隨著新一年的來臨，大大小小的招聘會也閃亮登場了。作為大學即將畢業的學生來說，學生生活的重要組成部分「學業」也逐漸被「就業」給取代了。當就業挑戰成為大多數學生憂心難題的時候，如何在找工作的過程中推銷自己無疑成為了重點。現在介紹一個新理念：使用營銷策略推銷你自己(Marketing Yourself-using the marketing strategy)。
In popular usage, "marketing" is the promotion of products, especially advertising and branding. However, in professional usage the term has a wider meaning which recognizes that marketing is customer centered. Products are often developed to meet the desire of groups of customers or even, in some cases, for specific customers. The four Ps, which are product, pricing, promotion and placement, are often referred to as the marketing mix.
營銷學裡有4個核心觀念(4P)：Product，Place，Price和Promotion。在一場求職的過程中，product就是求職者自己，找工作的人要把自己給推銷出去，price就是薪金，而place則代表了求職者target的市場，在promotion的階段，求職者要使用不同的方式把自己給推銷出去，即求職者採取何種的方式和方法。
Whether you're at the most senior level, or starting a career at entry-level, it is imperative that you know your product (you) in order to be competitive in today's marketplace. Know what your product is, what is does, (and doesn't do) and how it adds value and benefit to an organization. Don't presume that you can figure it out during an interview. For most of us, it simply can't happen! Do some research on yourself. Prepare. Plan. Practice. Perform. Persist. Produce!
在找工作的過程中，最重要的要素之一就是了解你自己，了解自己所處的位置，自身的優勢和劣勢。比如說，作為大學剛剛畢業的學生，優勢可能來源於諸如academic record和extracurricular activities的部分，像學術背景和大學時期的課外活動等都是一些很好的證明，劣勢可能就在於沒有工作經驗，是人們所說的新手，不具備相關的工作背景或者在相關工作領域的僱主的推薦。總而言之，作為應聘者，特別是大學才畢業的畢業生，要推銷自己，必須了解自己，了解自身的不足，才知道應該怎樣準備，怎樣做合理的計劃。最後就是多點實踐精神和堅持不懈的信念，最終達到自己的目標。
Put simply, price is the amount of money or goods for which a thing is bought or sold. Setting the right price is an important part of effective marketing. The price of a product may be seen as a financial expression of the value of that product. For a consumer, price is the monetary expression of the value to be enjoyed/benefits of purchasing a product, as compared with other available items.
在這裡，price無疑就是找工作的薪金了。對於工資水平，當然是雙方面的，既來自於僱主，也包含了僱員的要求。當然對於那些剛剛畢業的"新手"，這個方面沒有太多的優勢，因為作為大學才畢業的學生，往往不具備"開價"的能力(use profit maximization pricing strategy)，而且中國的現狀是，畢業生的人數日益增多，而且市場上勞動力的供給數量也在加大，導致了工資的總體水平被壓低。但這種劣勢也是相對的，大學畢業生的起點不高，要求不高，通常僱主們會給予考慮，同時也會通過提供一些培訓和實習鍛鍊的機會，最終達到add value的目標。那麼這個時候，就要求剛剛畢業的學生，擺正好自己的心態，不要提出過高的要求，而是重在工作經驗的積累和自己的不斷實踐和鍛鍊上。
Product placement is a promotional tactic used by marketers in which a real commercial product is used in fictional or non-fictional media, and the presence of the product is a result of an economic exchange. Promotion involves dissemination about a product, product line, brand, or company. Promotion is the specific mix of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, and public relations a company uses to pursue its advertising and marketing objectives. Information gather is extremely important at this stage of the game.
如果把placement和promotion僅僅限定在一次找工作的過程中，那麼地點可能就是一次面試，或者一次招聘會，而promotion可能就是招聘者推銷自己的方式，可能是招聘者的一次簡短的介紹(short presentation)，或者一份漂亮的簡歷等。作為學生，就是多多利用現有的資源，比如收集網上的公司的資料、廣告，參加招聘會和聽取一些成功人士的求職經歷，結合自己的實際情況，取長補短，把自己successfully sell出去。