I just share based on my experiences and from my viewpoint. Feel free to share another perspective. I am very happy if you share your opinion here, just write in the comment below or via email (see in Contact Us page).
After reading this, I hope you can do a mapping from marketing mix into your action plan. Then you are able to develop a blueprint, perform an action based on this, and finally get a better job.
Let's start.
Foreword
Before continue on the main subject, I suggest you to read my previous article about marketing mix below:
1. Marketing mix fundamental theory that Beginners must know.
2. Marketing mix 4 Ps 7 Ps 8 Ps.
Once you are ready, please carry on this main subject.
Nowadays, the competition among job seeker to get a job in desired company is extremely tight.
Imagine that the amount of college students who have graduated from their university. The growth of fresh graduated students increase strikingly. Then you can observe that the growth of new company presence very less than that.
As a consequence, the level of competition among them to get a job especially in favorite company increase exceedingly.
Only people who have smart way will win.
Marketing mix is a beneficial tool for you
Now, you have already known that people who have smart way will win this heavy competition.
Smart people always utilize the proper tool to work. Therefore, I introduce you one of marketing tool called marketing mix as a framework tool for you to develop your successful career blueprint.
Why you need a framework? Because you will get clear step and act based on that.
Let me give you an example why you need a tool.
You have to create a business model to understand clearly what is your product, how is it created, how is it delivered, who is your customer, what is your revenue stream, etc.
You can write them detail, but you are confuse what is the relation, where is the flow, especially it is difficult to briefly explain your business model to investor.
Now, there is a tool to generate business model easily. You can easily mapping the item to another item. With this tool you can see the relation among items. You can observe the flow. You can clearly know and explain what is your revenue stream (income generation). And many more.
You can explain comprehensively your business model to your investor with one page.
The tool is called business model canvas. See the sample here.
Back to the topic, you can implement the same way in your case. You will use marketing mix model to get a job.
You will create marketing mix classification, mapping it to your case, translate it to your action plan, and implement it in your daily life. And finally enjoy your new job.
Marketing mix classification mapping
As you've read before, marketing mix contains 4 Ps, they are Product, Price, Place, Promotion.
Let us translate a marketing perspective to your daily life (job seeking).
1. Product
In your case, the product is YOU. Successful person is a person who comprehend company need (requirement). Once the person known, he develops his skill (hard skill and soft skill) appropriate to the requirement in order to meet company need and requirement.
A superb person can deliver values to the company. He can give the company what the company really want.
Action Plan
a. Find out your exact desire, your ultimate destination, your fundamental goal.
Example:
– You are fresh graduated. You have an Information Technology (IT) degree.
– You really want to be a IP Network Engineer.
– You truly intend to work at Cisco Systems
– You have a clear goal that you want to achieve the best career in one of the top IT company (Cisco Systems)
b. Research the market.
In your case, market means your industry and your targeted company.
Example:
– You must find out what the IT industry need from the IT practitioner.
You can perform full investigation in many job hunting or head hunter website or social media website, newspaper, magazine, etc. For example: monster.com, careerbuilder.com, linkedin.com, etc.
How to find out the right information from above websites? It is easy, just browse in their career advice or career center page. You can also browse their article about information you are looking for.
Once you got the information, make the list of requirements in your notes.
You can see sample of marketing skill set and marketing soft skill in this blog if you want to be a marketer.
– You must discover what the company need.
You have to do a research in the job hunter website. Usually a company put the advertisement there. You can observe the requirement there.
You can also notice in particular company website. Occasionally that company put a career page in it's website. See if there is opportunities there and find out the requirements.
c. Develop your skill and update your hard and soft skill based on the need (demand) you find above.
There are many practices to make you expert in your area. For examples:
– Attend a training or seminar.
– Attend a course both offline and online course.
– Join a community and be active there.
– Be a volunteer in one event that is related to your industry.
– Join a mastermind group and practice your knowledge with the group.
– Write your opinion/knowledge in a blog, newspaper, or magazine.
– Share your knowledge to others.
– Read more book, magazine, blog, website.
– Find a senior in your industry, for example senior network engineer. Then make a good relationship with him. Afterward you can discuss and practice the knowledge with him.
d. Update your skill and do more practices so that you can deliver your values and meet company requirement.
Why you must do more and more practices? Here is the answer:
A study reveals that the amount and quality of practices were key factors in the level of expertise people achieved. See more information about this in the article entitled the making of an expert.
One more answer, Malcolm Gladwell in his book which is entitled Outliers mention the 10,000 hours rule. The point is 10,000 hours of deliberate practice are needed to become an expert.
The conclusion is the more you practice the more chance you will be an expert in your area.
2. Price
The price here means, how much money a company will pay you. If you have well prepared in point 1 (skills), you deserve the best amount of money. Because a company know exactly the reason why you deserve the best and the company feel steady to pay this particular amount of money to you.
You are worth what company is prepared to pay for you. The more expert the higher payment you will get.
Action Plan
a. Research price positions (your expertise in your field) in the marketplace.
You can find out in websites that mentioned above. Usually, they release salary survey result. Observe that and reflect that salary with your current skill.
b. Make better preparation once you know the price positions.
The things must remember:
– The more salary, the more value a company will expect for their spend money.
– If you want higher salary, a company will look forward you to deliver better service (skill).
– If you expect high salary, a company will expect you to give more and best contribution to them.
As a consequence, you must well prepared to enter the workforce to earn desired amount of money.
3. Place
Place in the marketing mix means ways of displaying your product to customer. It can be shop, market, mall, online store, etc. Once again, place means how the product will be delivered to the consumer.
In your case as a job hunter, it means how your skill (your CV) will be delivered to the targeted company. In other words, how your CV can be seen by the company.
The point is you have to answer, “how to make a targeted company find and see your CV”
Action Plan
a. Join a community which is related to your targeted job.
For examples:
– Suppose you want to work in Cisco system as a network engineer, find a community such as Cisco community. Be active there both asking a question and answering a question.
If you are active giving contribution in your community, you will be “seen” by head hunter or by targeted company. Because they will only notice an outstanding person.
b. Join an alumni community.
Usually, you find a lot of information about job opportunities there.
c. Add your professional networking
Share your knowledge via blog, social media site, informal school or training, etc. You will be known by word of mouth, because your reader or your student will tell about you to other.
d. Put your CV in Jobs website like I have mentioned before.
I have experienced before that many head hunters contact me because they noticed my CV (my background and experiences) in Linkedin. So, you may try this action.
e. Create personal website or blog.
The content may varies start form your personal notes, personal history, work experiences, knowledge sharing, news update, and so on.
In this media you can show your expertise to the world. At the end of the day, head hunter or particular company will “find” you and contact you.
I have a good sample how you can show your expertise by sharing experiences and knowledge via blog. This is the sample, you can see here.
4. Promotion
Promotion is the way to communicate the product (feature, benefit, value, etc) to the current customer and potential customer.
So, in your case as a job hunter, you should communicate your value, your expertise, your experiences, your background, your potential contribution to the company, and so on to potential company or head hunter.
The ultimate point here is persuade the potential company some reasons to choose you rather than others.
Action Plan
a. This is related to the previous action plan. Enhance your personal web or blog.
Why you must enhance your online presence? Before I answer this, let me tell you what kind of online presence you should have.
You should try your existence offline (like join the right community or group) and online. The samples of online are: mailing-list group, whatsapp group, BBM group, Facebook group, twitter, blog, linkedin, Pinterest, youtube, Google plus, and so on.
Now, I answer the question why you must focus to improve your online presence (blog). Sometime, head hunter or a company do a small investigation in recruitment process. One of the investigation is they see your online presence like facebook status, twitter status, blog content, etc.
Your blog is often recruiter's first experience of you. Therefore you must make a good impression. So, make sure your facebook status, twitter status, or article's blog contains good information.
b. Create Youtube channel.
Make a short video tutorial and share another update knowledge in your industry there. Show your ability, show your expertise there.
c. Create name card.
Put your all online presence (blog, Youtube channel, FB, twitter, etc.)
Attend community gathering. This activity can add your network (relation). Do not forget to give your name card when you meet new people.
d. Find influencer in your industry.
Make a good relationship with them. Develop two ways communication with them. Then ask endorsement from them.
They can endorse you by video (upload it to your youtube channel), via linkedin profile, via social media site, or via blog.
Epilogue
I hope this article inspire you to make an action plan or blueprint how to get a job. This article is based on my own experience when I still work. For your information, I have experiences working at four multinational company for 14 years because I implement action plan above. Several years ago, I started building small business. Now I am an entrepreneur and still sharing my marketing knowledge based on my own experiences in this blog.
Finally, it is time to make your own action plan. Implement it. And enjoy your journey to go to your dream company and dream career. See you at the top.
