One of the things I always advise NETSHARE members in our weekly welcome calls is that you need to think of the job search process as if you were launching a business or a new product. The product, of course, is you and the business is your career. You can use the same principles you would apply to marketing a new product to see if your “go to market” strategy is in line with your potential market, i.e. the companies that need your talent.
I recently ran across a guest blog entry on Dan McCarthy’s Great Leadership site written by Steve Trautman, author of Teach What You Know: A Practical Leader’s Guide to Knowledge Transfer. Trautman’s post poses the five questions you need to ask to see if you understand the big picture strategy for your company. In reading the blog post, it occurred to me that these same five questions apply well to how you manage your job search. They are an excellent litmus test to determine if you really understand your personal value proposition and how your talents, your “product,” fit in the big picture of your target market. So ask yourself:
- Who are your customers or customer segment you serve, listed in order of priority? Can you identify those target companies who would best be served by your skills? Can you at least create a profile of the kind of company that could use your talents? This question may not be as easy to answer as you think.
- What are the services you provide and which ones, if any, may need to change to implement your current strategy? Think of your services as your marketable skills. If you align those skills with the needs of your customer, e.g. your target employers, do they match up? Does what you have to offer fit what those potential employers need?
- What is your value proposition and how does it set you apart in the marketplace? This is an increasingly important question. Remember that no matter what position you are seeking, there are dozens of other candidates who have the same basic qualifications. You might consider those qualifications the price of admission. To stand out from the crowd, you need to identify what talents and skills make you unique.
- Which environmental trends or issues are important to your strategy, such as market, economic, societal, political, or environmental? If you are looking at the big picture, you have to consider how your industry is being affected by large-scale change, such as new regulations or new economic factors, and how your skill set can help address those changes. You also can think about this question as “fit.” What environment requirements do you need for you next job, including salary, managerial hierarchy, cultural fit, and anything else that you can identify as a prerequisite for a good job fit?
- What three things are you doing (or doing differently) to support your strategy? What is your marketing strategy for your product? Have you identified three or more things you can do to align your product (your expertise) with your target market (hiring companies)? Have you expanded your networking strategy? How are you connecting with decision-makers in your target companies?
If you can determine how your expertise fits in the big picture, you will be ahead of the competition when it comes to closing the deal that delivers your next job.
