Marketing is the key to the lock! Learn it as quickly as possible!

One of my goals in life is to teach as many people as I can the true power of marketing, so they can use it to improve their quality of life. But marketing, like any skill, takes time and effort to master. You won’t wake up one day and become a marketing guru. People spend their lives mastering subjects. Just look how long it takes to get a degree. This is why you need to start early!

Even if you are not in your final year at college, you still need to remember that marketing is a valuable skill. Using marketing, you can land three or four internships during the time you are doing your degree. With this type of track record, you will certainly be the most desirable candidate when it comes to recruitment time.

Although your goal may not be to be a marketing expert, what you do need to accept is that marketing will be a fundamental part of your life. It is what will determine if you get an internship, what kind of job you will eventually get, if you will be promoted once you get hired, and how effectively you can move from one company to another. It will also determine how much you get paid and the type of relationships you are able to build. This is why I wrote Marketing is King! It is your ability to market that will determine how successful you are in your life. 

In this special report, I am going to discuss how marketing can be used to help you get your career off to a jump start. We will discuss how you can quickly and easily get an internship or full time position using marketing. I will share with you proven tips and strategies.

But first, remember that marketing is not simply about selling products, services or ideas. We associate marketing with sales because this is the most abundant and profitable side of marketing.

One of my goals is to take marketing from the business world to the real world. Is this possible? Sure, if you truly understand marketing. Marketing is about bringing value to the marketplace. I discussed this at length in my special report number one.

The world pays for value. Show the world the value you bring. This is marketing, packaging and positioning your skills in a way that make them valuable to others.

Marketing is the most valuable skill you will ever develop. Master it, and I promise your career will get off to an explosive start!

Let’s start with the basics of Job Hunting.

I was the first person in the U.S. to teach Job Hunting 101 at California State University. One question I am often asked is, “Mr. Pervez, how come a marketing professional is teaching job hunting? Shouldn’t you be out selling something?”

After having a discussion about how I believe marketing is broad and multi-dimensional, I quickly go on to explain how job hunting is really marketing at its best.

– What is sending out resumes called? Direct Marketing

– What is calling people to see if they have an opening called?

Telemarketing

– What is asking someone if they might know someone that may have a vacancy called? Network marketing

– What is it called when you research a company? Market research.

The whole of job hunting is really more than a disguised word for marketing. I really wish people would just come straight out and say it. Many people struggle with it, because they’re trying to market without any formal marketing training!

Let me prove the point. How many books have you read on marketing? How many courses, talks or seminars have you attended? Probably few, because most people assume marketing is something for the business world. This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. Marketing is for everyone! Including you!

I am very fortunate to have a 100 percent success rate with those I work with on a one-to-one basis. You can see the list of success stories on my web site, www.marketingisking.com, on the testimonials page. I don’t teach job hunting. I teach marketing. The rest takes care of itself.

No, you are not selling yourself!

Most students will say, “You’re right, all we need to do to get a job is ‘Sell yourself’.” Forgive me for saying this to prove the point, but you are not a prostitute! Yes, you are selling (good observation), but the product you are selling is your skill sets.

What are skill sets? Skill sets are your ability and natural talents to solve specific problems. At the end of the day, people hire you to solve problems for them!

I teach my students to use this phrase whenever they are in an interview situation. This phrase resonates with all employers. I specifically ask them to say:

“Based on my skill sets in this area, I think I can help you.”

It’s so simple yet very profound. Once you start using the words “skill sets” you will be in the top one percent of job hunters that get attention. This needs to be on your calling card, in email, letters and voice mails. The business world has its own vocabulary, and “skill sets” is the hot phrase to get an employer’s attention and to get you noticed and hired.

Remember, you have all the skills to make it happen. You just have not made the connection!

To be successful in your job hunting, or shall we say problem hunting efforts, you need to do two things.

1. Make the connection between marketing and job hunting, which I’ve already done for you

2. Remember that you already possess the skills to get people excited about you. Let me prove this. If I gave you a case study and asked you to write a one or two page term paper on it, could you do it? Sure you could. In the real business world we replace books and term papers with annual reports, company product information sheets, 10Ks and 10Qs web sites. The teachers grading you are called managers!

Once my students make this second level connection, they no longer are intimidated by corporations, because they have done their homework. They know about the company, the people behind the products, the challenges, opportunities, and most importantly, where they can add value.

In life it is not your age, but your ability that determines how people respond to you. Once you figure out that all company information is public domain, you figure out how to research company information like a pro. The world is then yours to own, since when you develop and make value propositions, you get attention. This is how my students out-perform anyone else.

Career offices can only provide limited direction and guidance. You need to go directly to the horse’s mouth!

Most career offices in the U.S. are merely data banks or a library of company information. But there is a huge difference in knowing about companies versus knowing how to approach them in a professional manner. This is what I teach in my CD Marketing for College Students. I walk you through step by step how to go about the job hunting process. I even show you how to get a job interview in 24 hours or less.

Career offices provide a valuable service, please don’t get me wrong. I highly recommend that you start visiting them as soon as possible to learn more about the options and opportunities available to you. But they can only take you so far. You must learn how to contact people in the different organizations you’d like to work for, and meet them for exploratory interviews.

Will people really meet you? Sure, it’s all in the approach. All people want to help other people. And the quicker you start meeting people, the quicker you will get a true understanding if it’s a career you want to pursue. 

When I was younger, I wanted to be an air traffic controller. When I called and met one, however, he told me never to take the job, since air traffic controllers have the highest rate of heart attacks of any profession due to stress.

So, go out there and have fun! You will be amazed who you meet and what you will learn.

The final advantage of getting in touch with people directly is that you may even get the opportunity for an internship and this is the best way to “test drive” a career.

Always be proactive! The world was meant to go to, not to come to you!

Have you ever heard the saying “success is when preparation meets opportunity”? You prepare by researching the type of careers you’re interested in pursuing; now you need to go after it. Here is a little secret:

“There are only two ways you can get a job. Either the job comes looking for you, or you go looking for the job.” But most of us were taught only one way. This is that the job must come looking for you, either through an ad, internet positing, friend, etc. It’s not true. Having the job find you put you head-on with the competition!

What is the alternative? How about if we change the rules of the game and say “This is the type of job I want, where I can add value and have fun.” Is this possible? Absolutely! My students do it all the time.

There is nothing wrong with you approaching people or marketing to people directly. In fact, they will appreciate it.

To be successful in your job search campaign, you must do the opposite of your competition. Go and find jobs even before they exist. Then you will be first in line when a job is available. Don’t compete, simply create new ways of approaching people and you will win the game.

I cannot overemphasize the importance of being proactive in your job hunting campaign. It goes back to a simple rule that I teach:

Activity = Results, and activity will always create opportunity for you.

Is this being pushy? No, it’s being helpful! Letting people know how you can help them should become a way of life for you. The best way to add value is to educate people on how you can help them.

Why do all the so-called employment agencies or staffing companies have all the jobs? They advertise to companies looking to hire. You can do the same thing!

There are no such things as jobs! We need to have a serious discussion on what a job really is. If you look at any organization, it is merely a collection of people working on various tasks.

If you look up the word “job” in the English dictionary, you will find it says a job is merely a task that needs to be performed. So I teach my students that a job is really no more than a problem. Take a piece of paper and write this down:

JOB = Problem

People do not give you jobs; they hire you to solve their problems. Once you master this, the game is going to become so much easier for you, and you will have an unfair advantage over the competition.

Do you see “Help Wanted” signs? Let me ask you to complete the sentence now. “Help wanted for what?” To solve my problem! If you don’t believe me, just go into a place that has a help wanted sign and ask them, “What do you need help with?

The shortest distance between you and a job is a problem. To find a job, all you need to do is to find problems you can solve. Bingo, a so- called job will emerge.

Maybe you have a degree in Chemistry in the area of titrations. You approach a company needing a lab technician to do titrations, and you’ve solved the problem and got the job. In the job hunting chapter of my book I talk extensively about this. Take the time to master the concept. It is fundamental to your overall search strategy!

A world of opportunity awaits you!

Most students have no idea how big their world really is. They assume that just because they did not get an interview when the companies visited their campus, they are toast. But this is a very myopic viewpoint.

There are some 19 million companies in North America. You can go to www.dnbbiz.com to get the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all of them. Most small companies do not have the luxury of having HR people to send to Universities, and their problem should be your opportunity. Contact them directly!

Here’s the million dollar question. How many jobs do you want? Just one? I would say the odds are in your favor!

We are so lucky to live in such an information-rich society. Take advantage of it. Today we have instant information with the internet and instant communication with e-mail. This is the best time in our history to be looking for a problem to solve!

Always build your self esteem.

The one quality you may lack as a young person is self esteem. Continually develop this quality. When you feel good about yourself and your ability to solve other people’s problems, you will like people, and feel confident in approaching them.

The way to increase your self esteem is to read. I have a list of books I highly recommend for your personal development.

It’s a fact that your thoughts determine your actions, and the only way to control your thoughts is through positive mind food.

Network, network, network.

Master the skill of networking. The shortest distance to get to who you want is via a network contact. What do you do if you want a recommendation for a quality doctor, dentist, optician, restaurant or plumber? Network, of course.

When you get your first job, stick close to winners. If you have a good relationship with this person and they move on to another company, they may likely take you with them!

Network all the time. In fact, if you think about it, the quickest way to find a job is to Network with the parents of all your friends in college! These are people who either run a business or know others who are.

There is an old saying in marketing: “If you are not networking, you are not working! The shortest distance from A to Z is always by N (the network).” The simple question, “Who else do you know?” can put you immediately in touch with those you need to talk to. The best marketers are the best networkers.

Summary

Good advice never goes out of style, and good advice always works! Accept that marketing is something you absolutely need to learn as quickly as possible, not just to get a job, but to ensure you are able to continually create opportunities for yourself and sustain momentum in your career. If you know how to market you will have an unfair advantage over your competition. Marketing is a lifelong skill.

Always focus on enhancing your skill base to be more marketable. Self development must become a way of life.

Make no mistake: Job hunting is marketing. Learn this, and you will stand head and shoulders above the competition.

There is no shortage of opportunity in this great land we live in. Our success is simply limited by our ability to market effectively.