Career Stories & Articles

Careers and Self-Marketing

In a perfect world, good job opportunities would come to us, we would have all the information we need to make career decisions, and there would be no friction or difficulty in making the right move.  In the real world, career management is tougher.  Even making a good, internal move can involve some work.  One way of looking at internal moves involves “self-marketing,” which can be thought of as the steps you need to take in order to position yourself for the right opportunities within NASA.  Even with the resources available to you, such as the job posting system and resources like this website, you usually have to make some proactive steps to get where you want to go.

In this five-part article, we will look at five essential steps to self-marketing:

--exploring and information gathering

--setting goals

--the internal resume’

--networking

--interviewing

The most important part of exploring and information gathering is knowing what you want to learn.  Depending on what your self-assessment has shown you, your questions about a possible alternate role might center around:

--To what extent does the role’s activity relate to my interests?

--How much of my skills and knowledge base does the role require?

--What are the minimum entry levels of experience for the role?

--What do hiring managers look for when making internal hires?

--What is the work-style like for the job?  (Fast-paced? project-based? fun?)

--What does career progress look like for people who work there?

--What financial and other rewards does the role provide?

The first step in self-marketing is listing out the questions that will help you learn what you need.  Next, try to learn as much as possible from printed, web-based or other resources about the NASA Organization. 

• Review the GSFC Strategic Plans
• Schedule an appointment with a NASA GSFC Human Resource Development or Management Specialist to discuss career opportunities  
• Conduct web-searches on NASA job opportunities
• Schedule appointments with key GSFC Managers, Coaches, Counselors, and Mentors
• Establish Networks
• Seek developmental experiences (i.e., informational interviews, shadowing assignments, and developmental.detail assignments)
• Participate on Center-wide Teams and Committees

The more you can know before talking to people, the better use you’ll make of their time, and the more enriched will be the information you get.  Also, you’ll make more of a positive impression.

Most of the exploration is done by contacting people and asking questions.  In approaching people, it helps to have practiced a statement of who you are and what you’re looking for.  This can be a few sentences that sum up what you found in your self-assessment.  Also, it’s a good idea before starting the exploration to reach clarity with your manager about what you’re doing and who you’ll be talking with.  If you have followed the Individual Development Planning process, he or she will in any event be aware of your goals.

Finding people to help explore possibilities is seldom hard.  Useful questions to ask are:

--Who are good contacts for learning about different roles in your area?

--Who are good people for learning about roles in other areas?

--Who is aware of trends affecting the organization as a whole?

--Who has a well developed contact network that can provide possible names?

The exploration process feeds on itself…the more people you ask, the more ideas you’ll get for talking to other people.  Even at the earliest stages of self-marketing, it always pays to follow each meeting with a quick thank-you e-mail.  As you sift through what you learn and reach conclusions, it can be helpful to share what you have learned with the people who helped.  Often, they are the ones who will later lead you towards actual opportunities.

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