I really wish people would tell it like it is: job hunting is no more than a disguised word for marketing!

If you are reading this report, and you are struggling to find a job, I believe I can help you. Why? Because hunting for a job is marketing.

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 When you send out resumes, it’s called direct marketing

 When you call someone to see if they have an opening, it’s called telemarketing

 When you ask someone if they know someone who may have an opening, it’s called network marketing

 When you research companies. it is called market research

 When you look at the internet and apply online, it’s called internet marketing

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I personally believe the only people that should be allowed to teach job hunting are marketing professionals, because they are the people who know how to market and get results. I respect other approaches, but I want to share a fresh one with you.

I was the first person in the U.S.A. to teach Job Hunting 101 at California State University, because I was the first person to make the connection between marketing and job hunting.

Now let’s talk about you and getting a job!

The reason you perhaps struggle is that you have been playing the wrong game (maybe soccer, when the game is really football)! And now there are different rules! And you will never be able to win the game, unless you know the rules.

Let me show you the game (and the rules) you should play when you look for a job.

It all starts in knowing the ultimate job hunting formula.

Having studied job hunting for the past eight years in great detail, I’ve found successful job hunting boils down to only four steps.

I promise if you follow these four steps you will be 100% successful! You have my word on this.

I have seen the formula work time and time again with each and every successful job hunter that I have ever met, worked with or trained.

1. Be proactive / Be willing to try / Approach the world!

2. Know who to contact with laser-sharp precision

3. Know what to say to get them excited

4. Be able to follow through and close to get the offer

Follow these steps and you will be successful. The hard part is doing each step correctly. This takes training in marketing.

Let’s walk through each of these steps, item by item, so you understand how a marketing professional would approaches them.

1. Be proactive

In reality most people don’t actually look for jobs, the job actually looks for them. If you respond to an advertisement in the media, you are simply being reactive, not proactive. You did not look for the job, the job came looking for you!

So the first rule of the job hunting game is to be proactive! Be willing to go out and look for a job, not have the job come looking for you!

The major problem with not being proactive in your job search is that even if you are successful in landing a job through a published source, you will at best simply end up helping someone else meet their goals, dreams and desires, by solving their problem.

They came looking for you with their problem, and you simply responded!

Let’s turn the tables for a moment. Stop and think about all the things you really want to do: all your strengths, capabilities and competencies. Then find people who could best benefit from your skill sets, and approach them directly. How does that make you feel?

Don’t do what everyone else does, when they simply respond to open vacancies.

Now isn’t that some food for thought?

In her book The Dark Before the Dawn, Theresa Castro writes that 70 percent of Americans dislike their jobs. Why? Because they did not choose them, they were chosen for them! They simply reacted to an opportunity that became available, maybe a “quick fix” at the time. They probably needed a job to meet their financial needs, and took what was immediately available.

Another reason that it pays to be proactive versus reactive is that if a job is advertised, you face very stiff competition. 

It is statistically proven that 70 to 80 percent of all openings are filled through network contacts. The best jobs are already taken through networking, the ads just get the “leftovers.” And there are a lot of hungry people after them!

Many of us suffer from “bad programming” when it comes to job hunting. Read Report 13 on my web site under recommended reading, and you will see that successful people always think in reverse! Now it’s your turn!

Bottom line – Stop being reactive, start being proactive. Proactively search for opportunities you want to pursue, instead of the opportunities that others want for you! Learn to take back control of your life!

I teach people to go after the jobs they desire instead of what is just available. This makes them so much happier in the long run. My students don’t just get jobs. They get jobs they love to do, and they can’t wait for Monday morning! They chose the job – it was not chosen for them.

I believe searching for a job is probably one of the most exciting things you can do in your life. Because you decide first what you really want to do, you could end up with an amazing career.

It’s not about just getting a job. It is about making a contribution. I believe your life has purpose, and once you find out what it is, you’ll be able to make a significant contribution.

At a more “macro-economic” level, I truly believe the reason we have an inefficient economy today is that many people work in jobs they don’t like to do, and don’t perform to their full capacity. Again, they did not choose the job, the job was chosen for them. An opening became available, and they simply reacted. Their full heart, mind, body and soul is not into what they are doing.

Don’t let this happen to you!

2. Know who to contact

Most people have no idea of the opportunities available to them when it comes to job opportunities. One of the greatest gifts of marketing is the ability to identify all possible opportunities.

And this is done through market research, the ability to research, get the facts, and uncover hidden opportunity.

Many people get frustrated and give up a job search because after sending out 50 or 100 resumes they end up getting rejected. They stop trying!

Most people have no idea how big the universe of opportunity really is! Did you know that there are about 14million companies across the U.S.A.? We don’t have enough hours in the day (or a lifetime) to contact them all! Granted, many are small companies, but Microsoft was once a small company! And over 80 percent of all new jobs in America are created by small companies. So where do you find all these companies, and how do you get information on them?

On-line Company Searches

www.hoovers.com/free/

This site has the name, address, and contact details. Basic searches can be done for free.

Trade Magazines

Trade magazines offer a goldmine of information. Every profession has its own trade magazine. Here you find articles from industry experts. Trade magazines are so essential to your job search because they “uncover opportunity” for you.

When you know what’s going on in certain companies, you have a reason to talk – a reason for people to want to hear from you. For example, nothing impresses a writer more than someone calling him or her and mentioning a great article!

Where do you find a list of all the trade magazines in the U.S.A.?

http://dir.yahoo.com/
Business_and_Economy/
Business_to_ Business/
News_a nd_Media/Magazines/
Trade_Magazines

This site has a list of all the major trade magazines in the U.S., with links to web sites.

Click on any of them, and you will soon be digging into a goldmine of information.

Another site I recommend which is often called the “bible of marketing” is the SRDS. www.srds.com. This contains the name, address, and contact details for every single media outlet in the U.S.A.

You do have to pay for access to the above site, but you can get free access at a local library.

Trade Shows

Every industry has its own trade shows. Trade shows are probably the best place to network with people, a place to meet the real “movers and shakers.”

I am not talking about career fairs, but professional trade events. At such a trade show, you will find CEO’s and top executives of many companies. In most cases, it is not expensive or difficult to get into a trade show.

Check out another web site to find these events.

http://www.eventseye.com/fairs/event_l381.html

Type in the country and city to get a list of shows. Another alternative is to go to companies’ web sites and look at upcoming events. You will see which shows a certain company will attend, and this is a golden chance to meet with the key people from that company.

Trade Associations

Every industry has its own trade association, as well. This is a place where industry professionals go to share knowledge in seminars and conferences. You absolutely must hook up with the trade association for your chosen industry. 

http://www.seekmeup.com/
directory/Business/
Associations/
B y_Industry/

Per my estimate there are some 30,000 associations in the U.S.A., so you will not run short on finding one that meets your particular needs or requirements. They are a great place to network, attend talks, and learn more about what is going on in your industry.

Local business license office

Many people I meet love to work with “start ups.” The place to find these is at your local county license office. Any new business that starts in your local community needs to register for a business license. Contact your local city office and ask for the business license office. It may charge a small fee, but it will be nominal.

Chambers of Commerce

Your local Chamber of Commerce is also a great source for local companies. Most respectable businesses are all registered at the local Chamber of Commerce office. Plus the Chamber regularly holds talks and meetings, and it’s a great place to network!

Newspapers

Local newspapers usually have some form of directory on local businesses. Simply call your local newspaper and ask. In the San Francisco Bay area, we have the Silicon Valley Business Journal. It lists the firms and carries profiles on them. There are numerous others all over the country.

I could go on and on, and I don’t want to bore you. But as you have seen, there is no shortage of people to contact if you know where to look. Knowing where to look comes from your marketing training.

3. Know what to say

Knowing what to say is what we call in the marketing world the “Value Proposition.” It’s a proposition of value to someone else. Most people struggle with this area significantly. And unless you are trained in marketing, you will find it difficult to write a powerful value proposition.

Notice any ad on television or other media that gets your attention, and it will follow the following sequence:

A Attention

I Interest

D Desire

A Action

It gets your attention, it gains your interest, it creates and stimulates desire. It leads you to action.

In the same way, when you write to a prospective employer identified through your market research, your letter must follow the same structure. This is a defined rule for all marketing communications.

4. Follow through and Close

The ability to follow through and close is called sales. However, most people have not had sales training. Did you know that a follow up phone call after a mailing can increase the response of the mailing by anywhere from three to five hundred times? It is statistically proven!

But how many times have you followed up after you sent out your resume? Or did you just accept a rejection, instead of finding out why, and perhaps getting a referral to someone else that may hire you?

Summary

As you can see, job hunting is not very difficult if you go about it in a logical and systematic fashion. By training I am a scientist, and I believe the way to get quality results is by spending time upfront on designing your experiments well.

All of this falls under what I call Job HUMP – Job Hunting Using Marketing Principles. There are defined tools for each of the steps. Let’s re-cap:

1. Be Proactive

This is no more than having the mindset of a marketing professional. Marketing people are always externally focused, and always looking for opportunities.

The number one reason that people fail in their job search is that they simply stop trying! They can’t handle the rejection. But “you have to be in it to win it!” Be willing to try in the first place, and continue to try!

2. Know who to call

This can only be identified through sound and solid market research. As I have shown you, there is no shortage of opportunity. You just need to know where to look for the pot of gold! It is right in front of you, and always has been.

All I have given you is a new pair of glasses so you can see it! You have sources to keep you busy for the rest of your life, and it’s only a sample of what is available by using the world’s biggest library – the internet.

Your ability to identify very quickly the location of the pot of gold and knowing who to call comes through market research.

3. Know what to say

Most people have never written a sales letter. The ability to write a powerful sales letter comes through copywriting training. Copywriting is a marketing skill. These are people who write the letters that convince you to buy products. You get them every day in your mail box. They get paid lots of money: A good copywriter can earn as much as $50,000 for one quality sales letter! And it’s worth every penny if it brings in the sales. Top copywriters work on a 10X ratio, which means the letter they generate will bring in ten times the cost, so a $50,000 letter is expected to bring in $500,000 in sales!

The whole concept of copywriting is to put words into feelings and emotions, since we all buy first on emotion.

The area that many people struggle is the two P’s of marketing, Packaging and Presentation. And this can only come though the ability to write and present top quality copy.

Knowing what to say is called Marketing Communication.

4. Follow Up and Close

Just presenting a value proposition to a decision maker will not get the sale. It’s no different from sending out a bunch of flyers, and hoping that people will respond. People are busy, but “I am busy” does not mean “I am not interested”! You absolutely must follow up with the decision maker after sending a value proposition. This skill is called sales.

It’s always marketing

Job hunting, in my opinion, always boils down to marketing. Once you make the connection, the rest is easy.

Additional Resources

The links below are additional resources to help you with your search.

Career Sites

www.ajb.dni.us

www.careerbuilder.com

www.careermag.com

www.careers.org

www.wsj.com

www.cweb.com

www.coolworks.com

www.dice.com

www.hotjobs.com

www.jobbankusa.com

www.jobtrak.com

www.monster.com

www.tjobs.com

Finding Target Companies

www.dialogweb.com

www.companiesonline.com

www.sec.gov/edgarhp.htm

www.hoovers.com

www.news.com

www.inc.com/resources/inc50

0/index.html

www.superpages.com

www.craigslist.com

Periodicals

www.nbew.com

www.barrons.com

www.ceoexpress.com

www.bizjornals.com

Trade Magazines

www.thomasregister.com

www.gale.com

www.srds.com

http://dir.yahoo.com/
Business_and_Economy/
Busine ss_to_Business/
News_and_Media/Magazines/Trade_

Magazines

Direct Mailings

www.accudata.com

www.zapdata.com

www.goleads.com