I recently wrote this article for Marketing Executives Networking Group or MENG.
I often speak on networking and New Business development. I wanted to learn about the best practices in the industry. I remember talking to somebody who worked for a National Speakers Bureau and asked her who masters the speakers’ game when there is a plethora of speakers chasing a limited number of gigs? She shared something short and precise that stuck with me. “It is not always the best speakers,” she said. “It’s the best Marketers.”
I think that the same applies to the job hunting game. During the Great Recession finding a job was like going through the eye of a needle. It seemed at times that the camel had the easier job. Those hiring often set criteria that were so stringent hardly anybody could qualify.
Sure things are getting better in the New Normal. I live in Laguna Niguel and was reading the OC Register the other day. It announced last week that the unemployment rate was 5.8%. The lowest level since 2008. Don’t get too excited because I still get emails from people in Orange County informing me that they have just lost their jobs. Even one today. The company obviously didn’t read the Register.
Still the world is a long way away from 2008 and that is not just because it is 2013. It is because the world is totally different. Changes in technology have had positive and negative impacts.
I can’t find a JAVA Developer for a six figure salary who only has to come into the office one day a week. Then I see marketing people who worked for companies that supply the laptop industry that are on the street. Their company was growing a few years ago but when is the last time you purchased a computer case?
I do believe that the best marketers do get the jobs because I have spoken to transition groups for years. We all know that the mandatories are a dynamite LinkedIn profile and networking.
I am pretty good at networking and building communities. I am one of the Founders of Laguna Niguel Connectors with 3700 members and Canadians in OC with 400 members. I connect with many great people.
However I still see people whose personal marketing skills underwhelm me and others who impress me.
I know a CEO who found his last job by marketing himself through networking exposure. He networked from 8 until 6 having one on one networking meetings, going to events etc. He got a job. Unfortunately it went away after a year when the company was acquired. We talked the other day. You still networking I asked? Sure. I’m having my 244th networking Starbucks this year today. It’s June. Some people haven’t had 244 networking meetings in their life. Will he land a new job? You bet.
I attended a recent meeting for marketing people in transition. Everyone exchanged their resumes. Everybody went to great schools. Everybody worked at great places. A lot were a smarter than me on paper but they hardly knew the street.
Everyone had homogenized themselves to look the same. They learned how to prepare resumes in the Old Normal. They handed out their business cards. If their agencies had produced a similar identity program for them they would have fired them.
Often great Marketers looking for jobs forget their skills and their craft. To get a job in the New Normal you have to market yourself like you marketed your company or directed your agency.
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Hank Blank: Thoughts on Networking, New Business & Agency Searches 