Broadly speaking, organisations appoint people for three reasons:
• An existing position becomes available because someone leaves, moves for various reasons or is performing poorly.
• A new need arises from changes in the market, the social or political environment, from growth or lack of it or from advances in technology.
• A person arrives they can’t afford to miss, and a role is created. This is more likely to happen in an expanding or successful company.
Marketing yourself effectively is critical. In order to gain traction in the employment market, you need to demonstrate your skills and capabilities as if you were a ‘product’. This will help you market yourself as an individual in a convincing manner.
Like any product that you want to sell, you’ll need to create a range of marketing materials that suit your specific situation. All should convey the same message, but be written slightly differently because they are aimed at different audiences and are using different mediums. This will allow you to have an integrated marketing approach that makes you stand out from the crowd and provide a comprehensive set of templates that you can quickly utilise to address each route to market.
Career Search Objective (CSO) Statement
This succinct statement is an important starting point that focuses you on what you actually want to achieve. Your objective statement:
• encapsulates your goal
• answers the question, ‘what am I looking for?’, enabling others to help you more effectively
• guides the preparation of your marketing material
• steers your marketing activity
A good CSO is made up of two components:
• non-negotiable elements and
• negotiable elements
The non-negotiable elements relate to the things you have to have in your next role. For example, the level/seniority of the role and the role function. This should be balanced to explain what you want and realistic about what you have to offer.
The negotiable elements you need to be honest with yourself about. Examples like title, sector, location, size of organisation, remuneration levels etc., are all things that within reason you should be prepared to compromise on.
Your objective should neither be too generic nor too specific. Its purpose is to give you and others a clear idea of what you are looking for and what you can offer.
An example is given below.
“Looking for a ‘Senior Finance’ role where I can use my strategic and analytical skills plus leadership experience to deliver long term business benefits.
Probably at “C” suite level in an organisation with turnover of between 50 – 100m and preferably in the legal or financial services sectors. Ideally UK based with head office in the Midlands area but am open to long commute or relocation for the right role.”
NB – of course having a clear objective does not stop you reacting to other opportunities. However, it will guide all your proactive marketing activity and networking approach.
A lot depends on the clarity and quality of your marketing material – and this is where with our help, you can learn how to repackage yourself. applebyassociates.com/marketing-stage
For practical advice and support in creating your marketing material, including your Career Search Objective contact us to see how we could help.