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Promote Yourself!Promote Yourself!A successful job hunt needs a compelling marketing campaign for a great product – you. Although this is your area of personal expertise, it is not always easy to pitch it right.Here are some tips: Product definition It’s hard to put yourself in the frame of mind to sell yourself, even if selling is your job. Think of yourself as a product and tailor your application with benefits and special features that would make a potential employer want to buy. Don’t be shy If you separate the skills and capability from the individual, it will help you be less bashful when you promote yourself to prospective employers. It’s a problem for lots of Kiwis – we’re not good at self-promotion. Pick your audience Build a hit-list of employers who will be interested in your particular skills and experience. Don’t forget to contact professional institutions and regional bodies. They will have useful intelligence on local employers and be less guarded than a company’s HR department. Get personal A little flattery goes a long way and when a contact is called and asked for advice, not a job - a surprising number of people will agree to meet you – which can lead to a personal recommendation that can lead to a job”. Be forward – but not arrogant You need to sell your wares, but choose your words and tone carefully. It’s important to avoid sounding boastful when reflecting your strengths. For example you could say: “I have a reputation for writing outstanding code” rather than “I am the best programmer in my team”. Network at home Networking is as effective for raw gradates as for mature jobseekers, but again you need to be choosy. Think rifle shot, rather than scatter gun. Start off with family and friends who will work hard on your behalf and stick to a list of 15 – you need to be able to keep on top of communication. Use your budget well Every marketing campaign has a budget and job hunting is no exception. But your resource is likely to be time. It’s easy to be “busy” looking for jobs, but is your activity yielding any worthwhile results? When replying to job ads, stay focused and apply only to those companies that offer the right “fit”. Email etiquette Email is unavoidable in the modern job hunt and highly effective if used well. People scan emails, they don’t read them so the golden rules of email marketing are:
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