How to Stand Out in the Competitive Job Market
When it comes to navigating the tricky and sometimes tiring waters of searching for freelance jobs, it’s important to make sure you are confident in your own personal brand. What does that mean? Your personal brand encompasses your strengths and what you would bring to the table if hired. And that personal brand will require personal marketing…that is, making sure you are able to be found and stand out against a huge sea of others searching for the same job.
Personal marketing gives you a means to be found. If you have a strong personal brand and know how to put it out there, you’re more likely to garner the attention of potential employers. The point of personal marketing is to essentially advertise yourself and your skills. It acts as a bridge between you and a potential employer and offers them an insight into what you can offer them as an employee. Without personal marketing, it will be more difficult to be seen by an employer.
Personal marketing is comprised of two different components, outbound marketing and inbound marketing. Using these two types of personal marketing will be useful tools to help you sell your own personal brand and improve your chances of being seen and hired. So, let’s look at these two types of marketing and what they can do for you.
Outbound Marketing:
Outbound marketing comprises a pretty big chunk of getting your personal brand out there. It involves figuring out the type of employer you’d like to market yourself too, and identifying those specific employers who are looking for your specific qualifications…your personal brand.
The first step in your outbound marketing approach is to segment your job search by specific criteria. Ask yourself where you’d like to be when it comes to your new job. Here are a few segments you can consider when narrowing down the kind of employer you’re looking for:
By size of the company
By the type of industry
By geographic preference…are you willing to travel
By type of position (manager, vice president, CEO)
By virtual job or physical job
Once you’ve narrowed down the type of job you’re looking for and that will best suit your personal brand, next you’ll want to find sources that will help you seek out job leads. Here are a few suggestions when needing to seek out those jobs:
Utilize published job openings on sites like Monster, Indeed, and LinkedIn
Network with personal and professional acquaintances
Seek out job recruiters
Look out for job fairs
Personal marketing is comprised of two different components, outbound and inbound marketing. Click To Tweet
Now that you’ve narrowed down the job specifics and searched out potential jobs, now it’s time to reach out to those potential employers. This is how you’ll get your personal brand seen by those prospective employers. Here’s a look at a few suggestions on how you can reach out and make contact:
Send out a personal letter of introduction
Send out a personal letter with resume
Send a personal branding email with resume
Apply online when able
Make a phone call to the employer with an inquiry and introduction to your personal brand
Inbound Marketing:
The inbound marketing part of personal branding means taking the initiative to make sure you have the means of being found as a job seeker. It’s a cutthroat world out there when it comes to seeking a job and competing with many other qualified applicants. So, it’s important to make sure that you’re able to be found by potential employers. You have to put your personal brand out there…market it for others to find. This can be done via your resume, cover letter, business card, or a thank you letter. Social media and job finding sites are also a way to get your personal brand and information out there for potential employers to see. This can be done via sits such as Monster or LinkedIn or on other social media platforms like Facebook. Blogs and professional articles can also help. Lastly, inbound marketing can be pursued the old-fashioned way…in person. This is done by networking, having conversations with job recruiters, and by interviewing.
Personal marketing is quite a lot like marketing for a business. You have to be able to not only get your personal brand out there, but really sell it, getting you ahead of the pack when it comes to landing that perfect job.
