Determining Your Personal Marketing Strengths   The following questionnaire is designed to help you get a handle on the strengths of your career path. Understanding the career choices that brought you to this point will enable you to make better choices from this point forward.   What, initially, got you started in your career? (What motivated you? What occurred prior to your career/job choice?) _______________________________________________________________   _______________________________________________________________   _______________________________________________________________   When you started in your present career, who did you work for? And how did you progress from job to job, position to position? What process or methods did you use? _________________________________________________________________   _________________________________________________________________   _________________________________________________________________   Why did your original employer hire you over other candidates?   _________________________________________________________________   _________________________________________________________________   Why does (did) your current (or recent past) employer keep you on the payroll? What benefit did you bring to the firm?   _________________________________________________________________   _________________________________________________________________   _________________________________________________________________   What methods did you employ to move from position to position, firm to firm?   _________________________________________________________________   _________________________________________________________________   _________________________________________________________________   What methods did you use to market/promote yourself and your career?   ________________________________________________________________               ________________________________________________________________               ________________________________________________________________   How successful have you been at monitoring your career results? ( What methods did you use to advance your career and how did they work out?)   ________________________________________________________________   ________________________________________________________________   ________________________________________________________________   How connected are you to the everyday process of the business/field in which you are working? Do you still do those tasks which led to your position?   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   What do you do currently to build your network of contacts and associations?  Is this different from that which you did before when you first started your career?   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   From what demographic group do you draw most of your clients/associations?   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   Who (besides yourself and your family) benefits from your successes (or has benefited from your work)?   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   How many of your business colleagues would be motivated to help you expand your career because it will benefit them to do so?  Who are they?   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   When you expanded your position (grew your career) through new products/services or client acquisition, who else did you create a client or generate work for?   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   Describe completely what your career does (what you sell, who you serve, who consumes your product or service, what industry they are in, and how they benefit):   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   What is your career philosophy as it relates to your employer?   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   Have your methods of work changed since the beginning of your career? How?   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   What is your USP, Unique Selling Proposition? Why does your employer continue to buy your services? What distinguishes you from your peers? Do you have multiple USPs?   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   Is your USP a consistent theme of your personal marketing plan?   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   Briefly describe your personal marketing plan (the tools, strategies, and methods you are using). Are you using sales letters, networking, brochures, the new resume, etc.? (Do you know how to develop and use tools beside a resume and cover letter?)   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   Describe the men/women who are also competing for the positions you are seeking and how your offer differs from theirs.   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   If they have advantages, what are you doing to offset their advantages?   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   What are their biggest failings and how do you fill the void?   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   How does your employer make a profit? Describe five ways you can help them (or another business in a similar or different field) increase their profits.   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________ What has been your greatest career success to date and how specifically (dollarized) did it benefit your employer at the time?   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   What is your greatest career challenge today? (Describe it entirely, as candidly and directly as possible, including personal and financial implications.)   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   Describe three ways in which you could reduce the risk for a potential employer to hire you over your competition.   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   If you were to get a new position with this employer, describe your 30, 60, and 90 day goals.   30 -______________________________________________________________   60 -______________________________________________________________   90 -______________________________________________________________   If you had written a new resume, you would understand that professional testimonials are as important to your career as are customer testimonials. List as many people as you can think of who would be willing to testify to your ability to deliver.   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   29.  Describe your network and your networking efforts. Who is in your network, how frequently you contact them, and the nature of your contacts.   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   Does your resume show your growth and the growth of your network? If not, why not? __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   __________________________________________________________________   Read our articles on Job Search Strategies , Career Control , Personal Marketing, and the New Resume Once you have completed this questionnaire and read these articles you will be ahead of 95% of all job seekers that are competing for positions against you. <!--Begin SiteStats Code Dec 27, 2007--><STYLE>.ivanC11987888106647{position:absolute;visibility:hidden;}</STYLE><DIV CLASS=ivanC11987888106647 ID=ivanI11987888106647><A HREF=http://sitetracker.com CLASS=ivanL_SI TARGET=_blank>FREE counter and Web statistics from sitetracker.com</A></DIV><script language='JavaScript' src='http://ctfow.sitetracker.com/cgi-bin/sitestats.gif/script/11987888106647'></script><noscript><a href='http://ctfow.sitetracker.com/cgi-bin/sitestats.gif/map'><img src='http://ctfow.sitetracker.com/cgi-bin/sitestats.gif/img' border=0></a></noscript><!--End SiteStats Code-->