Get that job!

Introduction
Who thinks that job is important subject in his/her life? Job is important for most of us. When we are running a business we are also in permanent job hunting. However if we are top talent we do not have to worry about.

Status quo
The situation on the job market gets worst due to downsizing of global economy. As the result of crisis many position disappear forever. People loose job for following reasons:

• Too long assignment
• Too small experience
• Too high salary

When we are applying for new position we spend a lot of time to prepare resume and motivation letter and send it. Next usually there is long, long silence and we think they are ignoring us. But they are not. If the silence takes three weeks our application is probably already in elimination pool.

The key message is: The recruitment process is an elimination game.

But there is good news. We can learn rules and follow them. By preparation we can have advantage on job market. Our goal is to minimize a chance for elimination of our offer.

Three steps
To get a job we should:

• Develop a plan
• Sell ourself
• Sign a contract

Step one - Develop a plan
First we develop a marketing plan. Without the plan we do not know where we go and there is a chaos. We start with our mission statement. It defines purpose and direction and it will help to develop the plan. Our  plan as any other marketing plan we will build on four P's.

• Product
• Price
• Place
• Promotion

What is the product in your marketing plan? You are and because we are persons you need personal branding. The biggest advantage for having a brand is to charge premium. We need well prepared promotion prospects, such as:

• Cover Letter
• Traditional CV, Visual CV, Video CV
• Articles, books and presentations
• Social media profile
• Networking business cards

Step two - Sell yourself
After we have developed marketing plan with the product, we need to sell it.
During the whole process we keep records of each job search activities. This will prevent mistakes and as result elimination.

We adopt (80/20) Pareto rule and focus on activities that give best outcome. Instead of spending time on searching job banks and sending mass resume we go for networking. Referrals are source of 50% of job contracts.

We respond timely because the offer may not be valid for long. We act as head-hunters do, they research the market: make phone calls, ask for references and use LinkedIn.

We prepare for the interview.

• Get information about interviewer and the company weapply
• Dress adequate
• Prepare questions and for questions

Step three - Sign Contact
After developing a plan and successful sales we have reached the last step - contracting. Now we can negotiate the price from our marketing plan. Do you remember one of four P's is price. If our price range matches employer range we sign contract and start new job.

Time for conclusion
Take home that your goal is to develop a plan, build network of relationships and minimize the risk of elimination of your application.
If we learn new rules we can utilize our time. This way we will not let the opportunities simply pass by.

Sources

1. "'Headhunter' Hiring Secrets", written by Skip Freeman
2. "What color is your parachute", written by Richard N. Boles 
3. http://www.slideshare.net presentations

Appendix
1. Key social media for branding

• Bio, very short description of yourself
• Blog, with remarkable content
• Personal website
• LinkedIn, head-hunters love it, they also analyse social media candidates profiles
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Slideshare presentation

2. Maintaining the brand involves also:

• Public Speaking
• Networking
• Volunteer activities

3. Maintaining brand steps:

• Discover
• Create
• Communicate
• Maintain