Are you your own Chief Product & Marketing Officer?

Currently, we are in an exciting job marketing, especially if you are in the cybersecurity sector because, on the one hand, you are seeing stories of talent shortages/gaps with employers struggling to find employees, and then, on the other hand, companies and laying off/restructuring/re-organizing and letting people go. So what is a job hunter today?

Like any hacker, the job hunter should be looking to learn skills and competencies from other areas, including marketing and product development. In this case, we are talking about the four Ps, which will be taken from the domain of Product Marketing; they include product, price, promotion, placement, and all towards a targeted audience.

https://www.seoptimer.com/blog/4-ps-of-marketing/

Currently, many job seekers do not see themselves as a product and therefore do not use the tried and true approach from the marketing community. Using this marketing approach means understanding what you deliver as a product to your hiring companies; this could be your SOC analyst service or threat intelligence service. Next, you need to understand the price of the services run in the current market, based on industry, company size, and location in the country. These variables will affect the overall cost of the services provided.

You can start targeting the places you want with what product and price. Knowing who at the businesses you desire to target is critically important; for example, by applying via the applicant tracking system, you become one and a number in that system. On the other hand, crafting personalized letters to hiring managers and executives allows you to get their attention and bypass the applicant tracking system.

Now you’ll need to think about how you will promote yourself. What stories or examples will you provide to the hiring managers or executives you will target? What would you like to see? How will you show them that you are the answer to their problems? How exactly will you be reaching out to these hiring managers and executives? Will you share articles or content about how you can answer their concerns? Will you be sharing a personalized résumé for a role at their company and points on how your experience addresses it? There are many ways to promote yourself to these hiring managers and executives, but which is the right one?

There are a couple of signs when your job hunting back in point to what the problem is, not hearing back from applications, it is likely to résumé; not hearing back after interviews is likely your interview style. Then there is how you should reach out and promote your target audience. Do you need a website? Do you need different forms and letters for each of your target audiences? Understanding these requirements can be very frustrating for many.

Do not underestimate the value of networking, especially with people you know. Many, including myself, promote the importance of networking with other people in the field; this cannot be said enough. Networking with other people in the area doesn’t just mean going to job fairs, reaching out cold to people on LinkedIn, or even blindly sending a connection request to people on social media platforms. There’s also networking with people that you interact with on a day-to-day basis. If you remember the church, there could be individuals there that have connections and are willing to share that you were looking for a role with those connections. Still, you need to be able to bring that up to them as part of casual conversations or a targeted ask on your behalf. Building relationships with others who are only online can take time, but it is possible. I always recommend a balanced approach between online contacts and local contacts that allow you to stay in touch with the job market you want to service.

Well, I don’t do this often, but it’s worth mentioning that some services can help you with your résumé and the rest of the P (product, promotion, placement, and price). If you’re interested in the services, reach out to me at [email protected] , and I can make an introduction. Remember investing in yourself, whether it is additional classes, certifications, or services like this that will help market and place you, is worth it in the long run based on your career change results.