Unfortunately, the whole application process of applying for a job is unnecessarily mysterious.
Even the traditional names for job application documentation are strange: Curriculum Vitae (CV), Resumé, Biodata etc.
We need to cut through all this and place appropriate labels on what we are talking about.
The pages you write to compose your CV and cover letter are sales/marketing tools for you to introduce yourself, your experience and your value and to market your availability, your willingness to work, skills, qualities and personal characteristics to another person or organisation who may require your services for a win-win business partnership.
These pages form your personal ?Sales brochure?.
I will repeat this:
These pages are your personal Sales brochure.
People seldom think of their job application as being a sales brochure, yet that is exactly what it is.
The objective of your Sales brochure is to market/sell you as an employee, for potential employers to evaluate whether you are a business investment worth considering.
And if you work out the cost of employing you over an entire career, this is likely to be a very sizable investment, so there should be considerable effort put into ?selling? your services.
A typical 40-year career beginning in the 2020s will likely earn around US$3 million in income (and possibly a great deal more).
You therefore need to see yourself as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of your own US$3 million enterprise.
If you were a CEO of such a business, you would spend a great deal of time, effort and money on advertising and other forms of marketing, so why not invest the same resources into ?selling? the most important things in your world: the most precious resources you or anyone has at their disposal - your time and ability?
Like all sales brochures, it needs to grab people's attention, arouse curiosity, spark interest.
It also needs to speak for you in your absence.
It invariably creates an image in the reader's mind - is it a good one?
Does it create the image of a world-class employee, full of energy and bright ideas and willingness to play a part in the success of an enterprise; or does it create the opposite image - one of slovenliness, couldn?t-care-less attitude, no ambition, a loafer.
The good news is: you get to choose this.
Just as with any product or service that you might offer for sale, you have the ability to present and describe yourself in any way you choose (within the natural confines of honesty and integrity).
Your skills and other credentials are of course only part of the story.
Your style, personality and the ability/willingness to serve and influence and many more.
These aspects of you also need to be reflected in the CV - always positive, always relevant, always presenting you in the most favourable way possible.
So this part of the process is vitally important, and, in this blog, you will find a number of articles and tip-sheets providing guidance on how to go about it.
If you prefer to get it all in one place, you can download my best-selling book
DO WHAT YOU LOVE, LOVE WHAT YOU DO
at a special member?s price.
Till next time, always remember I am rooting for you!
With love & blessings
Peter Fleming FCMA
Your Career Success Coach