subject: Your Marketing Brochure [print this page] Your Marketing Brochure Your Marketing Brochure
In the quest for getting the career you want, you are inadvertently selling yourself. When a product or services is being sold, one of the tools we use to tell about the brand is a marketing brochure. Or flyers. Or advertisements. Take your pick. As of now, let's take marketing brochure.
Q: But marketing brochure is for products, not human beings like us. Can you explain?
That's why it's called a resume or curriculum vitae. Still, you are selling your skills, your services, sharing your experience and education. You are offering something for those who need those services. You need to sell yourself (don't take this wrong way, by the way) and when you sell services, you need a marketing brochure.
Q: Does it have to look like typical marketing brochure, with colour and all?
If it relates to the job you want, why not? Usually resumes of the likes of designers and art directors have splash of colours and beautiful designs. That shows who they are.
If you are looking for more white collar job, it's best to keep it simple, and straight to the point. Marketing brochure it is, but whoever reading your personal brochure is not interested in what colour best defines you, or what symbolism your design represents you. So, it depends.
Q: While we are still talking about marketing brochure, they sometimes exaggerate. Do I do the same?
When you look at a certain brochures and exclaim, "gosh, they are so exaggerated", don't you realise that you can actually see through the whole thing and figure out the information is not accurate? Would you buy that product? No, right?
Similarly, if you exaggerate and lie in your personal brochure i.e., the resume, the readers can quickly figure out where you are exaggerating or plain lying. It's that simple. So, the best brochures are usually honest and are to the point. They give the main information that one need to know. The same with your resume.
Q: Well, if I don't have any experience, for example, my brochure would be empty. I need to amp it up a little right?
Go back to the previous articles on Resume Q&A. Remember, any working experience would help. You are not exaggerating when you say you helped your mom to sell Nasi Lemak. That's pure hard work and it shows that you are a worker, you are a contributor and you have some sort of selling skills. That is not exaggerating.
Just put in the right information. Look back and think of activities you were involved in that shaped your personality, that shows that you have the right attitude and aptitude. Highlight them. Highlighting is not exaggerating or lying.
