On the 1st day of Xmas --- Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters revealed to me:
“A plan with a very clear goal.”
Your plan must be
clear and detailed in every way. It must also be:
- Clever,
- Results driven,
- Marketing oriented,
- Inexpensive to execute,
- Realistic, and
- Achievable.
Clever - That’s because the
most qualified job hunter is rarely the one who gets hired. The positions[s]
invariably go to the person who does the best job at positioning themselves as
the solution to an employer’s problem. Often
the employer doesn’t realize they have a problem and it’s your job to bring
that to their attention.
Results driven - You must measure your progress. You need to do this so that you’ll understand
how close you are to achieving your goal and stay motivated and committed to
your plan. Measuring requires tracking
the metrics which drive you to your finish line. Here are a few of the dozens of proven
tactics Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters shows you how to measure:
- How many out
of the box activities have you deployed?
- How many targeted
resumes you’re sending out,
- How many guerrilla
networking activities you’re engaged in.
Marketing oriented - Because the market is geared toward those who
effectively brand and market themselves as the ultimate commodity across
multiple distribution channels. Winning the War
for Talent requires you to become great at guerrilla marketing
yourself. Looking for a job is a sales
and marketing activity where you’re the product.
Inexpensive - In 1997, Tom Peters introduced the concept of “Brand U” in his book
Re-Imagine! At the time, self-branding was an assertive marketing
concept best reserved for high-flying techies and senior executives who wanted
to maximize the financial returns of their biggest asset—their career. Today personal branding is a matter of
survival. Here’s how to brand yourself for free.
Realistic - Knowing what you want to do is great.
Combining that with what you’re ‘qualified” to do is the secret. You may be pleasantly surprised at how your
current skill-set maps to other industries.
For a clear picture of what’s possible to do with your skill-set I
suggest you visit America’s Career InfoNet. If you’re not qualified for what you want to
do get moving and determine how you can become qualified. In my 20+ years of executive recruiting the
biggest problem I’ve run into is that people aren’t realistic – especially the
unemployed. You’re setting for
disappointment if you apply for jobs you’re not qualified to do. Sometimes you may have to take a temporary
step backwards to move forward in a new career BUT the sooner you start the
sooner you’ll hit your goal. If this even
remotely applies to you then you need to make one New Years Resolution – and
it’s to yourself – I will check out America
Achievable Knowing the exact title and function of the future role you want gives
you a realistic goal with no excuses. Get
specific. The more detailed the
better.
For
example, I’ll bet you Vicky Vlachakis
new exactly what she wanted to do and who she wanted to work for before
she started her job search. When the
opportunity came along to design the new two-seater convertibles for Saturn and
Chrysler she recognized her chance to knock not one but two home runs out of
the park.
Nothing
is more important to your success than a clear “picture” of your goal. If you can envision your dream job AND you’re
qualified to do it then you can find it.
With a specific goal in mind you can organize your job search and
networking efforts with a laser like focus.
Yes some people are lucky and fall into great jobs but luck [as Tom Peters
says] is so unpredictable. The dramatic changes we’re witnessing in the
marketplace mean that the tried-and-true methods of finding a job will no
longer suffice. Those old ways should remain a part of your plan, however by
themselves they don’t provide the horsepower to get the heightened attention of
employers.
Clarity
of purpose is both energizing and enabling.
Download 12 Days of Christmas Job Hunting
David Perry
Perry-Martel International inc.
Co-author Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters
