July 2009 newsletter

Last week, my colleague Amber Jolley was fortunate enough to be asked to sit on a Job Search panel for Microsoft. The focus of this panel was to give job search and resume tips to IT/Technical individuals who are unemployed and looking for a new position or still employed but looking to make a change. It was 4 hours of intensive sharing and brainstorming on what are the "best practices" for your job search. This included a discussion about social networking, working with recruiters, and searching on your own. The most reoccurring thought during this was about examining your "branding"---defining the "differentiating factors" that make you unique and give your target companies a good reason to want to interview and hire you. I thought I would share with you some things that Amber shared with me that came out of this interactive panel in hopes that you would be able to translate it to your own search, be it now or in the future.

The single most important factor that we discussed was the fact that the job seeker needs to "brand" themselves, much the same way that a company would brand themselves. Your brand should show an employer or potential employer "This is who I am and what I do, this is what sets me apart, and this is what I want". This will give the client a specific idea of who YOU are as a brand.

1) Determine who you are in the marketplace. The more specific you are in who you are and what you do, the stronger your brand. Rather than being a "Jack of all Trades", focus on your strengths and goals. A great example would be rather than looking to be a Project Manager in any industry, focus down your search to a specific thought. This would be defining yourself as a Senior Project Manager in the Refining Industry for an E&C firm. Besides setting yourself as an expert by doing this, you also define exactly what you do and relay that on your resume and in the positions you apply for which makes you more likely to catch the eye of hiring manager.

2) Determine what makes you different from your competitors. It is important to figure out what is special, relevant, and unique about you that would matter to those that are making the hiring decisions. Do you have certifications such as a PE? Are you a Process Engineer that has done Business Development? Have you worked on the latest and greatest technology that few others have had the opportunity to even read about? Determine how these differentiators can work to your advantage and add them to your resume and be prepared to share them in every interview.

3) Determine what you want to do for your next role. The more specific and defined your goals are, the more likely you are to be able to target specific roles and companies that fit into what you want to do. Develop a long-term career plan for yourself and figure out what that "next step" should be to get you closer to what you ultimately want to do. Companies like to see that a candidate is looking to make a long-term career move for a reason and not just a job change because they can.

With the rise in social networking and everyone being connected despite where you are in the world it will be even more important to take a look at what your brand says to the outside and what you can do to put your best foot forward. Much like the world, your brand should be dynamic and ever-changing to keep up with what is going on now. I look forward to your input on what makes each of your brands unique.

Also, as a side note, I will be attending the SMRP Meeting in New Orleans on July 14th-16th. If any of you will be there, or are close to the New Orleans area please let me know and let's arrange a time to meet. I always enjoy getting to put a face with a name and meeting our clients and candidates in person.