to showcase your skills and personality. Make it interactive, include professional head shots, and edit it in a way the appeases your target industry or company. You can also create documents, business cards, and other marketing materials to distribute at networking events, interviews or professional groups.
Dress the Part
The reality is, the way you dress and carry yourself does play a part in your job search success. Marketing yourself correctly doesn’t include showcasing just your talent, but the whole package. Wearing appropriate outfits illustrates your level of professionalism and care for the job you want. Package design matters, and thinking like a marketer in this way is the ultimate way to successfully sell yourself for the job.
Develop an Elevator Pitch
An elevator pitch is just a synopsis of your background, similar to a sales pitch. A good elevator pitch should last no longer than a short elevator ride of 20 to 30 seconds, hence the name. This can be crafted to tell people what you do for a living at networking events or interviews.
When creating your elevator pitch, start by identifying your goal. What are your objectives? Describe what you do. Focus on the problems you can solve and how you can help. When writing this, you should ask yourself what you want people to remember most about you. As you describe what you do, you should take into consideration what makes you unique and be sure to communicate that effectively. You should also make sure your pitch is interactive. Including an open ended question to the person you’re pitching to makes a more memorable interaction.
After you’ve developed your elevator pitch, practice it. Make sure that your pitch is within the appropriate time frame. If not, be sure to cut out any unnecessary content or details. Set goals to practice your pitch regularly and be mindful of your body language. Body language is also another effective form of communication, so making sure your body shows you are open and assertive makes the interaction more effective. Your elevator pitch can also vary. Changing it up from time to time may be necessary, to prevent it from sounding to formulaic or prepared.
Create a Targeted List of Companies
Whether you’re attending a networking event for business, entertainment, construction, etc. Be sure to target the companies and events in which you are most interested in. This allows you to dedicate enough time and effort into modifying your pitch, approach, or marketing materials for the employer. Opening up yourself to widely varying jobs or industries can potentially hinder you in efficiently marketing yourself and showcasing the appropriate strengths for the right job. Make sure to attend in-person networking events, industry specific job fairs or professional groups to increase your chances of landing your ideal job. When attending these events, always be sure to bring a copy of your resume, a business card and follow up with the connections you’ve made via LinkedIn.