Promotion!

July 13 2009

Like I said, ladies and gents, this one is the big one. This is the one that's near the back of the book that everybody turns to first, just to see what's there. This one's so big that,

well,

It's pretty much what a job search is all about, is what.

I think that whomever thought up that 5 Ps thing probably put Promotion in just to make it sound good. Some people think that there's a mystical significance to the number five. Maybe that's why they did it. I don't know, but I do know, that promotion is a synonym for marketing in your average thesaurus. (Try it with Microsoft Office if you don't believe me.) That means that promotion is what this blog is really about.

But I didn't lie, and neither did whomever thought up those 5 Ps. Promotion, the P, means how specifically you plan to get people to buy your product. Stuff like, how are you going to advertise that you have the product to sell? How are you going to let people know that your product is better than everybody else's? What media will you use to get the word out?

So what is your Product? It's You, and what You and only You can offer the prospective employer. How are you better than other people for the job? Well, that's your Position, right? Asking which employers you should go after is the same as asking how you should Place yourself. And, of course, there's your Price, or what you expect to get paid for your contributions. Your Promotion is the total package you develop and present to your prospective employers in order to persuade them to hire you, and not some other job seeker.

None of this gets done without you, personally, doing some actual work on your own behalf. If anyone tells you they'll do the hard part for you, they're not being straight with you. Someone can teach you how to do the work, but only you can do it. So, from now on, I'll be offering daily (well, week-daily) bits of advice or encouragement, maybe sometimes entertainment. These first posts will always be in the archives, so you can refer back to them at any time. Over time, if you stay with me, you'll learn everything you need to know about how to do an effective employment campaign. If you're in a hurry, mail me and I'll write back and explain how you can take an online course covering the same thing for fifty dollars cheap.

Until tomorrow, keep your spirits up and your good clothes pressed!

Steve