Article, Think of the Other P’s of Marketing, by Paul Coppcutt : HigherBracket.ca.

Think of the Other P’s of Marketing
by Paul Copcutt

Step 6 – Packaging

It’s no longer the case that a well crafted resume and targeted cover letter is going to land you the job. In fact it is much more likely that first contact for a new opportunity is not going to come from what have been the traditional avenues of job seeking. Namely the job advertising and application process. Third-party recruiters are only filling at best 20% of all positions, probably not even that high.

Even the most conservative of estimates place 50% of the job market being satisfied and sourced from networking and/or employee referral, some sources say as high as 85%. A generic resume is not necessarily going to get someone excited, especially if they do not have an immediate opening for those skills outlined in the document. You become relegated to the file for later pile, which nearly always is never looked at again.

So what can you do to get noticed? Some of the more traditional P’s of marketing are a good place to start.

Packaging
The resume needs to be a document that is flexible to various situations. Most people with at least 10 years of experience can write a resume that is more than the two page standard. So what gets cut? Better to have a document that is tailored to specific positions and highlights the more relevant skills and experience.

Use other career marketing documents to stand out, get noticed and stimulate interest. Even the best direct mail campaigns return less than 2%, so resume blasting and other such methods are not going to generate big returns and might even turn off a potential hiring manager or company.

Presentation
Do you look the part? Are you dressing in what you feel comfortable and more importantly what you feel good in – and is it relevant to your target audience? What others aspects of your make up are a true reflection of your brand? If you are in technology do you use a pen and paper or a PDA, do you have a web site or blog that reflects your technical expertise or are you still submitting paper resumes, is your email address joesmith@gmail.com or grubbychops@hotmail.com ? Think what is in your brand environment now that is on and off brand and look to make some changes.

Promotion
Besides the resume how else are you presenting yourself or raising your visibility? Pick three different mediums that you are comfortable with, for example networking, speaking and writing and then consider all the ways that you can make people aware of you through these. Perhaps it is writing for an association newsletter, or being on a panel of experts at a conference or thinking outside the box and attending a non-industry or vocation networking meeting.

Price
Do you know your price? This might sound like a crazy question, but it’s amazing how many candidates will waffle when someone asks the direct question how much do you want to earn to do this job? You need to know your absolute minimum, a hiring company knows their minimum and maximum – so should you.

Positioning
This is one area that, if you have done the personal branding work, you should be very clear on. This can save a huge amount of time and effort in that you should only be going after relevant and on target opportunities and leads. If you start to waver from this you get distracted, dilute your effectiveness and potentially damage your brand.

The temptation with any ‘campaign’ is to fix it before you get a chance to see if it is working. Building a brand is not an overnight thing – even the most successful brands have taken a lot of time and effort building their following, it is going to be the same for you.
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Paul Copcutt is founder of Square Peg Solutions, and excels as a personal brand consultant for professional service providers and business owners who are missing out on great business opportunities because they are not clear on who what they have to offer, who they should be talking to or how to get their message out there.
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