Market thyself

02 Feb Market thyself

We’re currently in the midst of a recruitment drive and whilst taking a well-deserved break from reviewing applications, I thought it a good idea to pen some advice for those on the marketing job market.

I’m most likely the millionth (frustrated) person to write an article with advice for job seekers. Well, I’m writing this so make that one million and one.

My advice is ridiculously simple. You are a marketer – so market yourself.

I’ve separated the “how” part of my advice into dos and don’ts. You’d be amazed at how applying some of these very simple techniques can make a vast difference.

DO:

• Make it visual. A picture paints a thousand words. A thousand words will lead to a migraine. By visual, I mean visually appealing. Introduce an infographic, icons, clear divisions to the sections of your CV and so on.
• SHOW, not tell, your skills and achievements. Select the three or four (recent and relevant to the role) achievements you are proudest of. A picture with a few bullet points and you have my attention.
• Keep it concise. Less really, really is more.
• Have a professional social media presence on LinkedIn. Any potential employer will go look for you there.
• Invest in a professional portrait. I get generation Z, but a selfie taken in the car doesn’t cut it.
• Pay attention to detail. There are other people out there who are as detailed-obsessed as I am, which is why Bill and his team invented great tools such as spell check and line spacing (yes, people still send CVs with typos in 2016).
• Use the correct salutation. Yes, it’s 2016 and times are changing but a “Hey there, here’s my CV” is just messy.
• PDF your CV or resume before sending it out. For one, it looks very neat. And two, it hides typos…

DON’T:

• Copy and paste your job description. No one cares what you are expected to do. They want to know what you actually achieved.
• Try and fill as many pages as you possibly can. See point 3 under “Dos”.
• Send out applications from your current employer’s email – what message does this send to a prospective employer?

A basic marketing principle is differentiation. I’ve based the above advice (a great deal more constructive suggestions than destructive) on looking at hundreds of CVs in an effort to help job seekers stand out from the crowd. It’s all about marketing yourself – and using more than just words.