Brand Yourself 4 Success

"Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own company: 'Me Inc.' To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You." - Tom Peters

I recently met with a friend at our local Coffee Bean to discuss her interest to re-enter the job market after years of raising her daughter. I pointed to the cup in my hand and used the analogy of how getting a job requires an individual to brand themselves like coffee houses brand their to-go cups .

As a major tea lover, I'm hitting up the majority of the coffee/tea houses wherever I go, and I see a lot of different cups. I often wonder why some of these places chose to use cups without any branding. Plain, vanilla, uninteresting, and often not memorable.

It's the logo, or cup design that we often identify with a particular organization. This is how it needs to be for you as a job seeker. You should be working on branding yourself for success. In this job market you have to stand out, and you can't be like the plain coffee cup, you must have a presence with the following:

• Appearance: Do you have what it takes to present yourself with an attractive and interesting resume? Have you invested in your own professional appearance for the interview?
  
• Personality: Can you "turn it on" in an interview to appear interesting and engaging, enough to be remarkable and memorable?
  
• Offerings: Have you figured out how to communicate in the resume and interview what you can do differently than your competitor?
  
• Definition: Why will a recruiter remember you after the interview? Will you be like a non-descript coffee cup or one with an interesting logo?

Stand out as a unique product. Your goal is to get the attention of the recruiter and get them to perceive your value to their organization.

CONGRATULATIONS: Heard from a few of you that you are getting call backs from initial interviews. Keep up the great work, and don't forget to let me know if you accept an offer!

BACTS FACT: "You can’t be ‘vanilla or plain’ as a job seeker today. You must find a way to stand out with an interesting brand that will allow decision makers in the company to remember who you are long after the interview."

THAT'S IT: What’s all this talk about the logo on a coffee cup and what does that have to do with me, the job seeker? Ask yourself, this question about your personal brand: “Why should anybody want to hire me?” Every day ask, “How can I communicate my unique value message today? “ This is about stepping up your game in this job seeking market.

Go out this week and make an impact on the job seeking world! You can do it. You each have something unique to share. Work on the few things that you need to pay attention to and you'll head in the right direction.

"When you brand yourself properly, the competition becomes irrelevant.” Dan Schawbel

Good luck everyone!
Jan

Jan M. Smith
Inland Management Group
Human Resource Consulting & Support to the Service Industry
(951) 302-6483
www.inlandmgtgroup.com
www.janmsmith.com
Twitter: @temecula_hr
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