PRESCRIPTION
Your career has never been so threatened and the competition has never been so fierce

DIAGNOSIS
Utilize your sales skills to market youself like the next blockbuster

It's all about you. How you present yourself can have a tremendous impact on the goals you attain. And whether those goals involve increased job security, a promotion or a new job, that presentation can be the difference between success and failure. Just like with the medications you are detailing, success will depend in large measure on the marketing effort behind it. Welcome to Brand "You."

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The challenges are formidable. As I noted in the first article in this series ("Getting there," August 2008), the industry is contracting and more layoffs are expected to create an enormous talent pool of experienced and unemployed competitors.

"Turbulence is life force," according to Ramsay Clark. "It is opportunity. Let's love turbulence and use it for change." So let's embrace turbulence and focus on the only change that we can control: our marketability.

The marketing plan for Brand You begins with a self-assessment to evaluate your value as a prospective employer might. The self-assessment forms the basis for a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis— a time-honored method that marketers use to identify needed change and guide development of the marketing plan.

Self-assessment

After completing the self-assessment and SWOT analyses (See sidebar), it's time to assess the features and benefits of Brand You.

It's a lot harder, isn't it? Stating your own features and benefits without appearing to brag is a delicate balance. Review your SWOT analysis strengths and opportunities to identify facts that confirm why you make a difference or how you are uniquely suited to your career goals.

Making connections

SWOT analysis

By some estimations, 43% of pharmaceutical job seekers found a new job through networking, making it essential to attend networking events. Identify meetings where you can meet with others who share your objectives. Networking occurs officially and unofficially. Official networking meetings carry an implicit understanding that attendees will exchange mutually beneficial favors in the future. Any networking that takes place during other meetings is unofficial.

A network is not to be confused with a contacts list. Your network consists of people that would go out of their way to help you. Who could you call tomorrow if you lost your job? Who do you wish you could call? If your network is not as robust as it should be, make it so.

Your Needs: Where to draw the line?

Networking is an extremely valuable marketing tool, but only when based on an honest desire to serve others as much as yourself. Allow others to get to know you before asking them to recommend you to others in their network. This applies for online networking as well. Common networking taboos are networking to sell or get something, looking past the person speaking to see if someone more important is approaching, monopolizing people's time, asking for help too soon and being unprepared, which includes everything from forgetting or running out of business cards to a rambling introduction of yourself.

Create a Brand You sound bite. Just like a product "doorknob" detail, create a sound bite of your features and benefits. Think through and practice answering the following questions in 15 seconds or less: Who are you? Where do you work? How do you make a difference? What are your business goals and aspirations?