I moderated a panel based on book, The 7 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Graduted, two days ago at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  The panel was made up of four speakers from:

• Higher Education
• Accounting / Auditing
• Technology
• Government

It was a great exercise to speak about a chapter from my book and then have the panel expand on what I spoke about from their own personal and corporate perspectives.  I plan on hosting one of these in the near term via teleseminar.  Stay tuned.

The one clear message that was reiterated over and over from this panel was how important MARKETING is in your career.  What what did he say?  Marketing?  Yes, marketing.  As job seekers we must think like we are in sales and not in job searching.  While you don’t ahve a job you should think like a sales person and not like an unemployed person.
Not one of the panelists made mention of how to write a resume, cover letter, thank you note, etc…  The one term and one idea all of them continually brought up was how important it is for job seekers to think of themselves as marketers and not job seekers.

I tried to make this point clearn in my book as well.  Finding a job is much more like being in sales than anything else.  Here are a few pieces of wisdom this panel shared:

1. Research the industry you are looking to work in to better understand where the best places are to work
2. Understand your strengths’ and weakness’
3. Make sure you are properly trained to work in your choosen industry - i.e. a college degree or certifications
4. Determine what the needs are of the company are that you want to work for
5. Craft your resume to speak to the specific needs of the company / industry you want to work for
6. Network at places and with people who work in your desired industry
7. Contact companies you want to work for to determine their current and future needs for someone with your skill set
8. Continually improve upon your skill set - never stop learning

What else?  Can you think of anything other pieces of advice for how job seekers can begin to think like a sales person?