Your Personal Marketing Plan

Job Hunting Strategy Development & Implementation

Lawrence S. Silver, D.B.A., Associate Professor of Marketing, John Massey School of Business, Southeastern Oklahoma State University

Why have a personal marketing plan?

• Requires thought and input about what our objectives are

• Provides road map to achieve objectives• Enforces discipline• Gives us structure to monitor and adapt our

efforts to changing conditions

Steps in the Personal Marketing Plan

• 1. Personal Mission Statement• 2. Objectives• 3. S.W.O.T. Analysis• 4. Strategy Development• 5. Implementation• 6. Monitor and Adapt

Step 1: Personal Mission Statement

• This is the “solid expression of your vision and values.” Steven R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

• Mission statement answers these questions-You do WHAT-For WHOM-By HOW-Because WHY

http://www.franklincovey.com/msb

Mission Statement and IMC

• A mission statement helps us send a consistent message.

• Integrated Marketing Communications means that we send a unified, “customer-centered” message in all of our job hunting activities.

Step 2: Objectives

• What do we want to accomplish? (A contract position? A permanent position? A bridge job?)

• Primary Objectives

• Secondary Objectives

Step 3: S.W.O.T. Analysis

• Strengths• Internal

• Weaknesses

• Opportunities• External

• Threats

S.W.O.T. Examples

• Strengths– What are your advantages?– What do you do well?

• Weaknesses– What could be improved?– What do you not do well?– What should be avoided?

S.W.O.T. Examples (cont’d)

• Opportunities– Changes in technology and markets.– Changes in government policy related to your field.– Changes in social patterns, population trends, lifestyle

changes, etc.

• Threats– What is your competition doing?– Are the requirements for your job changing?– Is technology threatening your position?

Step 4: Strategy

• Your personal strategy is your plan for interacting with the competitive job environment to achieve your objectives.

• Answers the following questions: -What are my goals?– How am I going to achieve them? Career

Connection? Cold calls? Combination? Retraining?– Strategy is not carved in stone – it is a guide – it

gets us going – we have a plan.

My Goal:____________

• What is my industry looking for in the way of skills, attitudes, experience, etc.?

• Where are the opportunities in my industry?• What skills do I need to capture these

opportunities?• Who are the key experts in my industry I

should be in contact with on a regular basis?• What is my plan of contacts to be made

everyday?

Competitive Rivalry

Employer’s bargaining power

Threat of substitutes

Your bargaining power

New market entrants

Adapted from Michael Porter - 1979

Step 5: Implementation of the Plan

• Here, we implement the tactics – the specific actions we need to take to achieve our objectives.

• This, of course, is usually the hardest part.

Step 6: Monitor and Adapt

• Keep notes/journal• Note what works and what doesn’t• Question assumptions• Continuously monitor the external

environment• Get feedback on successes and failures• Change objectives, strategy and

implementation as needed.