15 Ways To Make Yourself More Marketable

Dear Liz,

I am not job-hunting but I'm on full alert because there are changes coming in my company.

Our CEO left last year under a cloud, and it's taken the Board forever to appoint a new CEO. The interim CEO doesn't get along with the VPs, and everybody knows it.

Now they say that the Board is trying to divest two units of our company. The grapevine says that nobody's job is safe.

I'm starting to read job ads and think about what I want to do next.

Even if I survive whatever changes are coming I might not want to work here anymore if the company ends up gutted.

How can I make myself more marketable in whatever time I have left to work here?

Thanks Liz!

Yours,

Joe

Dear Joe,

You're smart to get a jump on your job-search planning and personal branding.

Here are 15 ways to make yourself more marketable.

15 Ways To Make Yourself More Marketable

1. Brand yourself on LinkedIn and in your resume based on the specific positions you want. Don't brand yourself for every job you are capable of performing. Your brand is strongest when it is targeted to a specific group of decision-makers with a common, specific type of Business Pain.

2. Write your Human-Voiced Resume to bring your power and personality across on the page. Here's how.

3. Write a blog post for LinkedIn, talking about a topic you care about. Watch how like-minded folks gather around to comment and share your story! You may get addicted to writing blog posts. That will grow your thought leadership flame and your credibility in a hurry!

4. Browse LinkedIn looking for profiles of other LinkedIn users who have jobs similar to the job you want next for yourself. Get ideas about your own branding from other brilliant LinkedIn users.

5. Get a new LinkedIn profile photo that shows you looking powerful and full of mojo!

6. Collect new LinkedIn recommendations by leaving recommendations for folks you work with now or people you used to work with.

7. Join a professional society to enlarge your network, grow your confidence and visibility, and have something cool to talk about on a job interview!

8. Get business cards of your own, separate from the business cards your employer gave you. When you network, give out whichever card is most appropriate for the situation and the new person you've just met.

9. Research salaries in your area of expertise to learn what other employers are paying people who do the same work you plan to do in your next job. When you can confidently tell a recruiter "I'm focusing on jobs in the $X range" it makes clear that you know what various jobs pay and what you are worth. That will build your marketability — and weed out organizations that don't value talent!

10. Create a portfolio of your most important work. It can be a physical portfolio like the type visual artists use, or an online portfolio. If you are an Office Manager, fill your portfolio with samples of the company newsletter you created, an invitation to the five-year-employee luncheon with a quick explanation of your event management background, and a glowing letter of thanks from your company's biggest client. Almost anyone can create a portfolio to bring to job interviews. Let your imagination guide you!

11. Update your LinkedIn profile to claim your Dragon-Slaying Stories from your current job and every past job. It is easy to forget our most powerful stories — now is your chance to reclaim and reframe them!

12. Read industry publications and blogs to familiarize yourself with new terminology or trends that may not have made it into your company's field of vision yet. No one expects you to be a cutting-edge expert on every topic in your field, but if there are major currents and trends you need to know what they are — and to understand and have opinions on them!

13. Create a list of Target Employers for your job search, and begin researching each organization. The more you know about the next, best employer for you the more marketable you will be. Marketability, after all, is a matter of pitching your message in the way that your target audience members will best respond to. You have to know a lot about your target market if you want to craft a message that will appeal to them.

14. Go to every networking event you can and practice asking new acquaintances about their work and their Business Pain. You will become a champion Pain-Spotter in no time!

15. Finally, start talking care of yourself if you haven't always done so before. Get a lot of sleep and as much exercise as you can. Treat yourself to healthy meals because a job search is a marathon. Don't get down on yourself if you don't have a chance to do something job-search-related (like working on your portfolio or updating your LinkedIn profile) exactly when you planned to do it. Your body and mind are both working hard and they need rest. Spend time with people who lift you up. In the planning and execution of your job search, you are climbing to a higher level of altitude.

We are cheering you on!

All the best,

Liz