Whether you like it or not, you need to market yourself, as the global job market has become highly competitive. Marketing or selling your skills is an essential part of the job hunt.
You know you have the right skills and experience for a job, and you need to make sure the recruiters know this as well. After all, no one will market you better than yourself. That's why you should follow these strategies for a successful job search.
1. Prepare an Elevator Pitch
When you’re in a job interview or networking event, make sure that people remember you by your pitch. A creative and captivating elevator pitch is what you need to capture the attention of your potential employers.
An ideal elevator speech will let you communicate your objectives, skills, and experience in approximately 30 seconds. While making a pitch, make sure to include an introduction, background summary, strengths and skills, desired position, and a call to action.
You can include a modified version of this pitch in your social media profiles as well. Though you need to come up with your own elevator pitch, you can take some help from Copywriting Course’s elevator pitch generator.
2. Focus on Personal Branding
There is no alternative to personal branding if you want to get a job in this highly-competitive market. Just like you prefer buying products from renowned brands, recruiters also like to hire people with a polished personal brand.
Make sure to add a brief branding statement to your resume, cover letter, and social media accounts. Also, use a professional photo in your social media and resume. If possible, you can also create a logo and add it to your resume, website, and portfolio.
3. Market Yourself via Networking
No one can deny the importance of networking in the present era. While your knowledge and skills play a crucial role in getting a job, having a strong network contributes to a successful job search and career success.
Networking isn't only about having formal relationships with others. You also need to add some value to your network members. Helping others will let you establish a good image, and people will help you when you need it. LinkedIn is the most popular platform that helps to build your professional network.
4. Describe Instead of Being Brief
It may not be possible to be descriptive in your resume. However, don’t shy away from expressing yourself when you get the right opportunity.
Employers want to hire proactive and problem-solving people. Briefly talking about your accomplishments and experiences won't provide a clear idea to recruiters. Therefore, you need to take time and explain your success story to impress them.
For example, instead of saying you streamlined the communication among various teams, you need to describe the steps you took to streamline. You must also discuss the scenario before your action and how it changed after your steps.
5. Create a Strong Online Presence
Unless you have a strong presence online, it gets difficult to impress the recruiters.
If someone wants to learn about you and your work through an online search, they should find sufficient material that'll showcase your talent.
If your profession involves creating something like a design, blog, video, or website, you must have an online portfolio to keep samples of your work. In other fields, it’s better to have a prominent presence on social platforms like Behance.
You may also create a personal website that you can use for showing your portfolio and talking about yourself. Ultimately, your career choice and interest should tell you which online platform to choose for an engaging presence.
6. Look for Internships or Voluntary Works
Another successful marketing strategy for the job hunt is being a volunteer or intern. Either of them is the perfect way to keep your portfolio up to date. Particularly for recent graduates, the portfolio and skills come from academic activities. However, voluntary work enables you to build up a portfolio of real-world projects.
For example, if you’re a developer, you can build apps or websites for a local school or small business. Then, you can show that project in your portfolio as an industry-oriented work that gives results.
TechSoup is a popular website if you’re looking for IT-based online or in-person volunteer opportunities. You can also look out for internship opportunities in the relevant fields. Even if the internship is unpaid, it'll offer you much-needed exposure to the field of work. This will also put you ahead of others who are just out of college and have no idea about corporate culture.
Moreover, companies often hire interns who perform well and show diligence during the internship. You can visit Chegg Internships to find internship opportunities based on categories or cities.
7. Research on the Target Companies
It’s not wise to apply for every job vacancy because you desperately need one. Theoretically, a job might be the best fit for you, but it may make you feel miserable when you start working. Therefore, always do your research before joining or applying to a company.
If you know someone currently employed in a company where you’re about to apply, talk to them personally. Tell them about your skill and experience and ask for their opinion.
Else, you can go through the Glassdoor reviews to see how the employees feel about an organization. In a nutshell, do proper research before opting for any position.
8. Demonstrate Your Skills Properly in a Cover Letter
Job vacancy posts typically include the necessary skills for the position. It’s no surprise that most qualified candidates will possess that skill. So what makes you different from others?
You can stand out from the crowd by explaining how you’ll apply your skill for that task. While applying for a job, take a common skill you need for that position and describe how the company will benefit from your skills.
Use real-life examples and scenarios to demonstrate your ability to support company growth. Once you successfully flaunt your skill, the hiring managers will take extra interest in you and want to know more during the interview.
You can take inspiration from various cover letter templates and customize them to showcase your skills. Indeed is an ideal source for various cover letter formats that you can personalize for the targeted job post.
Marketing Yourself for a Job
Your marketing or self-promotion will help recruiters know about your skills and expertise. Use the above-mentioned tips to brand yourself as the right candidate in front of an employer.
Moreover, you can focus on personal branding to get clients as a freelancer.