The Job 'Market'

"So we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we will give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work for you.' And they said, 'No.' So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, 'Hey, we don't need you. You haven't got through college yet.'" - Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and H-P interested in his and Steve Wozniak's personal computer.

Oops, slight mistake on the employers' part… Or was it?

If Jobs' and Wozniak had marketed themselves as well as they have marketed their products would there be an 'Apple Computer Company' today? The answer is debatable; perhaps it was 'fate' they were knocked back to come back bigger and better. However, not everyone can be as lucky (or unlucky).

If you are seeking employment, or want to further your challenges, maybe even just a pay rise and you know you can do the work, perhaps better than anyone else can; but you're not sure how to get them to know, then read on.

Unfortunately, they are not psychic, they may not be particularly good at hiring the right person, or your 'brilliant' resume may just be being ignorantly 'chucked' on the too hard pile. Do not give up, help is at hand.

Prior to setting off on the adventure of a lifetime and distributing resume after resume, there are a few things you should take into account and develop, because even if you are the best person in the market you can and often will be ignored.

You are a product!

The golden rule of any business or individual in gaining success and exposure is supreme skills in marketing. Marketing a product or service correctly results in people stopping, asking why and utilization. Marketing may have been the buzzword of the nineties, but it is definitely a tool all successful people and businesses have used for centuries in the quest of success. Now, you can take the principles and apply them to market yourself in a market that is ruthless, cutthroat and anything but passive: The employment market.

Market: n, a meeting of people for selling or buying; trade, as regards a particular commodity; extensive transactions in a specified commodity.
Macquarie Dictionary, 1981, p. 1071.

What does this have to do with you? After all, you are not a product to be traded as a piece of meat. Or are you?

At the risk of sounding callous, if you want to succeed in your chosen field, you must look at yourself as a good or service - a piece of steak amongst T-Bones, Sirloin Rump and more. What is it about you that silently and casually screams 'pick me'?

An employer is seeking assets to their business. You must show the employee why you are an asset to them. After all, you are a tax deduction! With this is mind, you are human as well, so use the charms that humans hold and products cannot.

With this in mind, it is time for a crash course in marketing.

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