HI YOUFF’ERS

Last issue, we talked about the importance of understanding the hiring process. This month I would love for you to take some time considering the commutations strategy of your project of search.

A good communications strategy ensures that the key qualifications and abilities (which would be an asset a potential employer) supporting your professional objectives, are a part of all your written, verbal and interviewing communications. And directs you to your target market audience (we will discuss this in the next issue).

One key communications tool is your CV, it needs to support your professional objective by highlighting your qualifications and your accomplishment statements, thus helping the reader understand how you could contribute to their organisation in your desired role.

Consider this:

Instead of your normal list of duties and responsibilities, consider rewriting your duties as accomplishment stories. An accomplishment story answers a question, offers a solution to a problem. This should be a consistent theme in your communications strategy. REMEMBER: each employment project is linked to an assortment of issues that the role will seek to solve. An accomplishment story is a basically an indicator of one (or more) skills in action. These stories also give a great platform for a more powerful interview.

Your communications strategy links your professional objective with your target market in a language suitable to that market.

Your Business Strategy Should:

1. Deliver a consistent massage.

   • Just as advertising repeats a single consistent message about a product, you must deliver a consistent message about yourself throughout your search. This refers to your CV, the interviews and all conversations in the course of job search,

2. Link you to your likely target market.

   • Your communications strategy needs to take into account the probable needs of your likely target market. What industry or industries will you pursue? What do they value?

3. Needs to counteract REAL or PERCEIVED deficits.

   • No matter how good a candidate you are, there might be aspects of your background that some people perceive as deficits. A good communications strategy predicts as many real or perceived deficits as possible and incorporates a solution to the objections on the original message. I desperately wanted to say “incorporates an antidote” LOL, corona got us thinking everything in medial terms LOL.

SOME QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

Is my CV an effective marketing tool?

• Does it fit me as an individual and speak to my value?

• Do my accomplishment stories support my professional objective?

• Are they appropriate to the organizations & industries I plan to target?

• What does a Hiring manager need to know about me to make an informed decision? Do my communications tools deliver this message clearly?

• What will differentiate me from other (equally qualified) candidates?

• Does my communications strategy reflect it?

• What is likely to asked in an interview?

• What accomplishment stories will I tell to illustrate my abilities?

For more info and more career resources, please visit the 189Xchange website.

Happy hunting

Phakeme Mtheku: Founding Director of 189XCHANGE FOUNDATION [npc]

https://189xchange.co.za/