Jobs Are Not Careers

Most Fridays, even today right in the center of The Dog Days of August, I send out this blog.  Sometimes it takes a serious clinical look at "The Science of Sales", a phrase that I've used my entire career since when I began as a salesguy, everyone wanted to provide me with "Tips & Tricks" on "The Art of Sales".  Growing up working holidays in my grandfather's and parents' jewelry store in Davis Square in Somerville, I knew that (1) the concept of "tricks" would never work in a tight business community where relationships and trust counted more than anything else and (2) there was a definitive science that my parents applied to specific hours during a day, the days of week, the numbers of days before a holiday and, most importantly listening carefully to the weather forecasts. 

The same process applies to my thoughts about looking for jobs.  Each semester at Tufts, and especially during the summa', I spend hundreds of hours with my students preparing them for their job hunts.  First, that work flows perfectly into my marketing course, which provided my students and me with the material to write The Marketing of Me™ as a practical, "How-To" book on what it takes in 2026 to find a job that one loves...and, of course, pays well. 

Looking for jobs today whether that person is a 23-year-old rookie or a 40-year-old warrior...considering the confusing economic and political headlines...requires total discipline and an unrelenting focus to the math plus a tightly orchestrated marketing campaign.  This is marketing in its most disciplined form no different than marketing a new beverage to be placed on the already overcrowded shelves of Whole Foods, or running for the office of U.S. Senator like my highly skilled friend and Tufts graduate, Scott Brown, is doing right now in the primaries in New Hampshire. All about the marketing!

For my students, when we begin this journey, they often comment that they're not yet sure about their careers, so how can they possibly look for a job?  Having walked down this path with my students hundreds of times, my response is always the same:

• Let's first look for a great job that you love and pays you well. You will figure out your career choices later as a result of these first jobs. To kick that process off, we always start with geography first and then climb the rungs of a ladder sorting out the answers to markets, company size, the job itself and finally salary, which often ends up wioth us talking about budgets. 

• Then we analytically figure out the math of identifying 250+ connections that they already have from prior jobs or their college relationships, but they have not yet categorized those connections into direct employers that could potentially hire them and indirect influencers who can provide connections into those companies of that relative size in those potential industries in those geographies that they have targeted.  All about the marketing!
• Then we craft the story and perfect messaging which needs to be woven about the value that they will bring to their new employer and never waste any time trying to rewrite the 9 font words crammed into a meaningless resume that no one will read anyhow.  On that note since the hiring manager will spend less than 10 seconds looking at your resume, spend your highly valuable time and tell your perfect story with accompanying data, supporting real time references, visual highlights, perfect photos and a 10 second video on your Linked In.

So, on an early Friday morning in the last stretch of August, ask yourself if your own marketing or sales methods ...or your own job search...are running on a formal process, or do you need an immediate refresh come September 1st?  Connect with me at any time if you just want to kick around a couple of ideas. 

Jack is a Managing Partner of Derby Management, a strategy consulting firm, and founder of the Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts University, where he has taught for 20 years. Every semester is significantly updated, with heavy emphasis in 2026 on AI in Marketing & Sales. At Derby Management, Jack and his team architect and build business strategies focused on sales and marketing processes, tools, and technology platforms.

www.derbymanagement.com | Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts