Many students have a basic knowledge of marketing and the “marketing mix” or 4Ps (product, price, promotion/distribution, and place). Whether or not you’re interested in marketing as a career, this model offers a useful framework for your job search and, in particular, the networking aspect.
Promotion is the P we’re talking about here; it represents all the communications and channels that a marketer engages to create positive awareness of a product. Think broadly of “product.” It means more than a tangible entity like clothes or technology. Consider that marketing is used to promote services, ideas, and even people (a political campaign, for example).
Recognize a connection between marketing and job search? It’s all about what happens leading up to the deal itself.
Now, let’s think of you attending Careers in Consulting on Monday evening. Here we have a phenomenal marketing forum. Employers are marketing their brand to you, and vice versa. Think of this evening as a time to create positive awareness of yourself as a potential candidate.
One of the most common and grievous errors that job searchers make is to mistake a marketing opportunity for a sales pitch. Sales is more transactional; it happens only after an individual has been convinced to put money on the table or cast a vote in the polling booth or support a charity.
To move into sales mode when the situation calls for marketing is akin to a high school junior touring Tufts and trying to get a commitment from admissions. The timing’s not right. Remember this when you’re networking and focus instead on how to begin differentiating yourself (again, borrowing marketing techniques to build a “unique selling proposition”).
Employ multiple channels. Dress so you look like you’d easily fit into a corporate environment. Modulate your speech and adjust your language, from dorm quality to workplace. Most importantly, take a cue from consultants coming to campus who have offered their advice to you. Over and over, they offer you the key to your own differentiation.
“Do your homework,” they say.
Think of your own skills, knowledge, and experience and how it would be useful in a particular job and company. Then, set yourself apart with intelligent, well researched questions that demonstrate how thoroughly you’ve studied position requirements and a specific organization, from culture to practice areas.
Listen to Constantin von Wentzel, Director at Navigant and a Tufts alumnus: “Whatever job you’re pursuing, research it! “
And from Swati Shaw, an Analyst at Putnam Associates who graduated this past May: “Take your consulting firm research up a notch. Read through the company’s casework samples, research the CVs of the management team, understand how broader industry trends may impact their casework strategy, and research their type of clients to gain deeper understanding of the nature and value of the firm’s work.”
Good luck with your marketing campaign. See you Monday night.
