My Approach and Process: Differentiation

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Whether I'm working one-on-one with a client, teaching a class, or speaking before groups at job fairs, chamber events, colleges, high schools, and church gatherings, this is the approach and process I share.    

MY APPROACH: Five-Step Core Model Focused on Differentiation

MY PROCESS: Collaborative, Personalized Service Supporting You

FIVE-STEP CORE MODEL FOCUSED ON DIFFERENTIATION

My difference is results. And the results I've achieved for clients centers around my five-step core model focused on differentiation. 

Step 1 – A Smart Differentiation Strategy: To advance your career, you first have to think about it in terms of your target industry and your competitors. You certainly have strengths, but also likely have weaknesses, too. Yet so does your competition – the other job seekers you’re competing with. 

My No. 1 focus in everything I do for my clients is differentiation. 

It’s why I refer to my business as Joe Connor Career Marketing because you are literally marketing yourself against a lot of competition. And what I do best is bring out the best in what differentiates you because to achieve your career goals you must know:

A) Who you are trying persuade; 

B) Who your competitors are, and, most importantly; 

C) Why you’re the best choice!

Since I know what opportunities exist and what organizations are looking for in candidates they hire, I will bring out your best qualities that will achieve the result you want based on your skills, knowledge, experience, accomplishments and potential. We'll do this together in a collaborative manner because I believe in providing a personalized service to you.

By the end of Step 1, we will have defined your strengths, weaknesses and opportunities – and, to that end, how to differentiate you from your competitors. 

Step 2 – Defining Success Based on a Clear and Inspiring Vision: Once you know how to differentiate yourself, the next step is to create a clear and inspiring vision for what success will “look like” for you at the end of this journey (after all, you are not hiring me long-term!). What will you deem successful? Together, we will specifically define success, including a plan for how you will celebrate – for example, once you’ve landed the job! 

Step 3 – A Realistic, Achievable Plan: Once I know how I’m going to differentiate you from your competitors (Step 1) and we’ve determined how success will be defined (Step 2), the next step is to create an achievable plan before the actual execution. The plan will be practical and based on sound logic. Here’s an easy example: for every 30 jobs you apply to, you are not going to secure 10 interviews – not realistic. Think of the “plan” as your compass in a dense forest – never lose sight of it. 

Step 4 – Commit and Go: You’re now ready to apply yourself because Differentiation (Step 1); Success (Step 2); and a Realistic Achievable Plan (Step 3) have been defined. In short, it’s time to Commit and Go. That means applying to jobs using the resume I’ve written and using the key “how to” skills I’ve taught you during career coaching.

Step 5 – Results Analysis: You are marketing yourself and marketing is an imperfect science. That means you won’t know if the plan is working (Step 3) until you perform a Results Analysis. Yet because we’ve defined success through a Clear and Inspiring Vision (Step 2) and determined a Realistic Achievable Plan (Step 3), there will be no denying the results! In other words, if your career marketing has worked, you’ll know it!