Personal Marketing Tips

Original Spanish version published in America Economia (Latin America) on February 21, 2014

Let’s summarize what we have seen in various previous articles:

-All jobs are temporary – forever jobs no longer exist. All jobs are like seminars where you learn, pay attention and deliver results. All jobs are an adventure – you never know what will happen. Remember, jobs last as long as it is convenient for both parties, for us and for our employer.

-Ideally, we have to seek complete satisfaction in the work itself and not in something that may come, such as a promotion, a raise or a different boss, for example. If we are not satisfied with what we do, we will never find pleasure in our work. An Australian professor I had at NYU used to say that he could not believe that he liked what he did so much and was getting paid to do it. That became my mantra, and I did not stop until I found the job I really felt a passion for.

-There is nothing better than enjoying our work. In addition, a virtuous circle ensues: when we are more involved, we do it increasingly better. This virtuous circle brings about results, for the company and for our career.

-We must always take care of our attitude towards both internal and external clients and remember that our main internal client is our boss. And we must know how to have a positive relationship that will help our boss grow in his or her career.

-Our peers, collaborators, supervisors and subordinates are also some of our internal clients. They, together with our external clients, are not only clients, but also good contacts and relationships.

-To be increasingly employable and to be considered strategic resources for the company, we must also try to always do more than we are asked to do, expand our area of influence with our own contributions, be more interested in others, not be improvisers and, obviously, try to find ways to improve things every day.

-Our attitude is absolutely vital for our success. Our enthusiasm, the eagerness we put into our work, our passion, being involved, keeping ourselves updated and current and, above all, meeting goals and objectives, significantly determine our employability.

Identifying the success trap is important. Why? For a very simple reason: it is very easy to get caught in it. It happens to companies and it happens to individuals: when we are doing well, when we think we hold the key that opens all doors, we tend to say: “I arrived, I made it, I have the formula for success that I have worked so hard for, why would I change if I am doing so well!”

But we know that successful people and companies, when they feel successful, run the risk of being unwilling to change, learn, improve, train themselves, create new alternatives or ways of doing things, to innovate. In other words, they stay behind. Complacency and arrogance are two of the biggest enemies of employability.

The only way to continue to be successful is to change when we are doing well. To start building a new version of ourselves when we are going through a complicated time could be a fatal error.

We must be clear that the possibility of choosing between doing or not doing personal marketing no longer exists. Nowadays, we have to do it and do it well. The challenge is to communicate our achievements, skills and talents simply and unpretentiously.

To understand personal marketing, we must start with our own image, asking ourselves: How do we see ourselves? How do we want others to see us? What do we want? Do we feel successful? Are we seen as sure of ourselves and yet unassuming?

We must not neglect how others view us. Though we are not going to live our lives worrying about what others think of us, we can practice looking at ourselves and discovering how others view us, what we convey, how we present ourselves and what is our reputation. It is our responsibility to not only be employable, but also seem employable. That raises the value of our brand in the market.

View original article