RESOURCE LIBRARYA… · the necessary skills, experience, and a good fit for the company culture. •If you are the right person, excellent! •If not, that’s okay. You will find

RESOURCE LIBRARY

http://www.northcoastjobseekers.org/

One way to look at the job search is a process of marketing yourself to prospective employers. Marketing professionals can tell you that it takes more than a nice looking ad (or resume) to land the job or account.

A job search marketing plan is an excellent tool for helping you conduct an effective and efficient job search. Using some of the best techniques and methods from the world of marketing, you can create such a plan for yourself. In this presentation Mike D'Amico will help you learn how to create and use this tool for your search.

Mike D'Amico has worked as a management consultant, and is currently employed as a Financial Analyst with a Cleveland-area software company. He has offered personal assistance to job seekers for the past several years, and is on the Advisory Board of North Coast Job Seekers.

Sources

This presentation is not original material, but rather a high-level outline of recommended information found in books and on websites, including:

– Job Search Toolkit - University of Virginia, Darden School of Business https://alumni.darden.edu/s/1535/09-darden/oneCol.aspx?sid=1535&gid=9&pgid=6473

– Gallup Organization

– What Color is Your Parachute, by Richard N. Bolles

– Designing Your Life: How To Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life, by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans

NCJS - Job Search Marketing Plan 2

https://alumni.darden.edu/s/1535/09-darden/oneCol.aspx?sid=1535&gid=9&pgid=6473



Why Use a Job Search Marketing Plan?

• You share a common goal with the hiring manager.

• You both want to see the right person in the job, with the necessary skills, experience, and a good fit for the company culture.

• If you are the right person, excellent!

• If not, that’s okay. You will find another position that is a better fit.

• You are not a beggar looking for a job. You are a unique individual with experience and skills that can solve the company’s problems and get the job done. You are asking, “How might I be of service to you?”



• We take the approach similar to marketing a product or service, and developing a market.

• But you are not a product and you are not a service. You are a person with unique skills and experience, and specific goals, values, interests, and motivations.

• You have to be clear about what these are, for you.

• You need to know what you are offering, as an employee, and what the value of your offering is in terms of outcomes and benefits to the company.

• Self-assessment and a vision of what you desire will be important to a successful job search.



• Job Seekers are often overwhelmed and ask “Where do I start?”

• We say “It all starts with you.”

• Think – Plan – Do – Repeat as Necessary

• Process of Guided Discovery

• What does success look like, for you?

• Clarify and focus your efforts

• Effective – Doing the right things

• Efficient – Doing things right



• Getting unstuck – generating alternatives • Alternative employers, roles, industries, titles • Transferrable skills • Choose better when you have a number of good

ideas to choose from • Helps others to help you by being clear about

what you are seeking and how you can provide value in the marketplace

• Identify hidden jobs that are not posted • Supports persistent effort – What else can I do?



• Supports development of marketing materials, such as resume, cover letters, your story and LinkedIn page profile

• Supports your networking strategy

• Enhances your knowledge about companies, industries, current business issues



• Supports your networking strategy. Per LinkedIn: – 70 percent of people in 2016 were hired at a company

where they had a connection.

– 80 percent of professionals consider professional networking to be important to career success.

– 35 percent of surveyed professionals say that a casual conversation on LinkedIn Messaging has led to a new opportunity.

– 61 percent of professionals agree that regular online interaction with their professional network can lead the way into possible job opportunities.


Marketing Plan

• What is the offering, product, or service?

– What are the benefits of the offering?

– What are the features of the offering?

– What problems does it solve?

– What is the “Job to Be Done?”

– What does it cost to supply the offering?

– How to communicate the offering?


Marketing Plan

• Who is likely to need and purchase the offering? – Defined customer segments

– Potential customers’ demographics

– Identify individual customers

– Geographical location

– Industries

– Current business issues

– How to reach these customers


What is a Job Search Marketing Plan?

• Applies general marketing plan concepts to your job search

• You are the offering • Potential employers are the customers • Provides clarity and focus • Sets a direction for the job search • Identifies actionable steps • What are you offering? Who will want it? How

will you make contact? • Provides alternatives


Example Summary Page of Job Search Marketing Plan


How To Find This Information



Career Objective

• Being able to clearly and concisely define what you are looking for in a position is the first and most important step in the career search process. Various resources are available to help you determine your career objective, including self-assessment and career objective tools.

• Job Objective Exercise is a worksheet style tool that helps you clarify and outline your job objectives.


https://alumni.darden.edu/s/1535/images/gid9/editor_documents/career_services/job_objective_exercise_compact_fillable.pdf

Self Assessment

• The best results in pursuing careers happen when you know who you are and are thoughtful about the key drivers and priorities in your life. Armed with this information, you can evaluate careers and specific job opportunities to find the best fit with your interests, passions, values and skills. Here are several options for you to consider:

• Suggested Reading:

• Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful LIfe by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. (2016)

• What Color Is Your Parachute? 2017: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers by Richard N. Bolles.


https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Your-Life-Well-Lived-Joyful/dp/1101875321




https://www.amazon.com/What-Color-Your-Parachute-2017/dp/039957820X/ref=dp_ob_title_bk






Work View and Life View

• Work View – What is your definition for what good work deserves

to be?

• Life View – What kind of values and perspectives provide the

basis for your understanding of life? What matters to you?

• (Based on Designing your life, Burnett & Evans, 2016)


Work view

• Write a short reflection about your work view. This should take about thirty minutes, and about 250 words. It is your definition for what good work deserves to be.

• Example of questions • Why work? • What’s work for? • What does work mean? • How does it relate to the individual, others, society? • What defines good or worthwhile work? • What does money have to do with it? • What do experience, growth and fulfilment have to do with it? • Please note: it is not a job description. It is not about what work you

want to do, but why you work.


Life view

• What kind of values and perspectives provide the basis for your understanding of life? What matters to you? Take thirty minutes to reflect and write about 250 words.

• Why are we here? • What is the meaning or purpose of life? • What is the relationship between the individual and others? • Where do family, country and the rest of the world fit in? • What is good and what is evil? • Is there a higher power, God, or something transcendent, and if so, what

impact does this have on your life? • What is the role of joy, sorrow, justice, injustice, love, peace and strife in

life? • The questions are to provoke your thinking, not about religious or political

debates. Ask the questions that work for you, make up your own and see what you discover.


Coherence and work view/life view integration

• Read over your work view and life view and write down a few thoughts about the following questions:

• Where do your views on work and life complement one another?

• Where do they clash?

• Does one drive the other? How?


Flower Diagram

• In a nutshell, the “flower diagram” is a self-assessment, intended to help you figure out what type of work is most appropriate for you. Rather than existing in the form of a test, it merely exists as a small set of questions that help you to nail down what you’re actually looking for. These questions take the form of petals on a flower.


Flower Diagram


Components of Flower Diagram

• Helps you to create a truly honest assessment of what you’re looking for. The more time you spend honestly addressing questions like these, the better your job hunting will go. – Geography – Interests – People and Environments – Values, Purposes, and Goals – Working Conditions – Salary and Level of Responsibility – Skills


Market Research

• In-depth research - about your target industry, companies, roles, and your own suitability - are critical to a successful job search, particularly if you are making a switch or pivot. Such research gives you the clarity and conviction you need to yield positive results from your networking and interviewing.


Employer Research

• Developing a target list of companies the foundation of a job search. Not all jobs are posted, and ideally, you want to be on a short list of candidates before a job is posted – be proactive about employers you would want to work for rather than waiting for posted openings.

• The most obvious place to start in researching a particular company is its own website. But for broader information, or if you are trying to find companies that you may not have thought of, here are some resources. Oh and don’t forget about a good ‘ol Google search!


Informational Interviews

• How certain are you about what you want to do – do you still have questions? What are the various roles you could pursue and who are the players (companies)? What skills are required for these roles? Are you a viable candidate or are there skill gaps to fill? If you’ve identified some target companies already, how well do you know their inner workings? A great way to answer these types of questions is by conducting informational interviews.


Compensation Research

• A critical part of your research is understanding the market compensation for your target role(s). Not only do you need to know that your target role(s) meet your compensation expectations, but you also need to be prepared to disclose your compensation expectations very early in the job search process.

• Web Sites: • GlassDoor • LinkedIn • PayScale • Salary.com • Salary Expert • TransparentMBA


http://www.glassdoor.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/salary?trk=jobshome_linkedin_salary

http://www.payscale.com/

http://www.salary.com/

http://www.salaryexpert.com/

https://www.transparentmba.com/

Networking

• Most job openings, especially at senior levels, are sourced through networking. Networking maximizes your exposure and helps you to gather information that can lead to job opportunities. Networking is about building supportive, symbiotic relationships. Only when you have built up trust and credibility with a contact can you begin to rely on that person for job leads or a direct referral. When you set up a networking conversation, have an agenda with clear goals, such as:

• Establish a relationship and build credibility • Offer a clear message of what you are looking for and why. Your

story! • Collect information about openings or potential openings and how

talent is sourced • Get introductions to additional relevant contacts • Set up an opportunity for continued dialogue


https://alumni.darden.edu/s/1535/09-darden/index.aspx?sid=1535&gid=9&pgid=6485

https://alumni.darden.edu/s/1535/09-darden/index.aspx?sid=1535&gid=9&pgid=6485

Your Story

• The most common opening question asked in an interview is "Can you tell me about yourself?" Most interviewers decide if you are a fit in the first 30 seconds and whether they are really interested in pursuing your potential employment in the first five to eight minutes! How you answer this simple question can make or break a successful interview.

• Pro tip: • Your story is an opportunity to explain why it makes sense

that your professional path has led you to this interview. How does your experience prepare you for the job at hand?


Networking

• Using LinkedIn and other Search Tools

– Identify the hiring manager

– Identify other company employees

– Participate in job search networking groups

– Attend networking events

– Participate in professional organizations

– Request introductions to others beyond your first level of LinkedIn contacts


Networking

• Prioritize companies to target from your marketing plan

• Keep accurate records of company information and contacts

• What did you learn?

• Ask for connections to others

• Follow up


Identify Target Companies

Reference USA - Database

• Cuyahoga County Public Library (as of 06-18-19)

• Log In to Your Account (need a Library Card)

• Research > Resources > Business

• Reference USA > US Businesses > Advanced Search

• Use Filters to Refine Search

• Zip Code, SIC Code, Number of Employees, Revenues, Sales Volume, Etc.


Identify Target Companies

Reference USA - Database

• View Results (List)

• Select Company from List

• View Details

• Download or Print Results

• Additional Research

• Company Web Sites

• News Sites, Crain’s, Industry and Trade Sites


Businesses, Job Titles & Jobs To Be Done

• Think of a business as a collection of activities necessary to sell, produce, and deliver a product or service.

• Job Titles contain a number of activities that are to be performed. Job Titles vary by company.

• Jobs To Be Done are the desired outcomes for which you are responsible.

• It is important to understand the activities and desired outcomes when interviewing. How do these requirements fit with your self-assessment?


Businesses, Job Titles & Jobs To Be Done

• Is this work that you really want to do?

• Is this a subject that you want to know more about?

• Are the skills required those that you want to get better at?

• Will this job take you in your desired direction?

• If so, your enthusiasm and energy will help you.

• If not, it may be a bad fit. Don’t waste months and years of your life developing expertise in something you really don’t want to do.


Company Culture & Fit

• Your fit in the company culture can be as important as, or more important than, your ability to do the job.

• Ask questions to gather information.

• Does the company culture encourage collaboration, learning, growth, and support? How?

• Does the company see you as a unique individual or as a cog in the machine?

• How does the culture line up with your Work View?


Employee Engagement

• The Gallup Q12 Index

• Gallup's employee engagement work is based on more than 30 years of in-depth behavioral economic research involving more than 17 million employees. Through rigorous research, Gallup has identified 12 core elements -- the Q12 -- that link powerfully to key business outcomes. These 12 statements emerged as those that best predict employee and workgroup performance.


Employee Engagement

• 1. Do you know what is expected of you at work?

• 2. Do you have the materials and equipment to do your work right?

• 3. At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?

• 4. In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?

• 5. Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?

• 6. Is there someone at work who encourages your development?


Employee Engagement

• 7. At work, do your opinions seem to count?

• 8. Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important?

• 9. Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?

• 10.Do you have a best friend at work?

• 11.In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?

• 12.In the last year, have you had opportunities to learn and grow?


Employee Engagement

• When networking and/or interviewing, ask your own questions based on the above Gallup Q12 questions to help you determine if the company culture is a good match for what you looking for.

• Does the company have a set of written value statements? Can you review it?

• Ask for some examples of the company’s values and how they are demonstrated on a daily basis.

• Do your values fit with the company values?


Conclusion

• Job Search Marketing Plan provides focus to your activities

• Purpose and direction

• Process of Guided Discovery

• Networking with a purpose

• Record what you learn

• Helps others to help you in your job search

• First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. – Epictetus


Documents

RESOURCE LIBRARYA… · the necessary skills, experience, and a good fit for the company culture. •If you are the right person, excellent! •If not, that’s okay. You will find