Career
Pathways
How to Market Yourself to your Target Market
In any business, good marketing is the difference between a successful product and a failed product. No matter how good the product may be, if it is not marketed correctly – if its benefits are not communicated to the end users - it will fail miserably. The same is true for the job market: Not matter how good your skills are, if they are not communicated properly, no employer will be interested in the end product – i.e. you.
How does one go about communicating his or her skills? First and foremost, this communication process – marketing – should never be undertaken without proper planning. This plan should be guided by a clear sense of direction – where you are headed. The plan will then consist of action steps to reach your ultimate goal. To formulate useful plans, however, accurate and up-to-date information regarding the job market is crucial. After gathering this information, you will be ready to create your “marketing plan”. Using the information you gathered earlier, the marketing plan presents the details of what is known as “the 4 P’s” in business terminology: Product, Price, Placement and Promotion.
The “Product” is the job-seeker – what qualities make you, as the job-seeker, unique from others competing for the same position? This is a question of “positioning” - creating a perception of being different from others with otherwise similar qualifications and/or experience? The employer needs to know why he or she should select you out of the possibly hundreds of otherwise identical candidates who have applied for the same position. This is the question that you need to answer in this section.
The second “P” is “Price” – how much are you worth to a potential employer? You need to provide assurance that you will be providing “value” for your employer’s money – the employer will only “pay” you what they think you are worth. Salary negotiation is thus a crucial component of the job search.
“Placement” in marketing terminology refers to the communication channel through which the final product is delivered to the customer. In the job hunt process the “distribution channel” consists of all the tools you choose to employ to announce your availability to a potential employer. These may include answering advertisements, word-of-mouth promotion, or even cold calling.
The final “P” is promotion – the actual communication of the benefits your product. This includes such tools as resumes, cover letters and interviewing – which showcase your skills and abilities to potential employees. No matter how strong the other P’s of the marketing mix are, if you fail in the “Promotion” department, you will not be able to get a job offer.
