You’ve worked for years to earn a degree. You’re passionate about the things you’ve learned, and you’re excited to step out into the real world and start a long, successful career.
Unfortunately, you might quickly see that finding a job isn’t as easy as you thought it would be.
The unemployment rate across the country is still relatively high, so why can it be so difficult to find a job? Well, it’s not — depending on the job you want. However, if you majored in something specific and have a detailed idea of what you want to do for a living, you have to understand that some careers are more competitive than others.
That’s why it’s important to market yourself once you graduate from college. Think of yourself as a “product,” and how you’ll get different companies you want to work for to notice you.
Let’s dig a little deeper into how you can start a self-marketing campaign to get hired quickly.
The Benefits of a Self-Marketing Campaign
You don’t have to have any marketing experience to successfully market yourself to potential employers. However, it’s a good idea to learn some of the benefits, so you’ll be motivated to keep moving forward with different marketing tricks and techniques.
The biggest benefit of self-marketing is that it can help you stand out from other prospective job seekers. It can also provide you with different opportunities if you’re willing to reach out to employers and advertise everything you have to offer.
Self-marketing is especially important if you want to be a self-employed contractor or if you want to start your own business. You might not be working for anyone else, but you need to market yourself to clients and potential investors to get noticed and get the work needed to grow your career. Some of the benefits of self-marketing in either situation include:
- You can attract new opportunities;
- You’ll have a higher perceived value;
- You control your own narrative.
Self-marketing can also be better for your mental health. It’s important to find a career that doesn’t cause you to feel burnt out and doesn’t take a toll on your mental well-being. When you market yourself, you can be more selective about the job you choose — even if that means working for yourself.
By choosing a career that allows for flexibility, a healthy work-life balance, and better benefits, you can manage your mental health and enjoy other aspects of your life outside of your job. You’ll also find more fulfillment in your work if it doesn’t completely consume you, so keep that in mind when it comes to exactly how you’re marketing yourself.
Grow Your Network
One of the best ways to market yourself after college is to build your professional network as quickly as possible.
Businesses know that word-of-mouth advertising is worth its weight in gold. It’s something every marketing professional tries to achieve with their target audience. You can look at networking in a similar way.
Ideally, you should have already started to build a professional network in college by attending career fairs and joining different clubs and organizations. However, even if you didn’t, it’s never too late to grow your network and get yourself noticed by the right people.
You can join professional organizations after graduating, and there are plenty of them in just about every industry. Joining these organizations can help boost your presence among people who are already in your field of choice.
Nowadays, it’s easier than ever to throw your name into the mix and get noticed, thanks to advancements in technology and social media. Digital marketing networking can make it easy to connect with individuals in your field from all over the world. Utilize platforms and tools like:
- Slack
- Microsoft Teams
Join message boards online that are relevant to your career, and get yourself involved in healthy, productive discussions. By showcasing yourself as an authoritative voice in a particular industry, you’ll get attention quickly.
The more you expand your network, the more likely it is that you’ll get noticed. Even if you start your own business or work as a freelancer, you never know who might be impressed by your skills or expertise in a specific field.
Someone might take that information and pass it along to a specific brand or business — the best kind of “word-of-mouth” advertising you can get when you’re trying to launch your career.
Use Your Tools
In addition to using technology to network, you should utilize whatever tech tools you can to turn yourself into a brand — especially if you want to do contract work.
Start by creating a personal website or digital portfolio. There are plenty of site builders out there with drag-and-drop features that allow you to build a professional website with no design experience. Having a website makes it easier for job recruiters or clients to discover you via search engines.
It’s also worthwhile to use marketing tools that can make your life easier, including things like:
- MailChimp
- Logo Creator
- Google Analytics
- Canva
Don’t be afraid to play around with different tools as you consider which ones will be the most helpful in advancing your efforts.
As you think of yourself as a brand, your goal should be to boost awareness to get noticed. Everything from social media to sharing relevant content on your blog or website can help.
Create a digital omnipresence so people can find you no matter where they look. When you start to treat your self-marketing efforts like a business trying to promote a product, you’ll benefit from being able to stand out from the pack.
Marketing often requires a lot of trial and error to find what works, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get started right away.
Do your research about the companies you’re interested in, the career path you want, and marketing strategies that have worked for others in the past. In doing so, you’ll be able to hone in on better networks, improve the skills necessary for that career, and show off your existing skills and experience in a variety of ways.
