Your Personalized Branding for the Job Interview
By Carole Martin
If you have been reading articles or listening to news
reports
about the job market, you are aware that you are in a tough
job
market and that you will have to do something to make
yourself
stand out from the rest of the crowd.
You realize that you are competing against the odds. The
question is, "How can you make yourself stand out when there
are
so many other candidates looking at the same job?"
The answer is to "BRAND YOURSELF."
What this means is you have to discover WHAT MAKES YOU
UNIQUE.
Let's assume that you have an outstanding resume and that
you
make it to the top of the stack of resumes of people to
be
called for an interview. You, and maybe nine or ten
other
equally qualified people for the position, that is.
Because companies have so many candidates to choose from
they
are interviewing more people so that they can select the
"best."
When you are lucky enough to be invited to an interview it
is
essential that you be ready to sell yourself - to let
the
interviewer know what makes you unique – what makes you
a
"remembered" person -- what added value you can bring to
the
position—in other words, why you are the best person for
the
job? Your goal is to leave behind an impression of your
"brand."
By doing some basic preparation, you can determine your
uniqueness and where you should focus your attention. The
first
step in this process is to identify your five areas of
strength.
These strengths are the areas where you do very well. This
will
take some work and some thought on your part.
"What is your area of expertise?"
"What are your strengths?"
"What is your work ethic?"
"What would your co-workers or former bosses say about
you?"
Think about previous performance appraisals – what
was
said/written about you?
In order to help you through this process here is
Branding
Exercise that will help you get started.
Use whatever application works best for you to do this
exercise
– paper/pencil, spreadsheet, word document – the
point is to get
it down in writing. ("Winging" it does not work when
interviewing in this environment)
• First, write your education, training, certifications
and
years of experience.
List degrees, special training, certifications, overall
years
of experience, years in a particular type of position or
specialty . • Next, what is your area of expertise? What
do you
know a great deal about?
"My expertise is in …in my capacity I handle all
……I have
worked on $..projects, deals….I am fluent in
…..broad range of
experiences in ….including analyzing …evaluating
….I am
knowledgeable about …. I use this knowledge to … I
also have a
strong sense ….."
• Third, what are your strengths?
These skills can be viewed as transferable– you can take
them
with you to any job you hold.
This is how you excel in being the type of person or
employee
who has what it takes to get the job done. These skills
are
sometimes referred to as the "soft skills" – but there
is
nothing soft about these skills when it comes to putting
your
"brand" together. You want a good clear image of yourself -
the
whole picture.
Examples of these skills are your communication and
people
skills, or your time-management and project-management
skills,
or your ability to build strong relationships or your ability
to
influence others.
• Fourth, what does your past say about you?
This is a good place to think about your work ethic,
loyalty,
integrity, and overall disposition in the office. Do you
get
along well with most coworkers? . Think about previous
performance appraisals – what was said or written about
you?
What would your co-workers or ex-bosses say about you?
• Lastly, think of the personal traits that make you
unique.
Maybe you never miss deadlines, or perhaps you are willing
to
do above and beyond what is asked, or perhaps you have a
great
attitude. Sometimes letting the interviewer know that you have
a
great sense of humor that helps lighten the environment
–
especially during tense situations is appropriate. All
these
things make you the person that you are – a unique
"brand" of a
person. (Don't dismiss these traits--many people have been
fired
for negative personal traits rather than for lack of
knowledge).
When you have identified your five unique areas, try your
hand
at writing yourself a "commercial" or statement about
yourself,
incorporating this information into your statement. This
is
where you "brand" yourself into a product that is better
than
the others; someone who leaves an impression behind.
What is the impression you want to leave behind? The guy
who
wore the funny looking tie? Or the woman who is known for
her
organizational skill and her ability to come in and bring
order
to chaos?
In summary, by narrowing your uniqueness – by branding
yourself
into these five basic points you can guide the conversation
to
include this information. By focusing on five areas of
strength,
you will become more focused and feel more confident and in
turn
become more "remembered."
