How to Pick the Best Career for You: Part 3

Marketing-with-Intent precisely drives you to your target and with greater speed because you are using the right mode of transportation, an accurate compass and a clear vision of where you're headed. You'll differentiate yourself from your competition by using the right vehicle to uncover the best career for you. Finding a job is easy. Locating a meaningful career is much harder but well worth the sweat.

The traditional method of career transitioning moves you out of the driver's seat and into the back seat. Whenever your career marketing campaign is driven by your needs rather than the employer's, you lose control of steering your job search in the right direction. Today's customer-centric marketplace requires companies to selectively position each product properly, target it toward the right market and package it into an effective, memorable branding. You'll need this same laser-beamed approach to pinpoint the right career. It is not a one-shot, random deal. You must market with intent.

Marketing is the whole business seen from the point of view of its final result, that is, from the customer's point of view. We distinguish ourselves through our marketing. Sell solutions, not product. Create demand. Effective marketing both in business and career campaigning also demands continued:

?Diligence in tracking outcomes

?Courage to ditch non- or underperforming efforts

?Hands-on creativity to exploit hidden opportunity

There is no such thing as "soft sell" or "hard sell." There is only "smart sell" and "stupid sell." If you try to appeal to everybody, someone else is going to sneak behind you and pick off significant chunks of your market. Translation: Your competition wins. You lose. Smart selling understands the critical difference between mass marketing and marketing segmentation:

?In mass marketing, candidates seek to appeal to a broad range of employers by passively utilizing a single untargeted and generalized marketing strategy. Dumb choice.

?In market segmentation, or Marketing-with-Intent, the job seeker proactively seeks to appeal to well-defined employer targets. This is accomplished through a strategically-designed marketing action plan that employs multiple strategies simultaneously. Smart choice.

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter achieved a successful career marketing campaign because the voters' needs were understood, emphasized, reinforced and fulfilled. Jimmy Carter overcame a voter-perceived liability of being a Southerner and Farmer by getting on a tractor, wearing blue jeans, and making sure the people saw his boots were mud-filled from walking the fields. His Marketing-with-Intent effort dramatically and effectively linked the need for voters for a leader that understood their issues to the credibility of being "one of the people."

Hot career tip: Want to transfer your skills into a better career and perhaps even a different industry and do so more quickly? Stop viewing and marketing yourself exclusively by what you've done. Tunnel vision severely underestimates your career options and income potential.

Here are seven tips to ensure you're marketing with intent and the expedition won't be futile:

?Know the job market

?Know your functional and industry options, or employer's needs in these areas

?Recognize your marketing skills, where you are most marketable, and all you have to offer

?Develop a marketing plan of action to generate multiple, simultaneous interviews

?Shore up your writing skills to create the kind of highly effective resumes and letter that make the system work

?Allow time to run a complete job search coherently, independently, and productively

?Gain sufficient exposure (access) to ample numbers of decision-makers

Marketing-with-Intent is a breakthrough market segmentation strategy that more definitively steers your career campaign by giving you back control of the wheel. However, this groundbreaking tactic consistently requires you to use the right tools to be effective:

?Positioning (posture yourself as a problem solver)

?Exposure (detect indications of hiring patterns and necessity for solutions)

?Marketing (create demand for your talents by communicating your benefit)

When you identify employer needs through subterranean market research and then develop a personalized solution and communication initiative that aligns with those needs, you'll flawlessly yield a positive outcome.

Never drive your job search blindfolded and certainly don't let hindsight be your tour guide. Zoom, Zoom.

Marta L. Driesslein, CECC(http://www.interviewing.com) is a senior consultant for R.L. Stevens & Associates Inc., a career marketing firm and organization celebrating over 24 years of providing strategic marketing solutions for its clients' career transitioning needs.

---

How to Turn a Job Search into a Career Find

The only way to find a new career is to... Read More

How to Manage Your Career Like a Business

Look upon yourself as a company with a product or... Read More

How to Insure Job Security

The attorneys I coach have one common problem. They don't... Read More

How to Reach Outside Yourself to Advance Your Career

When flipping the channels of your TV, you are bound... Read More

Career Advice On Freelance Writing Jobs

Sometimes the freelance writing jobs available are those that no... Read More

Competency Based Interviews - 6 Steps to Success!

Competency based interviews are intended to get the best from... Read More

Finding Success In Todays Job Market

This year we are experiencing the most dynamic and rapidly... Read More

Back to School for a Career Change

Q. I hate my job as a computer consultant. I... Read More

Surviving Corporate Politics Part 2: Keeping Up Appearances

Never a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression, or... Read More

Prepare for Your Performance Review Before You Start the Job

When you start a new job, you probably realize the... Read More

The #1 Job Search Mistake To Avoid: Not Preparing Your Mind!

Mental preparation is probably your most important task as you... Read More

Using Freelance Websites to Telecommute

How is your job hunting going? Have you had problems... Read More

Cracking the Connection Code: Networking for the Introverted

We've all heard it before: "Just get out there and... Read More

Expose Lies on Resumes

Purpose: Learn about the new Polygraph for management hiresHis heart... Read More

Free Resume Template: The ONLY One Youll Ever Need

WARNING: This article is likely to make you mad.In fact,... Read More

Is a Career Change on Your Horizon?

Making a career change is nothing new in today's job... Read More

5 Steps to Standing Out Above the Crowd at Work

Do you feel like one in a million at work... Read More

What You Should Know About A Medical Billing Specialist

Whether you are a person who is thinking about becoming... Read More

The Power to Succeed

It's amazing how we fool ourselves... while at the same... Read More

Mystery Shopping

Mystery shopping is an excellent way to make extra money.... Read More

Resume Writing and Preparation is Free Online

Creating a strong resume is a very important part of... Read More

Job Hunting Tips: Containing Anxiety

It hangs from the ceiling above your bed while you... Read More

In Control - Inside Tips on Interview Success

No, you can't control how the interview will be conducted,... Read More

Are You Taking Your Inner Brat to Work?

Is your inner brat taking over your job? Everyone has... Read More

The Network Within

When you hear the word "networking", what comes to your... Read More

Illegal Interview Questions -- Be Prepared

I'll quickly cover the following:A) Why Employer Ask Illegal Interview... Read More

Six Factors That Can Cost You the Interview/Job

Most job seekers know that an unprofessional appearance will count... Read More

Career Change Success Is Yours If you Follow The Formula

Recent surveys suggest that, given the chance, about four out... Read More

Waiting For the Official Job Offer

At the end of the third job interview, Helene was... Read More

Can Nurses Be Entrepreneurs?

Yes, Nurses can be entrepreneurs. In today's market place nursing... Read More

Seven Steps to Making a Successful Career Change

My first job was secretary to Moses. Having to transcribe... Read More

Business Dress for Women: Making Impact

Buying a suit can be an important investment when you... Read More

8 Steps to Getting On-Track When You Start a New Job

Starting a new job can feel like moving to a... Read More