Personal Strengths and Weaknesses

Self-Marketing Plan

Executive Summary

This self-marketing plan is a demonstration of marketing concepts as applied to creating employment opportunities for myself in the field of MIS. It begins with an environmental scan and SWOT analysis, with a self-analysis (talents and goals) offered in place of a traditional product analysis. Included in this section are a career market analysis and competitive analysis, which identifies the nature of the career that I will be pursuing and the skills and qualities needed to obtain a position in the MIS field.

My self-marketing objectives follow, with a focus on short-term and long-term objectives, which include graduation plans as well as personal and professional development plans. A target market section is next, with an emphasis on market segmentation and a target market strategy that will help me identify the right job and career for myself and pursue it.

The plan then proceeds with an overview of my marketing strategy, which identifies my product, price, distribution and promotion strategies. Included in my promotion strategies are a public relation strategy, a sales promotion strategy, an advertising strategy, and a personal selling strategy. The plan concludes with an evaluation and control systems strategy that focuses on using feedback and reflection to monitor my progress at achieving my objectives.

The Appendix to this plan contains four parts: a list of ten firms with which I might like to work (names, addresses and contact information); a cover letter; a resume; and a follow-up letter.

Table of Contents

Environmental Scan and SWOT Analysis 4

Product Analysis (Self Analysis) 4

Career Market Analysis 4

Competitive Analysis 4

Environmental Scan 5

SWOT 5

Strengths 5

Weaknesses 5

Opportunities 5

Threats 5

Self-Marketing Objectives 6

Short-Term Career Objectives 6

Long-Term Career Objectives 6

Target Market 6

Market Segmentation 6

Target Market Strategy 7

Positioning Strategy 7

Marketing Strategy 7

Product Strategy 7

Price Strategy 8

Distribution Strategy 8

Promotion Strategy 8

Public Relations Strategy 8

Sales Promotion Strategy 8

Advertising Strategy 9

Personal Selling Strategy 9

Evaluation and Control System 9

Appendix 11

Targeted Employers 11

Cover Letter 12

Resume 12

Follow-up Letter 13

References 14

Environmental Scan and SWOT Analysis

Product Analysis (Self Analysis)

My talents include the ability to think critically by identifying problems, gathering information from multiple sources, and parsing out the most relevant information to make the right decision. I am interested in learning, developing myself both personally and professionally through exercise and meditation. I bring value by way of my ability and desire to organize, plan, coordinate and direct activities.

My goals to enhance my strengths are to continue to focus on my education so as to graduate at the top of my class. To minimize my weaknesses, I aim to set a schedule of duties for myself that I adhere to consistently and regularly without fail in a timely manner.

Career Market Analysis

MIS analysts improve the flow of information within an organization through technology. The requirements for this position include the ability to design, develop and manage MIS infrastructure; analyze and process large-scale information; generate business reports; manage data evaluation; and identify risks and opportunities related to IS infrastructure. A relevant entry-level position would be a data conversion analyst at Reynolds and Reynolds; this position requires a Bachelor’s in MIS and involves converting customer data from competitive databases to Reynolds’ databases.

Competitive Analysis

MIS is a very competitive field. The ideal candidate has numerous certifications and expertise. Obtaining more certifications and becoming a subject-matter expert will improve my competitiveness in this market.

Environmental Scan

External factors that can pose as opportunities or threats include the state of economy and my status of military career. Technological factors include new software that is always coming online; social forces might include whether people are still working remotely due to COVID concerns, which could provide an opportunity to work for a company from anywhere in the world.

SWOT

Strengths

1. Committed, loyal and a dedicated hard worker

2. Self-motivated

3. Responsible and personally accountable

Weaknesses

1. Tendency to procrastinate

2. Lack of experience in the field in which I am studying

3. Prone to over-thinking a situation

Opportunities

1. Military experience / Veteran

2. Education

3. Increased need for talent in the MIS field

Threats

1. Not using my degree and not gaining any experience within field due to current career

2. Younger and more skilled competition

3. Semi-broad field that will have barriers for entry

Self-Marketing Objectives

My aim is to take part in workshops, so as to increase my MIS skills, and to volunteer for projects with various companies. Pursuit of a co-op is always an option.

Short-Term Career Objectives

My immediate objectives are to obtain my Bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems at Norfolk State University. After graduation I want to continue to increase my skills and knowledge in this field by pursuing further credentials and a Graduate degree. I am currently an active-duty service member. I may re-enlist with the Navy or pursue an opportunity in the civilian life if one is presented.

Long-Term Career Objectives

I plan to complete certification programs that would complement my degree. The first program I want to complete is the Lena Six Sigma Certification training at Villanova University. After this, there are other programs, including Project Management Professional, Certified Business Analyst Professional, and Certified Information System Auditor that may be considered, as these are three more primary MIS certifications offered in the field (Bauer, 2020).

Target Market

Market Segmentation

Accenture is a consulting company. Deloitte is a professional services network, like Ernst & Young. Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealth Group and WellPoint are in the health care industry, which continues to grow. GE, IBM, United Technologies focus on the research, development and manufacturing industries. In the financial services industry, opportunities exist in PwC, The Hartford. Travelers is an option in the insurance industry. Many of these firms are multinational companies that offer job opportunities stateside and abroad.

Target Market Strategy

My target market strategy is to adopt a research approach, with the goal being to discover what the specific organization in each industry requires and meet that need. The research approach can utilize interviews to gain information from vital sources (Potter, 2018). It would allow me to get into contact with individuals connected to firms or departments to understand what they are looking for or in need of.

Positioning Strategy

Through the pursuit of internships and workshops, and the development of personal and career development courses, I plan to position myself favorably to be a high-quality, high-caliber candidate for hire. Internships are an advantageous way to position myself because they offer the foot-in-the-door method: one starts at the bottom but can work one’s way up the ranks quickly if one shows the necessary skills and know-how. Workshops are always a helpful way to increase knowledge and skills that would facilitate that upward climb.

The development of personal characteristics and professional skills likewise facilitate this upward trajectory, as organizations are always on the lookout for leaders who are committed to the organization, who bring the required skill-set, and who have the professional background to support advancement.

Marketing Strategy

Product Strategy

By identifying the need in the marketplace (what firms are looking for from an MIS candidate for hire), I can focus on acquiring the right hard and soft skills to present myself as a valuable candidate.

Price Strategy

I aim to adopt a premium pricing strategy, which will convey the sense that I am a high-quality, high-caliber hire, who brings understanding, experience, and professionalism to the job. By increasing my skills and knowledge so as to increase my personal and professional value, I can pursue a median to high salary.

Distribution Strategy

Digital technology provides a great distribution channel in today’s day and age, and I aim to use this as the basis for my distribution strategy. Emails and DMs can be a great way to get the word out that I am interested in positions. However, a non-traditional strategy will also be effective, such as creating tutorials online on YouTube or Twitter so that there is a digital footprint of my activity in the space that can be used to show my level of knowledge and expertise.

Promotion Strategy

Public Relations Strategy

Using social media is a great way to develop a public relations strategy. Many CEOs and managers do this, such as Tesla’s Elon Musk, who has a proven track record of building his company’s brand and his own personal brand through social media (Feldman & Stacey, 2020).

Sales Promotion Strategy

A great way to engage in sales promotion of myself is to offer my services for free at the beginning, via a volunteer position or an unpaid internship or co-op. This way the organization will get the chance to see what I am made of, and I will have the opportunity to showcase my skills, professionalism, character, knowledge and leadership up close. Many successful careers have started out at the bottom, so this is a great sales promotion approach when considered in the light of giving a little to get a lot back (Farmaki, 2018).

Advertising Strategy

I aim to advertise myself by posting my resume to LinkedIn, where I can develop my academic and professional profile. I also plan to network within the military and professional world.

Personal Selling Strategy

My personal selling strategy is to dress for success and attend professional skill-building seminars so that I am knowledgeable about the current trends and needs in the MIS field and how MIS skills apply to various industries.

Evaluation and Control System

Obtaining feedback is the crux of all evaluation systems: customer service representatives constantly engage consumers for feedback via survey or focus group (Sparr, Knipfer & Willems, 2017). For me, I can obtain feedback from peers, members of the military, other leaders, and some of my own followers. This will allow me to evaluate how I am progressing towards my objectives and identifying what improvements or changes I can make. Conducting an internal audit every three-to-six months to make sure I am still on track to achieve my short-term and long-term objectives is a good control system to have as well.

Appendix

Targeted Employers

Accenture

500 W Madison St, Chicago, IL 60661

[email protected]

Aetna

151 Farmington Avenue

Hartford, CT 06156

1-877-451-1695

Cigna

11200 Lakeline Blvd Ste 100

Austin, TX 7871

 (800) 244-6224

Deloitte

250 E 5th St #1900

Cincinnati, OH 45202

(513) 784-7100

Ernst & Young

221 E 4th St #2900

Cincinnati, OH 45202

(513) 612-1400

GE

1 Neumann Way

Cincinnati, OH 45215

(513) 243-2000

IBM

4600 McAuley Pl

Cincinnati, OH 45242

(800) 426-4968

PwC

201 E 5th St Suite 2300

Cincinnati, OH 45202

(513) 723-4700

The Hartford

128 Meridian St, Ingalls

IN 46048

(317) 642-3287

UnitedHealth Group

9050 Centre Pointe Dr

West Chester Township, OH 45069