Develop Job Search Plan

Marketing Yourself: An Overview

Becoming a Market Specialist

During the job search you become a Marketing Specialist and the product is you. The steps to take in organizing your job search in the style of a good Marketing Specialist are:

Know The Product -- You

What are you work values, goals, interests and skills? What are you strengths and weaknesses?

Develop a Good Sales Tool- Your Resume & Cover Letter

These resources accurately reflect you -- your goals, accomplishments, and your style. They should be brief and concise. The resume and cover letter should be focused toward the type of industry and/or company of interest to you. As a sales tool, they will be influential in securing an interview.

Identify Your Market -- Explore Career Options

There may be many alternatives. Think about what you want and start a priority list. Identify organizations most desirable to you and best suited to your talents and values. Next, list those you would choose second, and so forth. Utilize company literature and conduct exploratory interviews (more on this later) to help you clarify which companies fit your needs).

Advertising

Let everyone know that you are available. Since fewer than 12% of job hunters find jobs through ads and 5% through employment agencies, it is important that you be active in making personal contacts, letting others know what your skills are. This does not mean that you only get a job through "who you know". It means that you have to let others in on what you know. Also, you can get information on job openings through personal contacts. This is known as "building a referral network".

Develop a Referral Network

The most effective way of securing a position is through making personal contacts. To take advantage of this fact, you have to build a referral network. In other words, try to identify the people you already know and the people you could meet who would be able to refer you to open positions. Why is this so important? Because a personal ,face-to-face impression means more and lasts longer than any letter, phone call or resume.

Sit down and make a list. Whom do you already know who might be a potential referral person? Relatives, friends, former co-workers, faculty, schoolmates -- any of these groups can be valuable.
Once you've identified these already known avenues of referral, make an effort to sit down with these people and make them aware of your skills and of the job search you are undertaking. By the way, some of these people may be willing to write you good letters of reference should you need them.
Make sure those in your Referral Network have a copy of your resume.
Keep records with whom you've spoken and of what information you've received. Some of your contacts may already have been able to give you information on job vacancies.
Make a second list - referral sources whom you have not met. For instance, you are a marketing major and XYZ company strikes you as a creative organization. In that case, the marketing/advertising manager would be a good referral person. Call the company switchboard and find out who he/she is.
Build your list by looking at the organizations in which you are interested and finding out who would be the responsible manager in that area.
Contact and visit these organizations. Once you have targeted specific employers, make a systematic effort to contact and visit them. Contacting the personnel office to ask if there are any positions available is one method. This is sometimes not the best way to get a job, and might bog you down with red tape. Contacting the person (by phone, by name) who is responsible for the area in which you are interested in, is often a more productive method.

Tell him/her, " I am interested in working ------- setting and would like to explore where I might best fit. Could you help me out by taking about fifteen minutes to speak with me ? " This is known as an exploratory interview and accomplishes three things:
- You get first-hand information about the organization.
- The employer gets to know you on a more informal relaxed basis and has a chance to assess your qualifications.
- You may be referred to a job opening or to another company. You have indirectly applied for a job and have developed a contact for future referral. By the way, don't forget to take your resume.
Remember, your primary emphasis should be on using personal contacts and building a referral network. What about the companies you can't visit or call due to time limitations or locations? Do contact them -- by mail. Develop a good cover letter, enclose your resume and send it to the person most likely to be in a position to hire you. Make sure you send your letter to the person directly, not to "TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN"

If you must limit your visitations and decide to use more of a mail campaign, you should do this in volume. For instance, for every 100 letters sent out, you may secure two to six interviews. However, you should still target you letters toward companies in your career interest.

Keep Records

A log is an excellent way to keep your job search organized. For every contact you make, fill out a log sheet with all the pertinent information on the person contacted, the company, the content of your discussion, and any action you need to take. Date the logs. You never know when someone you talked with two weeks ago will call you with an appropriate job opening. Your records will be a handy reference and enable you to respond quickly.

Follow Up

Always follow up on your visits or phone calls with a letter thanking the person you contacted. You may want to send an additional copy of your resume.

Look For Other Referral Sources or Listings of Job Openings (Be creative!)

Career Development Center -- Register for on-campus interviews.
Career Library -- Use the job posting binder/telephone hot line submitted by employers unable to interview on campus, but who are interested in hiring graduates. Many additional resources in this collection advertise specific openings. Other reference materials - such as company literature, industry information, and telephone books -- will help you identify potential employers.
Advertised Jobs -- Advertised jobs in national and local newspaper and in trade publications.
Chambers of Commerce -- Chambers of Commerce and community service groups.
Employment agencies -- Employment agencies use fee-paid agencies only and avoid overly directive employment counselors.
State Employment -- State employment agencies (free service)
Federal Employment Listings -- Contact your nearest Federal Employment Information Center
Alumni Career Assistance Program -- Utilize only to gather information; don't ask for a job!
Professional associations and publications -- identify and make valuable contacts and also review advertised openings.
Faculty and Friends --

Please enlist the help of the Career Development Center. Counselors are available to help you through your job search and many publications and reference listings that are at your disposal in the Career Library. Whatever stategies you may choose, set aside enough time to conduct your job search systematically.

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Last modified: March 09, 2007 14:52:08