When your in the market for a job there are a lot of questions that you need to answer before starting your search. The marketing mix is a very useful tool that can be extremely helpful while going through this process. The marketing mix consists of the 4 p's which include; price, promotion, place, and product. The great thing about the marketing mix is that you can use these 4 p's to come up with the questions that you need to ask yourself before starting your job search.
Product- The first question that you need to ask yourself is what is your product? In this case the product is simply yourself. Your trying to market yourself to employers that your the best possible candidate (product) for the job. Also once you answer that question for this specific product you should ask yourself, what are your strengths and what are your weaknesses? Once you identify these characteristics about yourself it will allow you to better understand who you are and what job would be best for you.
Place- When dealing with place there are a few factors that come into play. Not only do you have to think about where it is that you want to work, but you also have to think about where you live. These two locations are directly linked because they will determine how much of a commute you will have to make everyday. Not only do you have to consider is it worth it or not to drive a long distance to and from work everyday, but you also have to consider whether it is worth it or not to cover the cost involved in driving.
Promotion- Promotion is all about selling yourself to your possible future employers as being the best person for the job. This is where asking yourself what your strengths and weaknesses are comes into play and to your advantage. Once you identified these characteristics you can point out in an interview what it is that you offer and what you can bring to the table for that company. Also you can sometimes spin your weaknesses around to almost seem like a positive thing to some employers. For example if one of your weaknesses is that you are a perfectionist, you could say sometimes you take too long on certain tasks because of that and that is a weakness. An employer could look at that like it is a great weakness to have and it is also something that can be worked on very easily.
Price- Price is a very complicated variable because it is one that is not completely in your control. One way that you can have some control over what you get paid is being willing to work for a lower price than your competition. This is a strategy used to get the job over others and it is done with the thought that over time you will see a pay increase. Another strategy that there is a fine line with, is trying to go for the biggest salary you can get. This if successful comes with a huge reward but if not you can over price yourself and end up not getting the job.
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