Do You Have a 30-Second Branding Summary?

If you had 30 seconds to explain who you are and what you bring to a potential employer, what would YOU say?

 

Here's the scenario: you've sent your resume to a number of job postings. Out of the blue, you receive a phone call from a recruiter from one of these firms. This is a short pre-qualification phone screen designed to weed out the lesser candidates. You're now on the spot and have only a few short minutes to make your case for further consideration.

 

What do you say?

 

Obviously, there'll be some discussion about your skills and basic qualifications. But most of your competitors will have the same or better skills and experience. What do you do? By the end of the call, you'll need to have established yourself as a prime candidate for a follow-up interview.

 

One of the best ways to intrigue an interviewer is to offer a memorable summary that can separate you from the other candidates and provide some benefit for the employer. This is called a Unique Selling Proposition, a quick 30-second summary of who you are, your biggest strength and the biggest benefit you bring to the table. Why 30 seconds? Because that's about the amount of time you'll get before you start boring your listener.

 

For example, let's say you've been working as a project manager for the past 9 years. There are lots of project managers out there. Your biggest strength is that you have developed an ability to quickly identify problems at the early stages of the project. You recommend changes early on that have avoided later problems and costly re-dos. With a quick cost calculation, you've estimated that your abilities in this one area have saved your previous employer more that $10 million in extra hours of work.  

 

You 30-second summary might go like this:

 

 

This is like red meat for an interviewer because it informs them that you know who you are and which major problem you're good at solving. You've proven it by stating the benefit in some measurable number. It also motivates them to want to know more.

 

You can do this for yourself, but you'll need to spend some time to craft your own 30-second summary. Ideally, you'll want to spell out the specific problem you can solve for your employer. Then prove it by providing something measurable, if at all possible. Demonstrate how your work can help your employer make money, save money or save time and you'll quickly distinguish yourself from your competitors. Most importantly, you won't feel like a deer caught in headlights. When that phone call comes, you'll be ready with your own custom summary that presses their buttons and helps you win that interview where it will serve you again.

 

When your phone screen call comes, don't wing it. Prepare now and think about what you'll say. With some time spent beforehand, you can develop one nugget of a 30-second summary that they'll remember. This will get you one important step closer to a great job.