How to reach your target market

In our previous posts, we took a deeper look at personality and talked about the importance of knowing your strengths. Today we move forward a step and look at how to research and link ‘you’ to your Target Market. A good place to start is the company’s history: this will give you a good idea of where they have been, as well as the direction they’re going in. You’ll also want to be up to date on the latest in company and industry news, as well as any recent developments within the sector. Finally, keep yourself informed on industry standards. This way you’ll impress the employer with your preparedness and relevant knowledge.
The UL Career Service publish several resources that are ideal for researching the market.

Careers by Degrees – What UL Graduates do nine months after graduation. Organisations that employ UL Graduates from this Degree. Job Titles of Graduates who progressed directly to employment. Click here

UL Graduate Outcome Survey – This Annual survey is conducted nine months after graduation and focuses on the employment (location and salary) and further study pattern of the graduates. Click here

We also highly recommend you to review the Career sectors from the gradireland website. These give in-depth advice on key graduate career sectors. Click here

A little bit more on Researching your Target Market…

If you want to have control over your job search here are our three tips to help you ‘Research your Target Market’

1) Select companies that sell products or services you respect and admire.

Choosing a company where you can explain how you’ve come to appreciate what they do for their customers is how you build a connection between the employer and you. Companies like to hire people who really understand why they’re in business and who feel as passionate as they do about the value they deliver to customers.

2) Set a goal of connecting with a minimum of 1 or more people who work there.

The more people you meet, the more likely it is you’ll build the relationships needed to be referred into the company. Each time you speak to an employee and get to know them, ask if they’d be willing to introduce you to someone else who works there.

3) Focus on gathering the right data about the employer to help you make an informed decision. 

Our studies show there are key pieces of information a job seeker needs to assess if an employer would suit their needs. They are:

• Size  – how many employees
• Location – where you’ll be working
• Company Vibe – style of the corporate culture 
• Employee Attributes – common characteristics (often listed in their job adverts – How do these compare to your type preferences? Have you taken the free online personality test through the UL Cooperative Education & Careers Division website here?
• UL Alumni – search ‘University of Limerick’ on LinkedIn and click ‘Alumni’ https://www.linkedin.com/school/university-of-limerick/people/
• Values & Beliefs – these are the guiding principles of that company listed on their website
• X Factor – what makes them unique? Know more than the introductory paragraph in the ‘About Us’ section of their website. Google recent news releases, IDA sectors. The UL Graduate Outcome Survey (see above) also includes sector spotlights that are well worth a read.

Using these criteria as your guide, you can make the time you spend connecting with employees more productive and insightful by driving the conversation to explore these areas. It’s time to go and take control of your job search and take the proactive approach.