Once upon a time….
You have been looking for a new job for months and you just landed an interview with a great company doing something you love.
On the day of the interview you put on your best business attire and head out the door – you look like a true professional.
On the drive to the interview you listen to some music you like to calm yourself or pump yourself up – whatever floats your boat.
You pull into the parking lot feeling excited and walk into the lobby feeling confident, cool and collected.
You walk up to the receptionist and pronounce your name clearly. You let the receptionist know you are here for an interview with Ms. I’m Hiring.
As you sit in the lobby you keep telling yourself that this job is yours for the taking and before you know it Ms. I’m Hiring walks into the lobby and calls your name.
You and Ms. I’m hiring walk to the corner office and you sit down ready to kick off a great interview.
The interview goes great – you have good business and personal rapport going with Ms. I’m Hiring and Ms. I’m Hiring can tell you have done your research on the company.
Everything seems like a fit and you have clearly expressed your desire for the job and Ms. I’m Hiring believes that you are a good candidate for the position. Ms. I’m Hiring ends the interview by saying you will know who received the job within a few days.
Ms. I’m Hiring heads back to the corner office feeling good about the candidates she has interviewed but realizes she has a very tough decision on her hands.
Ms. I’m Hiring reviews her notes from the all the interviews and has identified the top three candidates for the position – you are one of the candidates.
Ms. I’m Hiring reviews the top three resumes and they are equally good. She reviews the work experience for the top candidates and they are all equally qualified. She goes over each interview with the top three candidates and they were all equally good as well.
Feeling stressed Ms. I’m Hiring decides to leave the office and go home for an early evening jog to think things over – after all the weather is beautiful outside. She gets back from her jog and she still has not made a decision – the candidates are all so good.
Just before bed Ms. I’m Hiring decides to Google the candidates to see what she finds on the top three candidates.
She enters candidate number one’s name and finds nothing.
She enters candidate number two’s name and finds nothing.
She enters your name and finds your professional blog and personal website.
She reads some of your posts and really likes your creativity and ideas.
Ms. I’m Hiring closes her laptop, goes to bed and sleeps peacefully.
The next day you receive a phone call and Ms. I’m Hiring says – you are hired – I really enjoyed your blog. When can you start?
You say today.
When will you start creating your personal brand?
How about today?
Author:
Chad Levitt is the author of the New Sales Economy blog, which focuses on how Sales 2.0 & Social Media can help you connect, create more opportunities and increase your business. Chad is also the featured Sales 2.0 blogger at SalesGravy.com, the number one web portal for sales pros, the professional athletes of the business world. Make sure to connect with him on Twitter @chadalevitt.
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Really a simple yet excellent tale! Chad hit the nail right on the head!
While you might be right in line with everyone else that little extra can speak volumes and move you far ahead of the pack.
On the flip side, so can the other – the negative. Manage your online reputation by Googling yourself. Look at the WEB and IMAGES, too. Set up Google alerts to let you know when someone is posting something about you o r chatting about you. Set up Tweetbeeps to let you know when someone is tweeting about you on Twitter.
You manage your online impression…period.
@Maria: You bring up a great point — managing your online reputation is so important once you have taken the step to create your personal brand. If someone is saying something about you on the web — good or bad — you want to know about it so you can spread the word or defend yourself.
Thanks Maria!
Chad, this is an outstanding analogy and post!
A well-articulated resume and great interviewing skills are not enough to successfully compete for new professional opportunities. I would argue that in today’s job environment these are the minimum prerequisites. A professional blog or personal website provides clear evidence of your savvy and initiative in online branding to a prospective employer. That’s a major differentiator.
I’d like to add that personal branding online is also a significant differentiator for new professional opportunities within our current organizations. Both large and small organizations are still trying to figure out the implications of social media strategy and the significant trending of online corporate reputation management. If you are already implementing an online personal branding strategy, you are ahead of your peers because not only do you “talk the talk” but you “walk the walk” as well. A professional blog or personal website showcases your initiative and savvy for successfully executing this stuff — and last time I checked, successful execution whether it’s online or offline is a key leadership differentiator.
@Tony: To your point — I was recently at a college career fair to recruit for potential employees to join EMC (where I work). Many of the students had taken the steps of creating their own websites. On their websites they had all sorts of great content that would help an employer get to know them better both personally and professionally.
In a world of commodities and copy cats the only real differentiator is your personal brand.
Thanks Tony!
Well said, Chad! Love the last sentence of your last comment, too!
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Really nice story. I had to tweet it, because of the originality of it. I recently wrote an article about the importance of personal branding and the I found this, which just completed my story. Good Job. The article is all in Danish, so if there is any Danes on this blog swing by my website if it has any interest.
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Chad – I just shared your story with a group of very talented people in transition as an example of how to stand out in the crowd of job seekers. It’s a great story (which is the most effective way to communicate!)
Thanks and I look forward to more!
Cheers,
JP McDermott
@JP: Thanks for sharing and I hope it helps provide some inspiration of what is possible when you create your personal brand. It is so important to differentiate yourself in this economy — it can be the difference between average and extraordinary.
Keep reading and sharing with your network!
[...] Personal Branding blogger Chad Levitt gets his personal branding message across in a very compelling story about a job candidate and the hiring manager. Read on… ———————————————————————————————— A Personal Branding Tale [...]
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