Just like many of you, I was laid off when the market tanked. I guess considering that I was in marketing for a real estate development company, I was asking for it. I was lucky enough to take off to Europe for a while to clear my mind, but now that I am back, I am getting frustrated…grrrrr…I am a hard worker, awesome at what I do (did) and I want to get back to doing it. So why is no one responding to me?!?! One of the first things a friend told me when I got laid off was “well, you should update your resume”…really? Thanks Einstein. Everyone thinks they are an expert by offering how-to advice on marketing your products or yourself during a recession, et cetera. So in the past couple of weeks, I have taken a whole new approach on myself as a job seeker and am happy to say, I am starting to get somewhere.
It’s Not You, It’s Me
It is the old saying “it’s not you, it’s me” and that could not be more true. It is not you, nor your performance, nor the product you are promoting. It is the economy and everyone is trying to make ends meet. But now I find myself amongst a huge pool of extremely qualified individuals. So I say take all that “how-to” advice and apply it to yourself. You are a business and you are the product. The employer is the consumer.
The Oh-So-Painful Job Search
It is easy to get frustrated when you sit in your house from day to day, searching website after website and getting nowhere. So, I decided to start working harder to sell and market myself, just like i would have once done in my former employer and for the products I was selling and marketing.
Fellow Daily Anchor Editor Rebecca Novack recently posted an article on How to Market Unpopular Products. I started to think of myself as the unpopular product. What do I do that others (employers) cannot live without and that adds value to myself as a potential employee at their company? Make yourself absolutely essential to the hiring managers’ life and all the others you could potentially work with. How are you going to simplify their lives? Is there are particular niche that you serve that would be beneficial? You want people to be dying to work with you, because you are that incredible! And finally, how do you get through to these people? You don’t want to be just another person applying through the company‘s website. Do research. Research the possible hiring manager through professional networking websites like Linkedin or Plaxo or Naymz. Do you have contacts in common? How about through social networking sites like Facebook? Or even make random phone calls into the company asking if you can send them your resume. That could mean one more actual PERSON reads your resume and maybe they will forward it on to the right person. Email friends and old contacts and ask if they have contacts at the company where you are looking to apply and then phone that person and send your resume directly to them.
No More Lecturing
You might be thinking “duh, Ella. You’re stating the obvious,” but you would be surprised how many of us get stuck in a rut of copying and pasting from a cover letter you Googled or sending off the same resume to every job you apply for.
I am not going to sit here and tell you what to do to get a job, because the fact is, that if I knew the secret, I would have one right now. I am also not going to tell you what to do to save your business, because if I knew that, I would have passed the info onto my former employer and many other companies a long time ago in order to save many jobs. The point is that we are all in survival mode at this point. Certain things are going to sell, while others will not; consumers will respond to one thing and not the other. Think of yourself as the product and the hiring managers the consumer.
Now, excuse me while I go take my own advice.
Managing Editor’s note: There’s a damn good reason why I asked Ella to be a part of The Daily Anchor, and if I were in a position to hire a marketing/PR genius, Ella would be #1 on my list. When I launch my forthcoming Marketing/Advertising consulting business you can be damn sure I have Ella pegged to head up the Marketing Department, so you better snag her up before she’s unattainable… Send her a job offer here. – Andrew S. Lennon | Managing Editor | The Daily Anchor
Photo credit: Niagra
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post, Ella. Add to the product consumer mindframe, the fact that they need you. Many folks in the job hunt allow their need to get hired give “power” to the hirer. Remember your strengths, and confidence has to be one of them.
Doing your research is so important. All the information you could possibly need is just a click away on the internet. I mean, come on…GOOGLE is God. Let Him (ok, GOOGLE) work miracles for you…with your help, of course
Thinking of yourself as the product. Love it.
I agree.
When people are up against the wall, great things can happen. People need to take their newly acquired free time and invest in themselves. I personally use http://www.lynda.com when things get slow at the office or if I have free time at home. It is a great site with video tutorials that covers much of the software used in the creative industry. I think people should be educating themselves, which ties in with what you were saying. I also believe there are many opportunities for people to do pro-bono work. Pro-bono work can open new doors, it looks good on a resume, and it also makes you feel good about yourself at the end of the day.
Great Post Ella!
I totally agree that you should think of yourself as a product you need to market.
In addition, nowadays most of potential employers “google” candidates prior to meeting them, so I think all job seekers should brand themselves professionally on search engines results pages, i.e., manage their Google CV