Unless you’ve done a placement year at university, marketing yourself might be an alien concept to you. Here’s why it’s important to learn to do it properly:
In her 2020 book Why Men Win at Work, Gill Whitty-Collins uses the ‘Umbrella Theory; to describe why marketing yourself is important. She highlights this difference between men and women, with women believing in the power of meritocracy (that if they do a good job, their work will automatically be rewarded). If you feel this way, as a woman or a man, try to visualise it like this:
Think of yourself as working under an umbrella, with your boss looking down from above. The boss only sees what is happening under your umbrella if:
- There is an issue that they have been called to resolve
- You have an incredible boss who regularly checks in on your progress (which is unlikely, unfortunately)
- You market yourself well and invite your boss to take a look at your work
Whitty-Collins says that it is “Pretty obvious which of these three is the most appealing, likely scenario.”
So, as a graduate of any gender, brand new to the career world, what can you do? Here are three things that I have found most useful when trying to market myself:
Think of yourself as a brand
Trying to market yourself can sometimes make you feel self-conscious. Certainly in my experience, writing down my qualifications made me feel like I was bragging, and the imposter syndrome began to creep in. Who am I to say that I’ve done all of these things, and done them well?
Thinking of yourself as a brand can create a divide between you and your image. That way, you might feel more comfortable about displaying confidence in your brand.
Networking
Between the internet and the real-world, there are networking opportunities everywhere you look as a graduate. Whether it’s commenting on the social media posts of people or businesses that you aspire to work for, or keeping on top of your LinkedIn, the internet is a vital resource for networking.
However, you might also have physical contacts from university placements. It’s also important to remember that your lecturers are likely to have practised in the field that you want to head into. Use them! It isn’t a case of being handed a job, it’s a case of you, using your initiative, to seek out contacts and build on those relationships to help you succeed.
Tailoring your CV to each job
The time has come to abandon your ‘one size fits all’ CV that you used to get into your part-time university job. Now, you need to hone your skillset, take out anything that isn’t relevant and use key words from the job descriptions to get your CV to the top of the very large pile in front of the hiring managers. More on tailoring your CV here.
With job competitions only increasing since the Covid-19 pandemic, marketing yourself has never been more important.