MKG 22400 - PERSONAL MARKETING PLAN PROJECT Using strategic marketing concepts to enhance your personal and career successIntroduction Planning for a career and obtaining a job entails the process of marketing yourself[footnoteRef:1]. It involves thoughtful planning, implementation and control. You may have terrific assets including several extracurricular activities, relevant work experience, an impressive grade point average, solid communications skills and admirable leadership qualities. However, you still need to market yourself systematically and aggressively. You should think of yourself as the “Brand Called You,” and market yourself to potential employers! Even the best products can remain unsold unless marketed effectively. [1: Based on Berkowitz, Eric, Roger Kerin , Steven Harley and William Rudelius, Marketing, Irwin/McGraw Hill , Boston:MA, 2000.] For example, Random House believed it had a “bestseller[footnoteRef:2] ” in A Civil Action (1995) by Jonathan Harr. The nonfiction story was so gripping that Robert Redford bought the film rights for more than $1 million and planned to play the leading role himself. Talk show hosts lined up to schedule author Jonathan Harr and as glowing reviews streamed in Random House printed 200,000 copies. However, the book bombed. A Civil Action did not make The New York Times best seller list and barely sold 57,000 copies. [2: Wall Street Journal, Jan. 15,1996] But Random House did the unusual: it started all over again and republished the book. This time it applied marketing know-how which recognizes that the entire package is as important as the product itself. The publisher replaced the original bland book jacket with a font type and image that were eye-catching. Random House repositioned the book’s central theme in the book jacket text and initiated an advertising campaign. The result? A Civil Action (same exact book contents!!) was soon on the nonfiction hardcover best seller list and won numerous awards followed by years on the soft cover bestseller list. It was also made into a movie starring John Travolta in 1998. Now to return to you…the process of obtaining employment involves the same activities that marketing managers use to develop and introduce products into the marketplace. The distinction is that you are marketing yourself instead of a product. A major course objective is to think through the basic marketing concepts that we are learning in terms of lifelong personal application, i.e., marketing of yourself. You need to engage in marketing research by analyzing your personal qualities (i.e., performing a self-audit) and by identifying career opportunities. Based on the findings of your research, you then select a target market. This entails identifying those job opportunities that are compatible with your interests, goals, skills and abilities. You then design a marketing mix around the target market. The “product” is you: you must decide how to “posit ...

1. MKG 22400 - PERSONAL MARKETING PLAN PROJECT
Using strategic marketing concepts to enhance your personal
and career successIntroduction
Planning for a career and obtaining a job entails the process of
marketing yourself[footnoteRef:1]. It involves thoughtful
planning, implementation and control. You may have terrific
assets including several extracurricular activities, relevant work
experience, an impressive grade point average, solid
communications skills and admirable leadership qualities.
However, you still need to market yourself systematically and
aggressively. You should think of yourself as the “Brand
Called You,” and market yourself to potential employers! Even
the best products can remain unsold unless marketed
effectively. [1: Based on Berkowitz, Eric, Roger Kerin ,
Steven Harley and William Rudelius, Marketing, Irwin/McGraw
Hill , Boston:MA, 2000.]
For example, Random House believed it had a
“bestseller[footnoteRef:2] ” in A Civil Action (1995) by
Jonathan Harr. The nonfiction story was so gripping that
Robert Redford bought the film rights for more than $1 million
and planned to play the leading role himself. Talk show hosts
lined up to schedule author Jonathan Harr and as glowing
reviews streamed in Random House printed 200,000 copies.
However, the book bombed. A Civil Action did not make The
New York Times best seller list and barely sold 57,000 copies.
[2: Wall Street Journal, Jan. 15,1996]
But Random House did the unusual: it started all over again and
republished the book. This time it applied marketing know-how
which recognizes that the entire package is as important as the
product itself. The publisher replaced the original bland book

2. jacket with a font type and image that were eye-catching.
Random House repositioned the book’s central theme in the
book jacket text and initiated an advertising campaign. The
result? A Civil Action (same exact book contents!!) was soon
on the nonfiction hardcover best seller list and won numerous
awards followed by years on the soft cover bestseller list. It
was also made into a movie starring John Travolta in 1998.
Now to return to you…the process of obtaining employment
involves the same activities that marketing managers use to
develop and introduce products into the marketplace. The
distinction is that you are marketing yourself instead of a
product. A major course objective is to think through the basic
marketing concepts that we are learning in terms of lifelong
personal application, i.e., marketing of yourself.
You need to engage in marketing research by analyzing your
personal qualities (i.e., performing a self-audit) and by
identifying career opportunities. Based on the findings of your
research, you then select a target market. This entails
identifying those job opportunities that are compatible with
your interests, goals, skills and abilities. You then design a
marketing mix around the target market. The “product” is you:
you must decide how to “position” and “differentiate” yourself
in the job market. The “price” component of the market mix
represents the salary range and job benefits (such as health and
life insurance, vacation time and retirement benefits) that you
hope to receive. “Promotion” involves communicating with
prospective employers through written correspondence
(advertising) and job interviews (personal selling.) “Place”
focuses on how to reach prospective employers—via the Office
of Career Services, job fairs, networking, etc. This handout
describes how you may get started in marketing yourself and the
specific assignment that you are required to complete.
Getting Started by Knowing Your Product: Assessing Yourself.
This is your background research!

3. You must know your product—you—so that you can market
yourself effectively to prospective employers. Consequently, a
critical first step in your job search is to conduct a self-
analysis, which involves critically examining yourself on the
following dimensions: interests, abilities, education,
experience, personality, desired job environment, and personal
goals. The importance of performing this assessment was
stressed by a management consultant:
Many graduates enter the world of work without even
understanding the fact that they are specific somebodies, much
less knowing the kinds of competencies and motivations with
which they have been endowed….The tragedy of not knowing is
awesome. Ignorant of who they are, most graduates are doomed
to spend too much of their lives in work for which they are
poorly suited….Self-knowledge is critical to effectively
managing your career.
· A self-analysis, in part, entails asking yourself some very
important and difficult questions (refer to question guide
below). It is critical that you respond to the questions honestly,
because your answers ultimately will be used as a guide in your
job selection. A less-than-candid appraisal of yourself might
result in a job mismatch.
· Throughout the course as we review basic marketing concepts,
you are asked to pause and make some connections and
applications to your personal lives mainly in terms of the career
search and marketing of oneself.
· It is suggested that you designate a small notebook or pages in
your marketing notes that will be devoted to collecting ideas
about personal marketing over the course of the semester, i.e.,
designate a “Personal Marketing Journal”. You are also
encouraged to use the notes section of your smart phone to keep

4. track of the information pertaining to this project. There will
be a lot to note and you may be speaking with the Director of
Career Management or joining a student club as a by-product of
this form of preparation.
· Your journal notes will be the basis for competing the
“Marketing Yourself” assignment as described below. As you
spend time taking notes in your Personal Marketing Journal,
keep in mind that your written personal marketing plan will
include your situation (SWOT) analysis; focus and goal setting
(i.e., personal goals, job goals, points of difference,
positioning); and marketing program including product, price,
place, and promotion strategies. A template of this assignment
is included at the end of this handout.
Sample Questions to Ask in Your Self-analysis:
Interests
How do I like to spend my time?
Do I enjoy being with people?
Do I like working with mechanical things?
Do I enjoy working with numbers?
Am I a member of many organizations?
Do I enjoy physical activities?
Do I like to read?
Abilities
Am I adept at working with numbers?
Am I adept at working with mechanical things?
Do I have good verbal and written communication skills?
What special talents do I have?
At which abilities do I wish I were more adept?
Education

5. How have my courses and extracurricular activities prepared me
for a specific job?
Which were my best subjects? My worst? The most/least fun?
Is my GPA an accurate picture of my academic ability? Why?
Do I aspire to a graduate degree? Before beginning my job?
Why did I choose my major?
Experience
What previous jobs have I held? What were my responsibilities
in each?
Were any of my jobs applicable to positions I may be seeking?
How?
What did I like the most about my previous jobs? Like the
least?
Why did I work in the job I did?
If I had it to do over again, would I work in these jobs? Why?
Personality
What are my good and bad traits?
Am I competitive?
Do I work well with others?
Am I outspoken?
Am I a leader or a follower?
Do I work well under pressure?
Do I work quickly, or am I methodical?
Do I get along well with others?
Am I ambitious?
Do I work well independently of others?
Desired Job Environment
Am I willing to relocate? Why?
Do I have a geographical preference? Why?
Would I mind traveling in my job?
Do I have to work for a large, nationally known firm to be

6. satisfied?
Must the job I assume offer rapid promotion opportunities?
If I could design my own job, what characteristics would it
have?
How important is high initial salary to me?
Personal Goals
What are my short-term and long-term goals? Why?
Am I career oriented, or do I have broader interests?
What are my career goals?
What jobs are likely to help me achieve my goals?
What do I hope to be doing in 5 years? In 10 years?
What do I want out of life?
Identifying strengths and weaknesses: After you have addressed
the questions you are ready to identify your strengths and
weaknesses. Based on your answers to the key questions, record
your strong and weak points. Ideally this cataloging should be
done over a few days to give you adequate time to reflect on
your attributes. In addition, you might seek input from others
who know you well (such as parents, close relatives, friends,
professors, or employers) and can offer more objective views.
Additional information about yourself can be obtained by
developing a list of the five experiences or activities you most
enjoy and analyzing what they have in common.
A hypothetical list of a job candidate’s strengths and
weaknesses follows:
STRENGTHSWEAKNESSES
Enjoy being with people Am not adept at
working with
Am an avid reader computers
Have good communication skills Have minimal
work experience

7. Am involved in many extracurricular activities Have a
mediocre GPA
Work well with others Am sometimes
impatient
Work well independently Resent close
supervision
Am honest and dependable Work
methodically (slowly)
Am willing to travel in the job Will not relocate
Am a good problem solver Anger easily
sometimes
Have a god sense of humor Lack of customer
orientation
Am a self-starter, have driveIdentifying Your Job Opportunities
To identify and analyze the job market you must conduct
marketing research to determine what industries and companies
offer promising job opportunities that relate to the results of
your self-analysis. Several sources that can be helpful include:
· The College of Business Center for Career Management
· Director: Matthew Wells, [email protected]
· Career Counselor: Joelynn Marconi, [email protected]
· Business Librarian Mr. Sammy Chapman, [email protected]
· www.LinkedIn.com
· www.Glassdoor.com
· www.Indeed.com
· whatcanidowiththismajor.com/major/category/business/
· www.onetonline.org/
· www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/home.htm
· and many others!
Your research should be cited in your paper and listed in the
bibliography. Be sure to support any statements you make
about the industry, a company, compensation, etc. with data
backing up your assertions.
YOUR ASSIGNMENT

8. You are required to develop your personal marketing plan that
includes the strategic marketing process elements that you are
learning throughout the Principles of Marketing class. These
include a situation (SWOT) analysis, focus and goal setting, and
marketing program.
Situation (SWOT) Analysis
Internal Assessment – What are your strengths and
weaknesses? What can you do to enhance your strengths,
minimize your weaknesses? What type of competitive
advantage do YOU have? If you don’t have one, can you
develop one? How are you differentiated?
External Analysis – What are the trends in the environmental
factors that could have an impact on your job and career
development? Technological, Regulatory/Ethics & Social
Responsibility, Economic, Social?
Competitive Analysis – What type of background, experiences,
strengths and weaknesses do your competitors have?
Market Analysis – What market segments have you identified
as having the best potential? How do you fit into these
markets? (This means doing some research!)
Focus and Goal Setting
What are your objectives? Make them specific and measurable.
What is your target market? Examples might be large public
accounting firms, business to business sales, marketing
researcher for a consulting firm in Chicago.
Marketing Program
Product – Understand how it can meet the needs of your target
market. What are your key attributes/benefits? How are you
differentiated?
Pricing - What salary and compensation package do you want;
are you willing to settle for? What’s the competitive price for
your target market?
Place – What channels have you developed to access your

9. target market? Associations, career placement, personal
contacts, etc. Do some careful research on these. Don’t assume
that intensive distribution is necessarily the way to go. Focus
your channel to the target market you are seeking.
Promotion – Think about the buying process. How will you
create awareness? What can you do to ‘break through the
clutter’ and get the opportunity for an interview? What is your
“positioning” strategy? Your personal selling skills will be
important for telephone contacts and face-to-face interviews.
Probe to find out about the needs of the organization before the
“sales call” and during the interview. Have questions prepared.
Please use the template at the end of this document in
completing your written Personal Marketing Plan assignment
due on the date assigned on your syllabus. Students who
complete a thoughtful plan typically utilize approximately 8
pages or more.
ASSIGNMENT DELIVERABLES
Deliverable #1: The Paper
You will be compiling all three parts of your marketing plan
into a final paper and presentation to be given at the end of the
semester:
· At least 8 full pages (not including the bibliography) and no
more than 15 full pages.
· Must include an introduction (executive summary), a section
for each of the parts (1 through 3), conclusion/closing remarks,
and a bibliography.
· Minimum 12 pt. font with 1.5 spacing throughout the paper.
· Margins – 1 inch top, bottom, right & left.
· Your name (1 inch down from the top of the paper)
· Title centered
· Second and sub sequential pages – your last name and page
number in the heading’s upper right corner
· The bibliography of references should be done in MLA

10. document. You can use this website to help convert your
resources into the proper MLA format
(http://www.easybib.com/). Be sure to properly cite source
material in the body of your paper as well.
Deliverable #2: The Presentation (Online Class Version)
Your final presentation should be a summary of the material
contained in your Marketing Plan. Keep in mind that your
objective is to sell the Brand Called You. Try to be as
innovative as you can in effectively delivering the message and
differentiating your brand. The presentation should last no be
longer than 10 minutes. All presentations should be done
through WebEx. We should have a face-to-face introduction
and then you should share your screen with me and make your
presentation.
The University provides students with FREE access to set up
WebEx meetings. You will use your career account login
information to set this up. See the information below at both
sites.
· https://www.itap.purdue.edu/learning/tools/webex.html
· http://www.pnw.edu/learning-technologies/software/webex-
conferences/
When you set up your meeting, you will need a meeting name
and a password. For your meeting name, please include your
last name. For the password, please use “marketing.” You
should set up your meeting for 30 minutes even though your
presentation will only be 10 minutes. Please be online 10
minutes before the scheduled meeting start time.
I HIGHLY suggest you practice before your official
presentation. You can set up a practice meeting with me if you
want!

11. MY PERSONAL MARKETING PLAN - OUTLINE
1) Introduction / Executive Summary (no more than one page)
2) Situation Analysis (SWOT)
a) Internal Assessment
i) My Strengths
(1) Personality
(2) Formal education and classes
(3) Job experience
(4) Motivation
(5) Other….
ii) My Weaknesses
(1) Personality
(2) Formal education and classes
(3) Job experience
(4) Motivation
(5) Other….
b) External Assessment
i) Opportunities I can take advantage of
(1) Regulatory/Legal
(2) Economic
(3) Sociocultural
(4) Technological
ii) Threats affecting me
(1) Regulatory/Legal
(2) Economic
(3) Sociocultural
(4) Technological
c) Competitive Analysis
i) What type of background, experiences, strengths and
weaknesses do your competitors have?
d) Market Analysis
i) What market segments have you identified as having the best
potential? How do you fit into these markets? (This means
doing some research!)

12. 3) Focus and Goal Setting
a) Objectives - My goals upon graduation
i) Personal goals
ii) Job description
b) Target market - My target industries, organizations and
Locations
i) Industries (eg. Steel, healthcare, financial services,
healthcare, etc.)
ii) Companies/organizations
iii) Geographical areas
c) My uniqueness (Points of Difference)
i) Personality
ii) Education and experience
iii) Other
d) My “Positioning”
4) Strategic Marketing Process Elements – The 4 P’s
a) Product Strategy (actions to improve my own
“marketability”)
i) Formal education/courses
ii) Job experience
iii) Extra-curricular activities
iv) Leadership opportunities
v) Volunteer activities
vi) Key attributes/benefits
vii) Differentiation
viii) Other
b) Price Strategy (relative to 3b above)
i) Compensation Sought
ii) Benefits sought
c) Place Strategy
i) Networking sources for contacts and references
d) Promotion Strategy
i) Positioning strategy
ii) Creating awareness – using the elements of the promotional
mix
5) Conclusion/closing remarks

13. 6) Bibliography/works cited
8