When there’s a job opening, is your name on the short-list?
Word count: 812; time to read: about 3 minutes
Being the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) must no doubt be one of THE most difficult jobs in the country. Responsibility for the safety of millions, unspeakable scrutiny and pressure, 15+ hour days and on-call 24×7, etc.
As the current Director resigns this week, the White House will want to quickly find a replacement. But with such unique requirements, how will they find candidates?
Or the more relevant analogy to you as a job seeker…how would you go about POSITIONING yourself for the role?
Sure, you could send your resume and try to call in a favor from your most networked friend to dig up a referral. But trying to do so AFTER you found out about the opening would be futile.
Finding the replacement Director will start LESS like an application process and more like a NOMINATION process – with a handful of the President’s trusted advisors giving their top recommendation(s) for the job.
Dennis Blair got the job the FIRST time around…but the person whose name comes up most often the SECOND time stands the best chance of getting the job THIS time. This is remarkably similar to how “normal” exec-level jobs are filled.
It is also the way job openings become public knowledge. At first they are NOT. Then only a small but increasing circle of people know…until everyone is aware.
So how do you secure a nomination to the early short-list?
Sure, you can ask your friends “who’s hiring?” and respond to Internet postings…but how’s that workin’ for you?!
The answer lies in ADAPTING a few traditional marketing principles (performance, packaging, promotion, persuasion) for our world of new media, a “noisy” marketplace and increasing competition.
Actual PERFORMANCE is the foundation. In the case of DNI, the reality is that if you had not already performed well in the right kind of roles over the last 20+ years, then no amount of additional marketing done TODAY could help you play catch-up.
Performance includes accomplishments and results…but it also can include things like loyalty, commitment, dependability, persistence, and innovation.
Note: if you are not excellent in what you do, then you either need to focus on closing the gap between being good and great, change what you do, or narrow your niche.
If you can’t be “the best” financial planner, perhaps you can be the best financial planner for newly divorced women that need to readjust their finances. Or if you can’t be the best Director of Operations, maybe you can be the best ops exec for companies that had a bad experience outsourcing manufacturing to China and now want to bring operations back to the States.
Assuming you are a performer, you must also PACKAGE yourself in order to display your accomplishments in a credible and memorable way. Packaging includes the use of “materials” that will influence your overall image and perceptions in the minds of others.
This includes routine items like your resume, cover letter, clothes, email address, profile picture on LinkedIn and voice mail recordings. It also could include speaking engagements (like keynotes, panel discussions and interviews) or written materials (like articles, whitepapers or books). Basically anything that can impact your personal “brand.”
As you can see, the lines between marketing techniques are necessarily blurred…but each tends to enhance the other.
PROMOTION is another necessary ingredient. After all, you could be a better basketball player than Michael Jordan…but if you lived in a remote village in a third-world country and no one knew of your talent, it will do you little good.
Promotion involves implementing strategies and tactics to ensure that the RIGHT people know you, remember you, like you, and know where & why you are valuable.
This includes being visible from things like industry interviews, to helping others and having regular contact with them via meetings, events, email or social media and/or blogging.
If you are a performer that is properly packaged and promoted…your odds of being recommended for job openings are extremely high.
Note that in most cases it will be rare for someone to nominate you if they don’t LIKE you…while occasionally it is a non-factor.
Finally…because you can expect competition for any open role, you must PERSUADE. You must be a compelling nominee by sharing communication designed to influence decision-makers. To most this conjures up images of the stereotypical fast-talking salesperson whose favorite subject is himself.
The most powerful forms of persuasion, however, are more about asking thought-provoking questions; taking time to listen, diagnose and educate; displaying a quiet confidence; and having “raving fans” as references that do most of the bragging FOR you.
So…when an organization needs to find a replacement in your profession, will YOU be on the short-list?
If you’re not, then WHY not…and what do you need to do to CHANGE? If you’re not sure where to go for answers, a good place to start is this FREE 360 assessment to get feedback from others.
Do YOU have any thoughts? I’d love to see your comments or questions on this (or your own job search challenges) in the comment section below.
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