Personal Marketing Plan: Developing Your Personal Product

In this chapter we talked about developing successful products. The next step in developing your personal marketing plan is to provide a concise description of the product you are offering the company or graduate school program you seekyou.

Think through the SWOT analysis you completed in Chapter 2 and think about your personal product offering. Focus on the specific value you would bring to the firm or graduate school. Think of the description as your elevator pitch, a 30- to 60-second description of the value you would bring to an organization. Formalizing this in your personal marketing plan will also help you identify specific jobs that match the skill sets that you offer. Your pitch might include answers to the following questions:

• What makes you different from other potential employees?
• Why is the company or graduate program better with you than without you?
• How do your skills and background fit into what the organization wants to do?

Your Task: Write a two-paragraph product description of yourself that you can read or present in less than 60 seconds. The description should highlight your value to a potential organization or graduate school. You only have a limited amount of time, so choose your words carefully, to ensure they create the maximum impact.