defining your marketing plan

Design, Organize, Optimize and Focus Your Career Search for 2012

It Begins With A Plan

Four Tools for Planning and ManagingA Productive Search

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Search Project Organizer

This document contains four essential tools for planning and managing a productive search project. They are presented below in the order you are likely to use them.

Tool #1: Skill Development/Preparation Checklists

Every project requires preparation. These checklists cover the skill development and preparatory items you might need as you work through the preparation phase, Steps 1 through 4.

Your particular career transition may not require that you complete every item, but be sure to consider all of them.

Tool #2: Marketing Plan

The central planning device for a search, a marketing plan, functions much as a business plan does in a new business venture. It defines and describes your project, organizes the work to be done and then guides you through the entire implementation process.

Tool #3: Job Search Productivity Chart

Once your search is underway, use this chart to record your productivity level week by week and compare your progress to your search goals. It enables you to see at a glance how well your search is progressing and what else you might do to have it go even better. It also gives you a sense of the velocity of your search and, consequently, an idea of how long the search might take to complete.

Tool #4: Contact Management Records

In the course of an effective search, you will talk to numerous contacts, inside of targeted organizations and elsewhere. Keeping track of who they are and what was said is important to your success. You may want to set up your own database or use a contact management software. If you prefer to keep records on paper, these pages will help you do that.

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Skill Development/Preparation Checklists

Tool #1 has two parts. Use the Skill Development Checklist below to plan and track initial search activities and any skill development you may need in order to be successful in your search project.

Use the Search Preparation Checklist on the next page to plan your preparatory work for Steps 1 through 4. Completion of all of these items is generally necessary prior to initiating a broad, well-planned search effort. Completion time on these items can have a significant impact on overall search time and the quality of search efforts.

For each of these four steps, record the date you plan to start each, the date you actually started each and the date you completed each item.

Skill Development Checklist

Date Planned

Date Completed

Check if N/A PROGRAM INTRODUCTION

Contracting for outcomes and process

SKILL DEVELOPMENT

Career Planning SeminarResume Writing SeminarSocial Media Networking SeminarUsing LinkedIn SeminarWorking with Recruiters SeminarStandard Search MethodsInterviewing Techniques SeminarEffectively Using the Internet Job Search Productivity SeminarMarketing Plan preparationOther:Other:

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Search Preparation Checklist

Date Planned

DateStarted

DateCompleted STEP

1. Survey Your Professional Environment

Internet researchBook and periodical research

2. Determine Your Professional Objective

Create Career ProfileFormal assessment (optional)Self assessment Professional objective

3. Create Your Communications Strategy and Resume

Positioning statement Exit statement AccomplishmentsResume Interview practice

4. Define Your Target Market

Marketing plan Initial target list

Final Preparation

Post resume on select sitesSearch job sitesSet / create job search alerts Conduct research on top targets

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Marketing Plan

A Marketing Plan organizes your work priorities in search. It defines exactly what you are looking for, what you offer and which organizations you are targeting.

Time invested in thoughtfully putting together this basic project plan pays dividends later in productive search implementation. A Marketing Plan content outline is below, and a sample Marketing Plan template follows.

Marketing Plan Content Outline

1. Professional Objective with Preferred Work Functions: Your professional objective is a concise phrase or sentence that describes the kind of work you are seeking. It should reflect your values, skills, interests, traits and overall experience and expertise in a way that is clearly understood by people inside and outside of your profession. Preferred work functions are the roles or areas of work that fit your experience and interests.

This is a goal statement for your search project. A clear formulation of it enables you to more easily get the information you need and make the right contacts. People without a clear statement of objective are more likely to end up in just any job, rather than one that is a great fit for them.

2. Positioning Statement with Competency List: The positioning statement is a brief summary of your relevant background, which suggests what you can do for a prospective employer. Competencies are clusters of skills and personal characteristics, areas in which you have experience or particular expertise. Together, they provide an easily understood picture of what you offer.

This section forms the basis of your search’s communication plan, summarizing the key points you will make with all contacts during your search. It is also a skeleton outline of the information you need to transmit at all interviews.

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3. Target Market: Clearly defining your target market at the outset of your search insures that you will not make the common mistake of pursuing the wrong targets – or too few targets. It also serves to productively focus search activities. Your target market criteria define the types of organizations you plan to pursue. These criteria should include the following four elements:

Geographic area where you plan to work stated precisely enough that you could draw it on a map, like a sales territory.

Industry or type of organization, such as banking, plastics manufacturing, health care or educational institutions.

Size of organization stated in annual revenue, number of employees or other measures appropriate to your industry or profession

Organizational culture is sometimes a fourth factor in determining a target market.

4. Target List: Once you have developed your criteria, the last component of your marketing plan is an initial target list of 50 organizations, based on the four elements of your criteria.

This list is a tool for selecting and investigating the most promising possible employers in your target market and focusing more time and energy on them. People without a target list tend to be reactive rather than proactive in search – leaving a lot to chance.

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Marketing Plan Template

Professional objective:

Preferred work functions:

Positioning statement:

Competency list:

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Target Market:

Geographic location: Size of Organization:

Industry or type of organization: Organizational culture (optional):

Sample target list:

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Job Search Productivity Chart

The Job Search Productivity Chart is designed to track your search-related contacts.

Using productivity measurements in your search is key to measuring your search progress and more importantly in assessing outcomes and identifying the need to make changes in your search strategy or plan.

One column of the productivity chart is used for each week in search. On the following pages, we have provided enough space for a 24-week search. If your search turns out to be longer, you can photocopy additional sheets. If your search is shorter, happily discard the extra pages!

Definitions of terms on productivity chart

Total Hours: The total number of hours per week spent on job search, including job search education, research, letter writing, administration, and talking to people on the phone and in person.

Total Letters: The total number of letters written and mailed or e-mailed including:

Direct Mail: The number of letters sent to people with whom you have no contact and who have never heard of you.Advertised Positions: The number of responses to ads or Internet postings that you made.Search Firms / Recruiters: The numbers of letters you sent to search firms and recruiters.Other Letters: Other letters or e-mails that you sent out. Example: to set up networking meetings.

Total Job Search Conversations or Contacts: Count any and all conversations you have in person or on the phone with anyone about your job search.

General Network: The number of conversations with people who are not inside of target organizations. Count conversations with search firms here.Target Organization, Miscellaneous Contact: This category includes all contacts inside of a target organization, but below your level.Target Organization, Peer Contact: Tracking conversations with people who are more or less at your level inside of a target organization. HR people are usually here.Target Organization Hiring Manager and Above Hiring Manager: The most productive conversations are with hiring managers and managers above the hiring manager inside of target organizations. A running total of these is important.Follow-up, Hiring Managers: Count second and succeeding conversations with the same hiring manager (or above) in this row.

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Date (week of) Cumulative Totals

Job Search Education

Research Organization/IssueLetters and Admin.

Network: Phone

Network: In person

Total Hours

Direct Mail

Advertised Positions

Search Firms

Other Letters

Total Letters

General Network, incl. Search FirmsTarget OrganizationMisc. ContactTarget OrganizationPeer ContactTarget OrganizationHiring ManagerTarget OrganizationAbove Hiring ManagerFollow-ups withHiring Manager/Above

Total Contacts

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Network: Phone

Network: In person

Total Hours

Direct Mail


Search Firms

Other Letters

Total Letters


Total Contacts

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Network: Phone

Network: In person

Total Hours

Direct Mail


Search Firms

Other Letters

Total Letters


Total Contacts

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Contact Management Records

If you prefer keeping your records on paper rather than on a computer, you may photocopy the following two-sided pages to create a notebook for records of information and people relating to your targeted organizations, and information garnered in networking.

The two record keeping sheets are:

Target Record: A double-sided tracking sheet designed to record basic information on targeted organizations and the history of your contacts with them. Use one for each target.

Networking Log: A double-sided tracking sheet designed to log the history of your contacts with networking sources not inside target targeted organizations. Use one for each person.

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Target Record

Name of target:

Address:

Phone: Web site:

Key people in this organization:

Person Title Phone #

Information on this targeted organization:

Contact Log

Date Name Notes on contact (Note whether letter, phone or in person contact.

Note date of planned next contact here or on calendar.)

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Contact Log

Date Name Notes on contact (Note whether letter, phone or in person contact.


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Networking Log

Name of contact:

Address:

Phone (H) Phone (W):

E-mail address:

Information on this person (current and past employers, organizational memberships, etc.):

Contact Log

Date Notes on contact (Note whether letter, phone or in person contact.


Results/Referrals

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Networking Log

Contact Log

Date Notes on contact (Note whether letter, phone or in person contact.


Results/Referrals

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defining your marketing plan

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