As a career coach, I’ve often been struck by the difficulty my marketing/sales/advertising clients have in marketing themselves when they’re looking for a new job.
It’s totally understandable: you’re in the business of marketing software, medtech, consumer goods or what-have-you. You have a lot less experience and training in selling your own abilities. And to be fair, sales and marketing professionals aren’t doing any worse than other job seekers. It’s just that I know you could do it better.
Case in Point: Your LinkedIn Social Selling Index
This week I decided to check my Social Selling Index (SSI) on LinkedIn. Did you know about that? Your Social Selling Index measures how effective you are at establishing your professional brand, finding the right people, engaging with insights, and building relationships. In other words, how well you market yourself on LinkedIn–which is a big part of how you sell yourself to prospective employers.
I have surprising news for you: Marketing & Advertising professionals, on average, score only 27 out of a possible 100.
On LinkedIn, I’m in Marketing & Advertising myself (because there isn’t a more accurate option, and anyway I love working with you folks, so it’s smart for me to be in your category). My own SSI score of 70 puts me in the top 1% of the industry. (At least I’m “in the 1%” somewhere–if not in terms of income!)
What does this mean if you want to get a job in marketing, sales or advertising?
Here are a couple of insights you might pull from these data: (a) you could probably market yourself more effectively on LinkedIn, and (b) I can probably help you do that, since I’m doing a pretty good job of it for myself.
I’ve also studied the subject in depth, along with everything else about job search. So maybe we should talk! I offer free consultations and would love help you market yourself to get a job in marketing, advertising or sales.
