The job of job hunting is all about marketing
You’ve probably heard the saying that job hunting is a full time job. Of course, it’s true, and most job seekers get into the job of job hunting expecting it to be one.
Your success in any type of job depends on an understanding of what the job is, what skills are required to perform the work, and utilizing those skills effectively to complete the job successfully. When it comes to the job of landing a job, these three keys to success are even more important.
I’m sure you are already well aware of the basic rules of a job search. To prepare for the hunt you need to set a specific goal, develop a plan, and focus your resources on following that plan to reach your goal. However, there is one step that is not usually listed as one of these preparatory steps. It comes between goal setting and planning. It’s a very important step, and it is crucial to the development and execution of your plan.
Before you jump into the job hunt, you need to first understand what type of job this is.
I’m not talking about understanding the type of job you are searching for. The general assumption is that you already know what career you are seeking. I’m referring to the job at hand, the job of finding and landing a job. What type of job is this?
It may seem like a silly question, but it isn’t. It’s a very serious one. The position of job seeker is an important one to understand, because there are skills you will need to have or learn to perform this job successfully. These skills are even more important to have today, as you will need to use them expertly in the midst of a tight job market and fierce competition. If you already have these skills, you will need to perfect them. If you lack these skills, you will need to develop them, practice them, and perfect them to the best of your ability. They are skills anyone can learn, but before you can do so, you need to know what they are.
What is this skill set that is so vital to your job search? What type of job is this position of Job Seeker? Is it advertising? Is it sales?
Simply put, it’s all about marketing. Yes, you do need to sell yourself to potential employers, and you do need to be able to “close the sale”, so to speak, but before you can do that, you need to be able to reach them. You need to get their attention. Your primary job is to market yourself.
You can’t just show up at the employment office and choose where you want to work. You can’t just walk into the corporate headquarters of a company off the street, go to the front desk with your resume or portfolio and hope they will hire you on the spot. Remember, this isn’t a seller’s market. You are competing with many others just like you, all of whom want that same job. There are a lot of aggressive and creative types out there, and the competition will be tough. You can’t just hand out your resume like dinner menus in a restaurant full of hungry patrons. It just doesn’t work that way. You need to be creative. You need to stand out. You need to get their attention. You need to market yourself.
Your job is all about marketing. Learn how to market yourself. It sounds complicated, but isn’t, really. To market anything effectively, you need to know something about the product. You are the product, and who knows your product better than you? When you think about it, you are the best and most qualified to market yourself. That fact alone will help you to quickly and easily create the skill set you need. Once you have those skills in place, you can then develop your marketing plan to reach that goal of landing a job.