| Expanding Your Marketability |
(1) Your Experience is More Marketable Than You Think
It has been said time and again by psychologists, motivational speakers, spiritual leaders and coaches, that the most restrictive limits you face are those you put on yourself. So, if you really want to be a serious candidate for a better position or a new career, don't put any limits on your thinking and be willing to go for it!
When it comes to job hunting, what everyone thinks of first is experience. However, most of us think of our experience in more narrow terms than we should. That type of thinking restricts our opportunities as many good situations pass by unnoticed.
As you go through this material, we will review a number of ways that will enable you to take a new view of your total experience and how you can describe it to potential employers.
(2) Market Your Knowledge
Do you have knowledge of a job, a product, a process or a market? It could come from work, hobbies, schooling, reading, activities or from suppliers, customers, friends or your social life.
Consider the case of a 30-year-old office manager who decided she'd like to sell computer printers. She had no sales experience, but her knowledge of why some printers operated better than others convinced an employer to hire her as a sales representative.
In another instance, a food industry executive was offered the opportunity to head up a real estate development. What was the connection? Well, the real estate firm appreciated this executive's knowledge and ability to organize, which they perceived as their primary need.
Their decision to extend an offer, however, was based just as much on the fact that this executive had long shown an interest in real estate. Though by no means an expert in the field, she was familiar with trends in the industry, and they felt her interest would enable her to learn the business quickly.
(3) Market Your Personality and Character
Personality, of course, is just a word for that mysterious combination of traits that can either attract us to someone quite strongly, or on the other hand, leave us unimpressed.
Many employment decisions have been based on personality. It happens thousands of times every day. When it does, the employer is probably thinking something like this:
"He's certainly a positive, quick-thinking fellow. I like him, and better yet, I trust him. He'll be able to get along with our people and provide leadership. I want him in this company, and I'm going to make an offer right now."
If most people seem to like you when they meet you, chances are you will meet people who have the power to offer you a position in a totally unrelated field.
You don't have to settle for just a chance meeting, either. One person was hired in a high-level position after four letters and three meetings with executives in a local company. Why was she hired? Well, it's true that no one else kept knocking on their door like she did, but what won them over was that everyone she met took a liking to her.
Don't ever forget that your character is also marketable. In fact, when it comes to choosing between other people, most decisions are made based on personal qualities. Having qualities of integrity, thoughtfulness, and loyalty really count.
Depending upon your personal situation, characteristics like these may suggest a certain company, occupation or industry for which you would be particularly well suited. If some aspect of your personality makes you suited for certain types of activities, now is the time to investigate whether it might lead to a preferred career direction.
(4) Market Your Interests and Enthusiasm
How many employers do you suppose have hired people principally because they showed a great deal of interest in their business? The answer is, a lot!
A successful salesman was interested in medical equipment and was fascinated by advances to reduce back pain. How did he win a position as VP for a three-year-old growth company in that field? Well, he answered an ad, just as 300 other applicants did. But he didn't stop there.
Over the next two weeks, he wrote four more letters to the president of that company. To each letter he attached his own thoughts of why the firm's equipment should win the major share of a particular market. To the last letter he attached his suggestions for new markets the company should consider.
His insights were not based on experience, but on his interest and casual reading of the industry's trade press over the years, combined with intensive study during the two weeks in which he wrote the letters. When the president made the offer, he volunteered that he'd seen plenty of candidates with more impressive credentials, but not one with a tenth as much enthusiasm.
(5) Market The Opportunity You Represent
If you can make an employer aware of an opportunity that you can help exploit, or a problem you can help solve, you can actually create a job for yourself. Of course, if the employer is aware of the need or opportunity, all you need to do is let him know that you're the right person to handle it.
Consider the case of a 34-year-old controller for a printing company. She decided that if she could find a way to identify small but fast-growing companies, she could contact the presidents and offer to solve a problem that she was sure every one of them had.
The problem was how to find enough time in the day. With her administrative skills, she knew she could lift a lot of time-consuming duties from their shoulders. As it turned out, she was able to identify major companies in many industries.
One of them admitted he'd known for a full year, in the back of his mind, that he needed someone like her. Until the letter hit his desk, however, he just hadn't taken the time to do something about it. He hired her as his #2 operating person with full administrative authority.
Take stock of your abilities. Are there certain areas where you're capable of helping almost any firm? If so, you can bring them to the attention of employers in any industry, regardless of whether the kind of position you propose is closely related to your recent experience.
(6) Market Yourself by Broadening Your Appeal
Your previous jobs may have had a narrow focus, and you may be thinking, "I don't have a lot of options." However, here is how you can expand your appeal and uncover more options. Simply make a list of "any experience you've had" in a way that makes the experience and your skills more transferrable.
First, list your experience by your skills and/or your duties that are commonly performed in almost all companies. Identifying your transferrable skills is critical. For example, analyzing, organizing, project management, group presentation skills and problem solving.
Second, list your experience according to various "business functions" such as sales, production, accounting, market research etc.
Third, list your experience by using "action verbs" that describe what you did and that translate those things into achievements. For example, controlled, scheduled, systematized, wrote, improved, reshaped, built, created, etc.
The simple fact is, the more different ways you describe your experience, the more it can qualify you for jobs in many career fields and industries. That's because all organizations are basically involved in similar functions. So, before you write your resume, make sure you write out your experience as indicated.
Fourth, you can also take a global or broad view of your experience. This will help you expand job market possibilities for yourself.
Here's an example of a very simple way to do it. Let's assume that someone is the Sales Manager for a textbook company that sells to schools in the East.
So that this person might get some new views of themselves, we would first have them draw a small circle. That circle might represent them or others with jobs that could be described in the very same way.
Next, we'd have them draw a slightly larger circle around the first, which would include all of the people who manage sales for textbooks, "regardless of where they are sold." Now, when they think of themselves as being part of this group, they realize they can appeal to more firms.
Then, we'd have them draw another, slightly larger circle. It would include all Sales Managers for "all educational products" (not just textbooks), a still larger group of which they are a part. Once again, the number of potential employers is increased.
One last circle? It could include all Sales Managers for "any products sold to schools" (not just educational products).
Here, the person can appeal to even more employers. We would have the person continue this process, drawing larger circles and figuring out broader job markets for themselves. You might consider going through the same exercise, and then proceed to market yourself to your larger potential market.
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