Marketing Strategies

A comprehensive job seeking and keeping strategy involves more than just filling out an application. It is a conscious and thorough process to understand who you are, what you want, and how to strategically make your desire happen with the employer of your choice. Unfortunately, this is a puzzle piece many people take for granted. Many assume think they know how to market themselves for a job, only to be disappointed repeatedly by no job offer. Job seeking requires extensive research, practice, and application to get the job you want.

Marketing yourself to an employer begins with focusing on the type of position you will be seeking. This means taking what you know about your interests, values, skills, personality, etc. and deciding on a job objective. A job objective defines in your mind, on your resume, and in your interview the type of work you desire, you're qualified to do, and what your experience and education show you can do.

On the employment side, an employer wants to know what you can bring to the organization. In other words, what types of personal qualities and skills do you possess that will assist the employer to become more productive in her workplace? The more certain you are, the more confident an employer will feel about hiring you. Without a job objective, you will appear "blurry" to an employer; in other words, BE CLEAR.

Defining a job objective requires evaluating your skills. This is critical to your job search. How can you promote yourself to an employer if you don't know what you have to offer? Taking the time to evaluate your skills and abilities is critical. Three types of skills you need to assess are:

Transferable Skills or Functional Skills-those skills that you take with you from job to job, i.e. planning, organizing, computational skills, etc.
Job-related Skills or Work-content Skills-those skills that are used for performing a type of job. They are specific and obtained through specialized training, education, or on-the-job training.
Self-management Skills or Adaptive Skills-those skills that are personal attributes or qualities you possess that make you a desirable employee, i.e. dependable, respectful, cooperative, etc.

Ultimately, marketing yourself involves gaining the knowledge and developing the tools necessary to obtain employment in the career field of your choice. This includes the development of marketing tools.

Marketing tools and activities that can assist you in obtaining work include: a polished resume (traditional and Scannable) and cover letter, learning and applying interviewing strategies, networking with employers in your major, participating in mentor/mentee relationships, getting on-the-job training in an internship in your major, and joining career affiliations or professional associations in your respective field.

Here are some links to help you with developing your marketing tools to prepare you for your job search.

Resume, Cover Letters, Interviewing, Job Search

Jobweb-Career Development and Job Search Advice for College Students-contains a series of articles that assist with job search tools, including cover letters, resumes, and interviewing strategies.
Here is additional job search information.
OSU-Cascades Career Marketing Strategies & Tools--Resumes, Cover Letters and More
Oregon State University Career Guide-contains resume, cover and thank you letter, interviewing, and general job search information. Under heading, Job Search Tools, click on Career Guide.

This site also contains OSU's Beaver Recruiting system, an online job and resume posting system to assist job seekers look for work and employers to locate employees.
Resume and Cover Letter Tutorial-published by careeronestop, provides a step by step tutorial for constructing a resume and cover letter.
International resumes and cover letters-helpful information on Europe CV's and cover letters, as well as those specific to France.
Portfolio Preparation Guide-helpful information on how to develop a professional portfolio.
Career Journal from the Wall Street Journal-contains numerous articles covering job search and career management. Click on "Job Hunting Advice."
Businessweek Online Career Center-click on "Careers" tab. Has current news articles about career trends, economic factors affecting careers, career strategies, and work life.
Job Hunters Bible-guide is from Richard Bolles, author of What Color is Your Parachute. Contains many job search hints from his book.
The Riley Guide-one of the first on-line comprehensive career and job search guides.
Interviewing -College Grad.Com provides twenty-five one minute interviewing videos that respond to the most common types of questions asked in an interview.
Networking-helpful hints about the importance of networking to secure employment from the Wall Street Journal.

Employment and Job Banks

National links

careeronestop-contains state employment information for all fifty states, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.
StudentJobs.Gov-provides part-time government jobs and internships by occupational category and state.
Career Builder-explores job openings nationally by state and job category.
Chronicle of Higher Education-provides job openings in educational institutions nationwide.
Cool Works-links to ranch, resort, national park jobs nationwide.
Deepsweep-is a free non-profit job board that includes entry-level, experienced, and senior level executive positions.
IMDiversity-is devoted to serving the cultural and career-related needs of minority group.
USA JOBS-is the official site of the United States Federal Government for jobs and employment information.

State and Local links

MAJOR-RELATED JOB AND INTERNSHIP SITES

Natural Resources