It seems fitting to wrap up this term’s column with an overview of the most important part of your networking and job searching self. After exams, consider these tips on how to go about marketing yourself before your next job search, be it a co-op placement or a permanent, full-time position.
The first key element is being able to market yourself to yourself—after all, nobody knows you better than you do. Figure out what skills and experiences you want to share with your prospective employers. Have some interests and hobbies ready to go, or any other special skills to separate you from those thousands of other job seekers. Although you may have a wealth of experience and skills to choose from, remember that employers are often only after particular skills or experience in more specific positions—so choose carefully and be comfortable presenting and elaborating on your choices.
Once you know which of your experiences you’d like to market, the next step is customizing your resume. Naturally, you will have different resumes for the each of the skill sets you are trying to market. For example, you may have a resume geared towards research positions and perhaps one for computer programming-related positions. Again, try to ‘personalize’ your resume for each employer if you can. This may be difficult if you are firing off resumes like torpedoes, but it is definitely worth it. To save time, be smart and just change up the very first section. If an employer is clearly looking for a specific skill, make sure to put that first. Briefly mention related experience at the top as well, if applicable. This makes the employer want to keep reading—and hopefully call you for an interview.
LinkedIn is another useful tool for marketing yourself. Even if you are currently in a position you are happy with, it never hurts to let the Internet do some job searching for you. Your LinkedIn profile should look as much like your resume as possible. Of course, you can add all of your experience and skills, etc. you don’t have to restrict your profile for a specific employer since you don’t know who could be looking. Twitter and Facebook are okay too, just use them wisely and keep it professional. Joining interest groups on these sites is another good way to go. Sharing your knowledge and expertise in these groups or forums not only helps others, but for all you know, a recruiter just happens to be in that group as well.
These basic marketing strategies should help get you started. Good luck in your next job search and see you all next term!
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