Personal Marketing: Place

To continue with the pre-graduation, job-prospecting, personal marketing theme of my last few blogs, today we'll look at how one might use "Place" in order to stand out among others when searching for "The Dream Job." So how does place relate to personal marketing? A recent article featured on Mashable provides some useful tips on how to apply the marketing mix to your personal brand. Check it out! 

At a very basic level, you can ask yourself where you want to work. Is there a specific geographic location at which you're determined to work? Personally, I want to work internationally, so I use this as a motivating factor in my job search, and I also try to emphasize this when interacting with potential employers. It's also important to know whether or not you are willing to travel in your job, and how much of your job you are willing to travel -- less than half, more, all? These are very important to know about yourself, and can help you narrow down types of positions you're willing to apply for.

Another way to apply place to your personal marketing is determining through which channels you will make yourself available to potential employers. That is, how will recruiters be able to find you -- word of mouth, professional organizations, university alumni associations, LinkedIn, dumb luck? If you have an ideal career in mind, or a specific company you're just dying to work for, you can use this part of the marketing mix to gain a competitive edge. Find out which "distribution channels" are most relevant and utilized by your employer of choice and then make yourself available on that platform. Join different organizations, use the connections you make here at MSU, add people on LinkedIn. Make yourself available through as many relevant channels as possible. At the same time, be careful not to waste your time gaining a presence on channels that will not be utilized by your target employer.

Use this in conjunction with the rest of the marketing mix in order to successfully reach your target market. Many people may consider how to promote themselves, but the wise job seeker will consider all four P's!