Marketing is core to work-integrated learning (WIL)—for educational institutions to muster support; for prospective employers to attract scarce talent; and for students needing workplace experience. Positive differentiation potentially improves engagement. Networking, the building of mutually beneficial relationships, is important, as is, building an image-enhancing public profile and expanding networks through Internet presence and by making appropriate use of social media.
Marketing is a critical element of cooperative and work-integrated education (Groenewald, 2015) and for the participants therein. For educational institutions it serves as a bedrock in order to muster adequate support from the relevant occupational fields. For prospective employers, marketing underpins the attraction of scarce talent. Students in need of workplace experience, furthermore, need to actively seek out opportunities and not only market themselves to prospective workplace providers, but also compete with other candidates for limited opportunities.
Wheeler (2015) observes that once upon a time products were sold in a way that is similar to the way jobs and organizations are currently ‘sold’. According to him, merchants waited for potential buyers to show up. The buyers generally knew what they were after and asked for it. The merchandise was kept in drawers or under the counter. When a customer asked for one or more specific product, the merchant would show the customer what he or she had requested. There was little promotion of the benefits of the product. The advent of the department store, in the 1840s and 1850s, in France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, permanently reshaped shopping habits. Large department stores started offering, displaying and advertising wide ranges of consumer goods, arranged according to different product categories, called ‘departments’. The advent of these stores, coupled with the industrial revolution and urbanization, laid the foundations for consumerism. Targeted advertising served to attract potential customers. Display windows portrayed idyllic settings, which played on the emotions of would-be buyers. Salespeople were encouraged to engage with the customers, to establish rapport, to demonstrate products, and to encourage customers to try on clothes. Wheeler (2015) argues that job seekers and employers with vacancies need to learn from this.
Because of mismatches, scarcities of certain competencies and skills versus abundance of others, Wheeler (2015) advocates a need to positively differentiate—to stand out as a potentially better prospect in order to improve engagement. Brand, public image, and emotional appeal are differentiators. Wheeler (2015) offers a number of useful strategies, methods, and ideas starting with the importance of keeping in mind that first and second impressions count. According to him, good stakeholder attraction and networking start with design, and he cites Apple as a great example of a company with a powerful brand carefully built around it. Everything Apple does evokes quality, elitism, beauty, and perfection. From its retail stores to its simplest product, people describe Apple as elegant and sleek, and relate that to top of quality.
Wheeler (2015) further suggests the use of media that are most popular with the target group. Educational institutions should ask their graduates, key players in the occupational field and students about their qualifications; the benefits of cooperative and work-integrated education (CWIE) participation; and stories from the workplace. One could develop a series of short videos, photo stories or audio stories—these could have a viral effect as people watch a video and forward it to friends. Social media could be used to convey achievements. Developments in the field and/or service offerings could be discussed and information supplied to potential stakeholders. Regularly updates could be made on Facebook and/or LinkedIn pages, for example. Real-time and continuous data are required to build the most useful websites and social media tools. One should examine data such as the number of hits, retweets, likes, and clicks for patterns and actions. It is necessary to learn what works best in engaging the right prospects. Data can furthermore be an engagement tool. Engagement is about serving up content that interests prospective participants and giving something valuable. Social media and engagement are about understanding people, how they react, and what they want. Networking should be regarded as a journey; interacting with some at the beginning, the first time they come in contact; interacting with others who know something but not much, and require elaboration; and for others it may be an old story where interaction serves as a reminder and cementing relationships. However, no matter where one is in the journey, there should be compelling content that enlightens, engages, and keeps prospective participants involved.
Networking in WIL is essential for both educational institutions and students. Morgan (2015) asserts that networking is about building mutually beneficial relationships. Her argument implies that it is a serious mistake to limit networking to only when workplace learning opportunities are needed. Networking needs to be a continuous and a gradual building process. It is beneficial and essential to establish and maintain an internet presence; and to make use of social media to expand networks. Morgan (2015) advocates follow-up on initial contacts; and not reneging on undertakings, however small they may be. Furthermore, one should be prepared to give, not just receive. One should establish an image-enhancing public profile on the internet and continuously build on it.
Schawbel (2014) posits that social media has become a key part of networking in our daily lives. Most people have at least one social media account. It not only offers easy and fun ways to keep in touch with friends and family, but also involves the establishment of a personal brand. However, Schawbel (2014) cautions students to be careful about what is placed online. The tweets or posts and pictures uploaded by individuals do contribute to (or detract from) their personal online brand. Prior to actively start looking for a new job, it would be prudent to review one’s personal internet presence. Better still one should not risk being averse, even with regard to what is posted on a private profile. Strauss (2016) cautions in this regard that never before has it been so easy to conduct legitimate background checks and to verify credentials. Equally easy, recruiters could covertly explore a prospective employee’s (or student for a WIL placement) religion, race, personal views and do a general background check. Although discrimination is illegal, evidence of secret internet searches is not tangible, in the same way that an inappropriate question during an interview is. In order to reduce potential online employment discrimination, Strauss (2016) offers some practical suggestions. Social media such as Facebook makes publicly available information such as names, gender, age, networks, and profile photo. Although this wealth of personal details makes it easy for friends and family, it also enables snooping by potential employers. Strauss (2016) cautions individuals about what they publish online. He recommends that it should be assumed that anything posted may eventually become public, and that prospective future employers may see this information. We now live in a global digital village and nosy neighbors abound.
Schawbel (2014) makes a number of recommendations, or do’s pertaining to social media. It is important to keep personal profiles (such as on LinkedIn) up to date, to treat such a profile as an online version of one’s resume. Head hunters conduct searches. One should add details of achievements that would elevate one above others. One should use social media to connect with key people who matter and demonstrate passions about, and interest in, relevant fields, positions and career paths. It is necessary to further connect with peers with similar interests and achievements, and with relevant professional groups. One should use keywords strategically. Recruiters make use of relevant keywords as a means to identify relevant profiles. Furthermore, one should make use of spelling and grammar checks prior to sending messages to recruiters or people one wishes to network and link up with. Personal messages and cover letters for each position one is applying for should be customized. Generic messages should never be sent.
Similarly, Schawbel (2014) recommends a number of don’ts. Firstly, one should be careful what one posts and not post any inappropriate or offensive comments or pictures. One should never post anything derogatory about former employers. One should be proactive and peruse former posts and pictures and delete anything that could be damaging to one’s personal profile or branding. One should avoid poor grammar or spelling errors in any material one posts. Individuals should never rest on their laurels and assume they will be noticed. They should reach out and interact. One should be careful not to portray contradictions. Instead, one should ensure that one’s different social media accounts are consistent, especially job and educational histories.
Meldrum (2009) found networking and the establishment of relationships to differentiate success from failure. Reinhard, Satow and Fadil (2012) advocate private, one-on-one networking, in addition to public networking. They argue that one-on-one networking provides a conduit for sharing information in a more targeted way.
The importance of marketing and networking; of personal branding and enhancement of personal brand, as well as optimization of social media, have thus far been addressed. Several tips were given, and potential pitfalls highlighted. The next section looks at conforming versus courage to embrace.
Groenewald, T. 2015. Marketing a critical element of cooperative and work-integrated education. Posted on Learning in vivo 4 October 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2016 from http://www.psychsoma.co.za/learning_in_vivo/2015/10/marketing-a-critical-element-of-cooperative-and-work-integrated-education.html
Meldrum, R. 2008. New Zealand entrepreneurs’ views of business success: curriculum implications Asia‐Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 2008, 9(1), 81‐90. Retrieved 14 April 2016 from http://www.apjce.org/files/APJCE_09_2_81_90.pdf
Morgan, H. 2015. The top 10 networking mistakes. US News, Money. Retrieved 2 October 2015 from http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2015/09/16/the-top-10-networking-mistakes
Reinhard, K.; Satow, L. & Fadil, P. 2012. Assessing the power of social media marketing. Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 2012, 13(1), 39-53. Retrieved 14 April 2016 from http://www.apjce.org/files/APJCE_13_1_39_53.pdf
Schawbel, D. 2014. Do’s and don’ts of social media during job search. The Personal Branding Blog. Retrieved 14 April 2016 from http://www.business2community.com/social-media/dos-donts-social-media-job-search-01098363#ELGQYO2HX12m3skq.99
Strauss, S. 2016. Op-Ed applying for a job? Better delete your social media accounts. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 January 2016 from http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0107-strauss-employment-discrimination-online-20160107-story.html
Wheeler, K. 2015. Talent attraction. Association for Talent Development. Retrieved 2 October 2015 from https://www.td.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/TD-Archive/2015/10/Webex-Talent-Attraction?mktcops=c.career-dev&mktcois=c.&mkttag=c.original-official-blog-cat-astd-membership
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