The Marketing Mojo

A friend recently asked about some concrete steps for getting a job in 2012.  I don’t claim to be an expert in the area, but here are some thoughts.

1.  Change your point of view.  Don’t think of it as getting a job.  Think about it as selling something.  The days of the high school guidance counselor are gone.  And the reality for most of us, outside of the cast from RENT, being unemployed for a prolonged period of time is about the most miserable thing in the world.

2. Don’t bet on the lottery.  Or, as one person once said, “Hope is not a strategy.”  The days of sending off anonymous resumes via Monster are over.

Sure, you may get lucky, but don’t make it the cornerstone of your search.

3. Pick a target.  Find a job title that you want.  Do some research across companies.  Presumably the same job varies by title.  Develop a master list of requirements and responsibilities.  Visualize a day in the life.  What would an employer / boss want out of someone in that role?

4.  Channel your inner Lisbeth Salander.  Now that you know what you are targeting, learn all you can.  Just some ideas:

- Via LinkedIn.  See if you can find people in that organization.  What is the reporting structure like?
- Media.  Is the industry? company? or employees? in circulation somewhere?  Not just major media outlets, but better yet geeky, deep insider industry blogs.
- Twitter.  Are there people out there talking about relevant topics?
- SlideShare.  Scribd.  Podcasts.  Great places where people share point of view and ideas.  You are looking for people as much as the content.
- “networking” events, trade shows, industry events.  Where do people of a shared interest get together?

* Note.  At this point you should be doing research.  Refrain from engaging until you have a plan of attack.

5. Your Story.  It must rapidly (elevator pitch = 2 sentences = 20-30 seconds) convey the problems you’ll be able to solve within your first 12 months on the job.

Your story should never cover your background.  Never credential or bore with background details until you’ve built desire.  You’ve got to start by talking about them.  What problems are keeping them up at night that they need addressed next year?  Start by simply mirroring back the list that they will be addressed.

Credentials come later once you’ve built interest.

6. The Sales Plan.  All sales come down to ultimately a single person deciding to buy.  Doesn’t matter how large or complex the deal.  It always comes down to the one.  When approaching the job search – that needs to be the focus.  How are you going to find, engage, and convert that one opportunity.

As outlined above in the research steps, that comes down to – “networking”.  That 4 letter word that outlines how you can strategically meet someone you want to.  The fruit of your efforts will be either directly meeting, or an introduction to a decision maker.

7.  Setup a blog (and online identity).  This plays multiple roles:

- Job search is more inbound than ever before.  The blog helps you be found (SEO) via more inquiries and backs up your positioning from your CV or LinkedIn.
- Becomes a focal point of your promotional activities.  Everything should drive back to your online presence.
- Serves as your bully-pulpit for whatever ideas and content you generate.
- You should have accounts across all “social” or other media sites where potential quarry roam

8.  Find a voice.  Your currency in the new job search is going to be your ideas.  Your ability to “meet” or engage with new people will be based on the quality of your interaction.

- Write a paper / e-book / position statement.  What are some of the principal challenges universally faced by the industry?  Pick a small enough issue that you can address in a 5-10 page paper or 20 slide deck.  Imagine having a plan for something that could be implemented for an employer the day you walk in.
- Comment.  A lot.  Highly engage with other authors and commentators.  You need to be consistent and regular.

9.  Build out your social network.  Keep track who you know where.  Never forget, really the reason you are doing all of this is to meet someone that when a posting appears they can submit you on their behalf.

Fact: Do you know some large employers, like CNA Insurance, may get literally 10K resumes for a single opening?  And that a team of 4 HR reps have to file through them?  (obviously with automated keyword tools)?  If you are serious about a job, you never want to be in that stack.  If you get an internal referral you end-run that whole process.

10.  Buckle down.  If your starting from scratch this approach isn’t going to yield something right away.  It will take time and potentially more than one at-bat (actually interviewing for a job).