Is it necessary to market yourself?

Unfortunately, nasty or not, marketing yourself is the only way you are going to survive. You and you alone have to convince the employer that you are not only capable of doing the job, and doing it well but that you are the absolute best person for the job. You have to have some way of setting yourself apart from the o 50 or so other candidates that have applied that are also capable of doing the job well. If you don't do that for yourself, who will? This is true not only if you are trying to convince an employer but also if you have your own business or company. In that case you have to market yourself to the consumer, convincing them that you are the best person to do their renovations, taxes, hairstyle, be their dentist or whatever business you are in. Like it or not, it's not nasty but a necessary fact of life.

I think to obtain any kind of work you will have to do some level of marketing yourself. You have to convince the employer no matter who they are that you are capable of doing the job they require and can do it well!

Yes, we do have to market ourselves to grab a good job. While hunting for a job with a carefully prepared resume we are marketing ourselves to land in that job. The social networking site LinkedIn is worth mentioning here. It's notable for it's uniqueness in promoting ourselves with the testimonials received from past employers and colleagues.

Even Shakespeare is marketed, although I'm sure not during his lifetime. But now you have a massive Shakespeare industry; his bearded image; Stratford on Avon; the Globe theatre and so on; same goes for Dickens, and other legendary writers; as well as certain musical geniuses, such as Beethoven, who has a powerfully iconic image, the piercing look; the wild hair and so on: he has been marketed, as have painters such as Van Gogh, who is enormously iconic. The most popular figures in modern history, such as, for instance, Chaplin; Garbo; Gable; Marilyn; Elvis; JFK; the Beatles; Diana (notice the preponderance of single names...powerfully iconic)...all have immensely powerful images. If marketing overtakes substance, then it can backfire; but if there is substance behind the marketing, it can be extraordinarily powerful.

I think that you have to market yourself. Unless a potential opportunity/employer is looking for someone to use and take advantage of; they will want the alpha-male or female. Someone who takes every aspect to a higher level and doesn't settle for less or get comfortable with 'good enough'.

Marketing yourself I think is accepted in our norms nowadays. It does not aggravate anything and simply does your standards upgraded to good points higher. It is also the same as putting your right foot forward in every occasion you are presented to. May it be to your boss or fiancé, it never a sin to market yourself.

I think it is not bad to show your advantage to the society.You use your own talent to help the society and also benefit yourself.So why not? Competition in the society is fierce,so we should keep improving ourselves,that's really important.

It has always been like this I guess, when someone wants to make a living from what he does, he has to "sell" himself or herself. I don't like it and I'm not good at it, but it's a must. There is so much talent wasted when people can't market themselves, and you often see that behind the image of perfection - good marketing - there is absolutely nothing.