1. Know what it is you want and know thyself!

In all my years of teaching job hunting, and all the students that I have worked with, there is one thing that is very clear and transparent: They have lost belief in the fact that they can control their career or destiny. This is so sad. As I have said time and time again, my goal is to take you from a world of negativity to a world of possibility. Marketing will open your avenues and opportunities.

To get back in the driver’s seat in terms of job hunting, yes, you need to do some marketing. But the first marketing you do is on yourself! “Know thyself,” who are you? What do you want to do? What are you good at? Why should someone hire you?

The worst mistake many job hunters make is assuming that people know who they are, and what they can do. Again, the whole job search process starts internally and will manifest itself externally (with an offer). Never assume anything in marketing. Learn to tell everything.

Get a piece of paper and write down all the things that you are interested in doing, like doing, would like to do, and have some knowledge about. These are called your skill sets. These are your talents. As you will see in my book, the goal of the job hunting game is to find a home for your skill sets.

Once you know what it is you want to do, the search becomes easy. You will come across as composed and confident with whomever you contact. I cannot overstress that you must know with absolute and total certainty what it is you want to do, and not waiver from this. You should be able to look someone right in the eye and say, “This is what I want to do, this is why, this is how you will benefit.” Sounds tough? Sure it is, but it’s precisely why so many people struggle.

They have no idea of what they want, and hope others will figure it out for them. Most people are not trained as mind-readers! This is your chance to stand out in front of your prospective employer as someone worth spending time talking to. So start now!

2. Develop the mindset that people want to help you and you can help them!

This is probably the number one reason most people fail in their endeavors to get a job. You, like your fellow students, probably assume that you should just respond to ads, and you should not approach people. You may think that it’s pushy, aggressive or not appropriate.

As you will hear me say in my CD, this is simply bad conditioning. It is not a case of being pushy, it is being proactive. Plus, it’s all in the way that you approach it. Yes, if you just ask someone for a job, without showing any value, then I agree, don’t bother. But if you have some knowledge and insight into what they do, how you can help, and put your value on the table, then you absolutely must approach people. This is what I call the “Something for Something” equation, and it’s the only equation that works in business and in life.

In reality, you are a blessing in disguise for people. You are bringing them value that will make their lives better, easier, more fun!

You see, if people see that you have made the time and effort, they will be more than happy to listen to you, help you, refer you, and remember you when the right opportunity becomes available.

People are willing to help you. In the terrible Asian tsunami, people around the world united to help in millions of ways.

You see, as human beings, we all want to do good. We all want to help people. It all goes back to something for something. End the guessing game and simply tell people why they should hire you. What is your value proposition? Make it short and simple.

Go through my CD Marketing for College Students. I show you very clearly and articulately how to develop value propositions, which are at the heart of marketing.

You have the core competencies and capabilities to write value propositions. The only thing that changes when you are looking for a job is that you have a new set of teachers. These teachers are called managers. You also have a new set of books. They’re called websites, product information, etc.

So if you can write a term paper, you can write a value proposition to a decision maker at a company.

Master the whole concept of value propositions to be successful in your job search campaign.

3. Approach people in the right way

Once you have figured out who you are, what you are good at, and accept that people are willing to help you, the next logical step is approaching the right person. You will hear me talk a lot about this on my CD. I will tell you time and time again to approach the DM, or decision maker. You need to do laser-sharp market research to find out who this person is. This is one of the hardest parts of your search process. The simplest way is to use a network contact to find out who the DM is (your new boss). In your case, it probably will be a manager in the company that you want to approach.

The obvious way is to call the company and ask who is responsible for marketing, engineering, R&D, or your area of interest. Get a name, phone number, and e- ail. There is a lot more on this in my book. For now, remember that your marketing or the value you create must be focused and directed at the right person to be effective – and this is the Decision Maker.

Remember that sales is a process and you need to approach this person in numerous ways. The best way is to send an e-mail, followed by a phone call, followed by another e-mail, followed by another phone call. It will take you five or six attempts to get the Decision Maker’s attention. Everybody is busy.

Always use the 2P’s of marketing: Be polite and professional at all times.

Stop thinking like a student, and start acting like a professional business person. When I teach sales, I tell people that others do not reject you; they reject your value proposition. If people do not respond, review your value proposition. Go back to my book.

4. Make the buying decision easy and a no-brainer!

As you will learn from the CD, people hire you to solve their problems. A job is a problem that needs to be solved. OK, you made a value proposition and the DM is interested in meeting you.

When you meet the DM, don’t assume that your value proposition is enough to get you hired. This was just the “bait.” He or she is probably meeting you because you obviously have excited their curiosity, but there is a difference between curiosity and action. You now need to move them to make you an offer.

Now, I am going to share a secret that is the key to the lock of the whole job hunting game. The reason that people don’t want to hire students is not because you have no experience, it is because you are seen as a risk. Yes, there is the possibility that you may not work out. No one wants to fail.

During your interview with a DM, he or she may ask:

-Do you have a car?

-Do you live nearby?

-Do you have a clean license?

-What do you know about my business?

Where are all these questions aimed? Yes, risk assessment. It’s really that simple. So remember, every question that the DM asks is based around your risk profile. Your goal is to show them that you have a low risk of failure. How? Go back to the 5P’s of marketing. Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. You must know:

-What does the company do?

-What are the company’s key projects?

-How can you add value to those projects?

-What are the flagship products?

-Something about the company’s employees

-How are sales and profitability?

-What are the challenges?

-What your new boss (DM) has been up to recently

How do you do this? Market Research, of course. All

information about companies is part of the public domain. It’s contained in Annual Reports, Web sites, product literature, etc. Do your homework. I tell my students, “If you are informed, you will not be intimidated!” It’s not just a catchy phrase – it’s the truth!

5. Leverage all contacts

If you do this, you will start to get calls and responses from all the people you make value propositions to. Don’t be surprised. I have so many students that have not just used my technique to find a job, but to find their “ideal job.” This is what makes me different from other job hunting systems on the market. This is why I do what I do and what makes marketing king!

Now another trick and tip for you whenever you meet people: After you get your value ball rolling, you must ask them a few questions.

“I appreciate that you have taken time to see me. You know that I am competent in my subject area. Can you:

– Refer me to some other people that you think would be interested in my skills and capabilities?”

– Give me the names of trade journals, publications that I should read?’

– Give me the name of trade shows I should attend?

This is the technique to be used if you are rejected. This way you do what all job- hunting books tell you to do – Network on to someone who can potentially hire you. 

You will never lose out if you use my system. Why? By being proactive, you will create opportunity for yourself, in contrast to others who are waiting for the world to come to them.

One of my students is now so masterful at Networking that he is talking to Sony. People have asked him to teach physics, and he has so many leads and opportunities that he has to get up two hours early every morning!

As I say in my book, if you make the effort and bring value to the table, the value you bring will start to open a lot of doors that you had no idea existed. Please trust me, it works!

6. Always continue to market

After using all these techniques and strategies, you will land your ideal job!

– You defined your value.

– You believed that you could get it and deserved it.

– You created value to get the ball rolling.

– You approached the key person – The DM.

– You networked from this person to others, to others, to others…

– You continued to Network and brought value to all you met.

– You got hired!

But once you get hired, never, never, never stop marketing! You should be in touch with all the people you met during your job search campaign. Thank them, and keep them informed on your career progress. Later on, who knows, maybe you will want to go and work for them. Relationships are golden in the world of business. As you do your job, always bring value to your boss. This is the only way to gain job security and to gain promotions.

I hope you have come to realize that marketing is not an academic concept; it is a way of life. It is about bringing value to the marketplace, and when you do it, I promise the market will respond to you.

This report has given you a good overview of the whole job hunting process. But I strongly suggest that you read the job hunting chapter of my book Marketing is King! Complete the test at the end of the chapter, and see how you fare.

My words of wisdom: If you change your mindset, you change your results. Develop the mindset of a marketing person and make things happen. Don’t wait for them to happen. Remember, life is about choices, and you have and deserve the best. Learn marketing and you can be in the driver’s seat. 

“It is not about who has more power over someone else. It is about who has more value than another. At the end of the day, value wins. If you can bring to the market the value required, you will win. When it comes to ego or economics, economics will always win.”