10 ideas can help laid-off worker to market talents aggressively

So many Colorado companies have laid off employees this year, yet so few have provided them with the training they want and need to reenter the job market.

As a result, many of those laid-off workers don’t have a clue about how to start a job search and effectively promote themselves to prospective employers.

One reason during this economic downturn that some companies resist outplacement training is the fear that it will cost too much. It need not. In fact, some of the best assistance that companies can provide to “downsized” employees costs the least.

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Preparing workers to reenter the market involves far more than assisting them with resume writing. Yet your company need not spend big money on an outside firm to effectively prepare employees for the change. You can supply outplacement assistance “in house,” by training laid-off employees on some key personal promotion principals.

Here are the Terrific 10: 10 concepts that will help an employee “fireproof” his or her future:

1. Consider the personal sale as the most important one you’ll ever make. As you update your resume, focus on your special skills, areas of expertise and how you “specialize.” Your “job” now is to find one, and to do so, you’ll have to differentiate yourself .

2. Document your deeds. Recording your accomplishments, past and present, in a winner’s workbook will help you – and others – appreciate your value. Account for goals reached, obstacles overcome, milestones achieved, etc.

3. Develop a personal marketing plan. Without one, you’re like a ship without a rudder. Create a plan spelling out your financial goals, and the people you need to meet in order to achieve them.

4. Create a personal advisory board. Assemble a group of experts — including, for example, a lawyer, accountant and a marketing specialist — who can advise you, refer you and expedite your job hunt. Advisers can offer frank feedback – and suggest solutions to your biggest challenges.

5. Identify your most marketable skills. Seek help from your advisers and others in determining which of your skills would most appeal to prospective employers. Consider the major needs of those employers – and what best qualifies you to fill them.

6. Add “magic” to your message. Create a personal commercial that establishes you as a unique, one-of-a-kind professional. Spell out your “onlys” (e.g., “I’m the only software programmer who?”) and identify how you differ from your competitors.

7. Smile and dial. Persistence pays. Only 4 percent of sales are made after the first contact, but that more than 80 percent are made by the eighth contact. It takes an average of nine impressions to move a buyer from total apathy to purchase readiness. When it comes to selling yourself, go until you hear “no.”

8. Write or get written about. Free publicity is the best advertising you can’t buy. Submit news releases, articles and letters to the editor of publications read by those you seek to influence. Once published, they give you visibility, credibility — and a competitive edge.

9. Create a personal marketing piece. Supplement your resume with a two-sided promotional sheet that lists your services, skills and achievements, and includes your photograph, testimonial comments, career highlights and related information.

10. Make your “net” work. Get involved with at least two groups whose members you would like to influence. Connect with decision-makers – and focus on their needs and interests.

Those are the kind of principles downsizing companies can and should teach workers as they lay them off. Those companies should do more than offer a severance package to the employees let go because of the troubled economy. They should sell those employees on the idea of selling themselves.Fred Berns is a career coach and outplacement specialist who helps companies train laid-off workers to reenter the job market. Berns, the author of “Sell Yourself!” and two other books, speaks to and consults with organizations nationwide. For more information, contact him at (303) 665-6688 or e-mail FredTalks@aol.com or visit his Web site: www.fredberns.com.