Finding a Job: Define your brand, target your market

You might think the job search starts with getting a resume and standard cover letter together, but if you really want to succeed, there are other steps to take first.

First, define your brand. Yes, you're the brand, as former Rocky Mountain News Editor and Publisher John Temple noted in his spring 2009 commencement speech to the University of Colorado School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Of course, your brand includes your name. And you should try to own your name on the Web - as a URL, on facebook, on Twitter, on LinkedIn and where ever else you might want to go online..

Then, ask yourself: What are my specialties, my strengths, my interests? Consider defining yourself in six words. Then define yourself in a complete sentence. Here's how i define myself: "Sandra Fish is a journalist and journalism instructor at the University of Colorado who specializes in politics, government, data analysis and interactive reporting."

Once you've defined your brand, use it! Put it on your twitter description, on your facebook page (mine says: "It's all about the learning."), on your Web site, on your resume and cover letter letterhead even.

Why go through this exercise? Because you want to be able to give potential employers as well as the outside world a clear idea of who you are and what you're all about.

Next, determine your job objectives so you can target your search.

What is your top priority? Do you want to live in a particular place and would you do any sort of job to live there? Or is your dream (as mine was) to be a news reporter and you're willing to do it no matter where you start?

Answering these questions - even writing out your search objective - will help you target your search. Consider this objective, for example: Searching for a communications job in the Denver metro area.

If that's your objective, you can begin to target your job search.

First, consider who you know who might help you. Never be afraid to ask friends, acquaintances, former employers, teachers and others for help. Most people love to give advice (i know i do!). The one instance where you shouldn't ask: If you've let someone down (and you know if that's the case). Take people to coffee, tell them what you're looking for, ask for their advice in your search.

Second, check out the Web sites to see what jobs are out there. Check out craigslist, no matter where you're looking. Search the listings on LinkedIn for key terms or locations. (Not on LinkedIn? Get on there, make connections with those folks you're asking for advice, maybe even ask for a recommendation or two.)

If you're looking for journalism jobs, this is the place to start. Poynter, the nonprofit journalism education center, also has a job list. Here's a great list from the Berkeley grad school. And there are plenty of others. Google around some, and ask your advisers what sites they recommend!

If you're looking for other types of communications jobs, figure out where those businesses might advertise outside of craigslist or LinkedIn. Here are a few sites i recommended to recent graduates:

Colorado public relations jobs: http://andrewhudsonsjobslist.com/

Colorado nonprofits: http://www.coloradononprofits.org/board.cfm

This is a national nonprofit job clearinghouse: http://idealist.org/

OK, that's the work you need to get done before you send out the cover letter and resume. More on that tomorrow!