You are ready to sell yourself to the world. Finding a new job is like conducting a marketing campaign, says careers expert Penelope Brown.

You are in the hunt for a job and you are ready to sell yourself to the world. As you prepare your résumé, keep in mind that a job search is simply a marketing campaign and you are the product. And if you are wise and know yourself well, you also know exactly what skills and talents you have to sell.

Traditionally, your résumé was your passport to a new job. Without a résumé, it was highly unlikely that you would ever go anywhere interesting. But things have changed dramatically and with good reason.

For one thing, résumé services have become big business. Generally, for less than f200, a professional will take your background information and jazz it up so you sound like the ideal candidate for the job you seek.

Of course, as recruiters and Human Resources Departments received more and more of these high-powered documents, they became less and less impressed. Indeed, when it came to the interview, the interviewers often wondered if the person in the seat across the desk was the person they had read about on paper. There developed an increasing sense that the résumé does not tell the whole story - so much so, that recruiters often use résumés as a quick method for screening people out, rather than a way to select for inclusion.

Another point to remember is that because of the ever-shifting marketplace and the impact of changing technology, flexibility is a job-seeker's major asset. A résumé is less useful than it used to be for slotting yourself into a particular niche where you believe there is work that needs doing. In fact, your background information may actually do you a disservice by appearing to pigeon-hole you or limit your capabilities.

In some cases, you may want to consider a resume alternative such as a "Creative or Marketing Package".

Résumé alternatives

A marketing package

Since the impact of a résumé is based solely on the reader's subjective opinion, it may be to your advantage to take another route entirely, but please use good sense in taking this approach. Since a Marketing Package cannot be judged on the same scale as a résumé, at the very least, it may compel the reader to think about you very differently from the rest of the applicants. In any case, high risk often delivers high rewards.

A young law student we know searched a tough job market with disappointing results. In a highly competitive marketplace, he found himself competing for the best jobs against "A" students and prize winners.

Throwing caution to the winds, the young man created a glossy Marketing Package that appeared to be almost off-the-wall in terms of the norms and expectations of the big, traditional law firms. Many of the firms, quite naturally, did not respond at all. Several others however, mightily impressed with the young man's creativity, risk-taking, innovation and enthusiasm, called him for an interview. Bottom line, he did succeed in reeling in a super job with one of the most prestigious firms he had approached.

A Marketing Package includes any of the information you think will pique the reader's interest. It may be presented in a twin pocket portfolio or even a gift box - depending on its suitability to your target audience - and it demands creativity in the assemblage and presentation of materials. It necessarily includes as much hard data as possible about your skills and what they prove, but does not follow any pre-set format or formula.

A visually attractive Marketing Package demonstrates that you have carefully investigated the marketplace, that you have uncovered a niche for yourself, that you have something special to offer, that you are a valuable resource person in this particular field, and that you can solve problems.

A portfolio

Simply put, your portfolio is a collection of your finest work and is therefore your best promotional material. Consider it your personal advertising campaign - with enough variety and flair to communicate your image and convey your message.

A portfolio is most often used for presenting creative work and like the Marketing Package or a good résumé, compiling an effective portfolio is a time-consuming business. But if you need a portfolio, it is worth the hours you will invest. If you are to be seen as a valuable asset to the organization, your portfolio must distinguish itself from all the others.

A portfolio includes carefully selected samples of the work you think promote your talents best. It should contain as many impressive samples as you need without appearing overloaded or disorganized; there is no pre-set format or formula.

A portfolio is usually contained in a zippered holder, but it may take the form of a video or slide presentation or any other format appropriate to the work you seek. It might include samples of your artwork, published articles by you or about you, a copy of a major report you wrote and graphic charts of results you have achieved. Whatever you include, your portfolio demands creativity and visual appeal in the assemblage and presentation of materials.

Your portfolio demonstrates that you have carefully investigated the marketplace, that you are flexible and creative, that you have something unique to offer, that you are a valuable resource person in this particular field, and that you have a solid and uncommon ability to solve problems. Clearly, a portfolio that accomplishes these goals is not easy to assemble, but the good news is, it promises to be rich in practical pay-offs.

If all that sounds a bit too quirky for you, you probably want to send out a traditional résumé. 

Subject: Expat career tips