Accelerate Your Search™ Now

What is the best answer or best way to sell myself to land the job I want?

Not a week goes by that someone does not ask this question – there is not one best answer or one best way.   No two people are alike and no two candidates are alike.

The most successful approach it to focus on who you are, your strengths, what you offer and your unique talents.  That’s what sets you apart from the other candidates who will interview for the job you want. 

This approach is not hard but does require focus.  Begin with an assessment of your strengths, skills and talents.  Then plan how to communicate your value in each area.  Build your marketing message and tools showing how you can and will use your talents to provide consistent, performance to help an organization achieve its crucial business goals.  

The reason this is hard for most people to sell their talent and strengths during a job search is they get too focused on the past, or on what is missing or what’s wrong.  Focus first on you and your value. 

It is easy to get focused on what you don’t have, what you need to “fix” or what your weaknesses are, and move into comparison mode, but that is a dead end road to mediocrity.  Invest some time and focus on assessing your strengths, what you do well, your talents and how you can best apply these to the marketplace. 

When you know yourself, your value, your talents, your strengths, and how to communicate what you want, then you don’t dread an interview or talking to a potential employer.  Nor do you need to spend hours fixating on re-wording a résumé or writing a cover letter to fit a job posting, instead you can spend your time on targeted interactions within the organizations who can use and are looking for your skills and talent.

What are your natural talents? 

What pertinent knowledge and skills do you offer the marketplace? 

How can you use your talent to help the organization achieve a significant return on their investment in your salary?

Can you clearly share this information with a potential employer in a few minutes?

In Katherine Bindley’s post “Should Women Wear Engagement Rings to Interviews?”  she explores an interesting question.  She addresses elements of interviews and/or negotiations that I still find many people don’t think through completely – the perception of others.  What others think is their reality and it counts!

Everyone (recruiters, career coaches, hiring managers) I know will tell you eliminate distractions and sending the wrong message during interviews and negotiations.  I agree.  One of the best ways to avoid sending the wrong message is to be very clear about your message and to be on brand.

 When you take the time to identify, clarify and communicate your brand you create solid ways to leverage what sets you apart from the crowd and your unique value.  It is one of the best ways to avoid and eliminate distractions.

You may never change the perception of others.  However, a strong personal brand will draw your brand audience and those who value your unique value to you.

Your strong personal brand will help you leverage your strengths; align your values, goals and vision.  A strong personal brand will help you dliminate distractions.

Also with a strong personal brand you will not find yourself asking the question – Should I wear ___<you fill in the blank> ___?  … before an interview, negotiation, or performance evaluation again.  Instead you will prepare with confidence and a smile knowing what you wear is on brand and helps to send your message without distraction.  You will also give the interviewer and the world what is exclusively yours to give.

Do you have questions or comments?  Post them below.

Here are five tips for improving your online visibility with your personal portal profile:

1.  Have a plan.  Think about your brand, what you want to communicate and how do you want to show up online.  Be consistent.  Stay on message and stay on brand.  Start with one site, use it and maintain it. Don’t know where to start?  Explore about.me.

2. Add your photo or branded background.  If you just started your search you may not be ready to do that, so until you have the photo you want to use on your page, or your branded background ready to go, select one of the many backgrounds in a gallery that is a good fit for your brand.  There are many for you to select and use.  You can change and update your background easily in the future.  The prior background photo is saved giving you instant flexibility.  I suggest you add a high quality personal picture that captures you and your brand.  But if you are not ready to do this, or your appointment with the photographer is next week – the background gallery is fine for now and helpful.

3. Personalize your page.  Selecting the font that is right for you and on brand.

4. Add your brief bio. It is easy to go to your Branded Bio file, copy and paste.  Style the page to fit you, be sure to view and proof.  The features on most sites allow you to select color and location of your brief bio.  These features help you stay on brand.

5. Add links to tell visitors to your page where your web content is – make it “one click” away.  Consider adding an email link so visitors can email you directly from your page.

Do you still have a question?

Post it below or join the next Q & A and ask your question or contact me.

Both visibility and a consistent online identity are critical to your brand, your career and to landing your next position.  How will you improve your visibility and achieve consistent branding online?

There are so many tools to help you build visibility online.  ‘One size’ or one tool does not fit all. A resource that may help you quickly improve your online visibility is a personal portal.

In January, William Arruda shared Personal Portals as one of the Top 11 Trends in Personal Branding for 2011.  What is a personal portal?

A personal portal is a tool that allows you to create your custom personal profile page on the web to point users to your content and information on the web.   It provides analytics and is easy to set up at very low or no cost. Two of the options in this category you may want to explore are about.me and flavors.me.

An about.me “splash page” allows you to provide a brief well rounded branded bio and links to your online presence for an instant website.  If you are not ready to manage a website or to blog this is a great option to help you improve your visibility online.  If you have a website or a blog it helps you improve your visibility as a hub for all your content.  It is easy to put up, provides a portal to your LinkedIn profile as well as your other online locations, and gives you a nice link to add to your email signature.

Bottom line – A personal portal is easy to set up.  Low cost and gives you central web presence.  You can create an account, select your URL, add your bio and you have your page up in less than an hour.  You don’t need special skills.  Of course you need to do a little planning and have your bio ready.

Curious?   Check out my info at about.me or flavors.me 

Do you have a question or comment?  Post it below.

 Recently after an evening presentation, a lovely woman walked up engaged in a conversation.  Then asked to offer me some feedback, I said sure, I love feedback!

She told me she liked the information, what I had to say and found it helpful, her suggestion was that I not indicate to my audience that I believed in Divine direction because others might not only believe that would help them get a job, but believe they could find an employer where that belief was accepted or part of the values of the organization.  I smiled and thanked her for the feedback.  

Are your values important to you?

Are you looking for values alignment in your next position?

We all have values.  They are those non-negotiable guides for our lives.  Organizations, companies, even departments, units or regions of organizations have values too.

Satisfaction in a position, company and an industry is higher when you have alignment with those things that are important to you.  If your values are important to you, knowing what is important, understanding if there is indeed alignment or not impacts your level of satisfaction.

Opening communicating your values may offer you one method of obtaining external confirmation of values alignment or at least acceptance at a specific level.  You can research ask questions yet, still not know all the unwritten rules until you belong to an organization.

Yes, it is true you may not find an organization aligned with your values.  If it is important to you, then looking has a payoff.  If you don’t look, share and communicate your values the odds against you are much greater that you won’t find alignment.  At least the odd are better that you know the score and you can make a choice knowing there is or is not a values alignment at least at some level.

You must be somewhat comfortable in “your own skin” to do this and it does take courage to share your briefs during a job search. Fear of reject is real, until you get comfortable communicating who you are, what you have to offer, and realize that marketing yourself, values too, in an authentic manner draws people, opportunities and the ‘right’ hiring managers to you.

Skeptical?  Here are a couple of questions for you: 

Do you want to land a job where you don’t fit, and are unhappy, or do you want to land a job where you do fit, and enjoy what you do, and the organization you are with for 90 days or 730 days, or 1825 days or more?  

What is more important?

Years ago, a mentor offered me some advice that I ignored, as my way of seeking external confirmation of values alignment during an interview for a promotion.  I was never sorry I that I sought the external confirmation of the alignment that was very important to me. 

 My belief in the Devine is important to me, it is part of me. I don’t push my brief or views on others but I view it as inauthentic to deny or hide that part of who I am.  The advice was not to wear a piece of jewelry that was an outward and visible sign of my faith to the interview.  You must make your own choices, and market who you are, and make your own choice as to what you believe and how that impacts you job search.

Over and over again, authentic branding and marketing does accelerate your search.

What is important to you?

How will you elect to seek alignment with your values?

Have a question? Sign up and join me on the next Q & A call, ask your question and get an answer.

Have a comment or thought?  Post it below.

A few weeks ago, I was seated at one of 30 or more tables at a large event waiting for a conference session to begin.  A lovely woman selected the seat beside me, we began to chat and she asked what I did.  I explain I help talented professionals land the job they want fast and with less stress.  She looked at me with tears in her eyes and asked “Is it possible to recover from a bad interview?”  The emotion in her voice startled me, so I asked a few questions. 

What a story!  The job she wanted and had opened up over a weekend when the person in the job became ill.  She heard about it and decided she should update her résumé.  The following week she was traveling with the VP for two days, this was common so she did not think much about it.  At the end of the second day she realized the trip had also been a two day interview about the job, her business unit, her results and her future goals.  She was totally unprepared. 

She realized she told the VP during the trip she had doubts she could do the next level job, that it was not the right time to move from the current position and the she did not have the experience to be successful.  The questions she said she was asking herself every day were interesting too – why did this happen to her? – Why was her company so cagey with this interview? – why didn’t they just schedule an interview?  Finally, she told me how mad she was at herself for not knowing she could be faced with this type of interview.  The session started and we did not finish the conversation.

What happened here happens more than you think.  This lovely talented successful woman was afraid to be successful.  She allowed her ego and her mindset to keep her just where she was in the job she was doing.  She made excuses and allowed doubt, worry and fear to take control and keep her in her current job.  She was not aware and conscious of the opportunity until the end of the trip and she had not decided she wanted the promotion.

Your mind is very powerful.  Until you decide what you want and become committed nothing will change. Even if the opportunity is before you if you are not committed your mind will go to work to protect you and keep you safe and where you are.

I talk a great deal about the need for focus in your job search, to target what you want.  You must be commitment – this story is a great example.  I believe if this woman had been committed to landing the new position, and she had decided she wanted the new position, her experience would have been different.

She would have expected the interview.  She would have been grateful for the opportunity to travel and discuss her future and she would have taken action to have been prepared to talk about her future goals, her business unit, etc.

What decision and action do you need to take to be ready to land the job you want?

“You must do the things you think you cannot do.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Have a question? Sign up and join me on the next Q & A call, ask your question and get an answer.

Need specific ways to speed up your search?  Look to the right and request my gift to you – “162 Ways to Accelerate Your Job Search and Land the Job You Want”.

Have a comment or thought?  Post it below.

The hundred days of summer is just around the corner.  It is the time of year, when interesting and focused conversations with VPs, regional managers, area managers, managers and front line associates are often about the detailed plans and prep for the ”100 Days of Summer”. 

The hundred days or so between Memorial Day to Labor Day for many is a critical business season. Profits and success during the “100 days of Summer” can make or break the success of a business unit not just for the season but for the year.  Having, knowing and executing your plan is not hard but does take good communication, energy and thought.

Last week speaking to an executive looking for his next career opportunity I ask him, “What is your personal career plan for the “100 Days of Summer”, he looked at me and smiled, then said “I don’t have a plan, but I think I need one.”  Then he asked for a few suggestions as to how to develop his plan and we agreed to talk in a couple of days to discuss his plan in detail.

Here are some of the key things I suggest you think about and pull together for your “100 day” plan.  Assess where you are now, think about your value in the marketplace, your reputation, your niche, the  opportunities you want to target, clarify your vision, your career goal, and then create a plan for the next 100 days.

Don’t wing your job search and don’t overlook the critical 100 days ahead.

If you need help creating a plan, get it.

Think about your plan.  Summarize your plan in one page – that’s right – a one-page executive summary.

Want more information about completing your own “100 Day Plan” to land the job you want by Labor Day? 

Sign up and join me on the next Q & A call, ask your question and get an answer. 

If you are interested in taking action and moving forward and yet you have a question about your career, career transition or search, you can set up a 20 minute chat with me to get your question answered.

My three top tips for negotiating the salary you want.  At least once a month, after a workshop or speaking engagement, I am asked for salary negotiation tips.

Usually the matter is urgent, “Tomorrow is my second interview, and do you have any tips on how best to negotiate my salary?”  To negotiate the salary you are worth you must establish your value early so be prepared.

Here are my top three tips:

Believe in your value.  Your perception and your belief in your value are critical. A job loss and a long job search can bring up feelings and old beliefs like you are not good enough, not smart enough, not experienced enough. If you have allowed your self esteem to be damaged, you belief this and you are afraid you are worthless now! You will communicate that during the interview process.

Know your market value.  Do your homework, understand the market conditions, understand the company, and understand who the decision maker is and how he/she views your value. Communicate your value at every touch point. Proclaim your value and confirm that the decision maker agrees you bring value to the table. Be poised and confident in your marketing materials, and all of your communications.

Read the book. Since 1998 I have recommended and shared Jack Chapman’s book – Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1000 a Minute. It was a must read and is the best book on the topic.  Enjoy it.

Body language or nonverbal communication is very important to your career, your job search and your success in life.  There has been more than one candidate who lost the second interview due to his/her nonverbal communication.  Like the guy who was leading the pack of candidates until, he pounded his fist on the table as he shared a story about his leadership style.

You body language during networking or interviewing can extend your job search or help you land the job.  Be sure you understand what you do, what you want to communicate and how your communication may be viewed by the people you engage and approach. 

As you prepare for your interview, you will also need to think about your influence strategy for getting the salary you deserve.  Will your goal be increasing the attractiveness of what you offer or will your goal be reducing the decision maker’s resistance to your salary request? 

How will you know the best approach?

Will matching your nonverbal behavior with your strategy impact the outcome? 

Dr. Noah J. Goldstein in Body Language and Persuasion: A Scientific Approach shares research results that show how important it can be to match your nonverbal behaviors with whichever strategy you select.

What are your thoughts on body language and nonverbal behaviors? 

Can you recall a time when someone’s nonverbal communication impacted your decision?  

Will your nonverbal communication increase or decrease your salary?

Do you have an insight to add?   If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts & questions.  You can add your comments below.

“How do I make my résumé stand out?” or “If everyone has a brand, how can I stand out?” Are you asking these questions too?

Everyone is unique.  The exciting thing in my business is that unlike products were there may not be anything different between two products except the color of the label.  Many products with different labels are produced to specs on the same line and at the end just get a different label. 

That is not the case with people.  Each executive, each person is different.  People are not mass produced.  Each person lives, grows, changes and evolves one day at a time.

There may be many people who work for competitors, run profitable businesses and have the same number of years in the industry that you do, but no one is just like you.  No one works like you do, nor has anyone done everything you have done. 

Your biggest difference is YOU.  You bring your own talent, gifts, education, experience and abilities to what you do.

Most of us spend so much time fitting in, doing what we think we should do that it is hard to stop and be honest about what makes us different, what makes us unique.  Be honest what are your unique talents, what do you do different. 

Why is it hard to “Stand Out”?  The answer is we are often afraid to say what makes us different.  We are afraid of the response or reaction from others.

There may be 10,000 people with your degree, who went to the same school, worked for the same companies, yet they aren’t you.  To stand out you first list all the things you have in common with professionals in your field. 

Then step back and list all the things that are unique to you.  List your unique talents, experiences, education, how you serve, how you lead, how you learn and the favorite part of your job.

I am a Texan who lives and works in New England.  I do things different.  It is not always easy to be different.  Why, because people don’t always like different. 

My unique gifts include: I am direct, and I ask direct questions.  I focus on results and on goals. Using those and my other gifts allow me to serve others and to live on purpose and help others identify their gifts and land the job they want.

It is not the custom to be direct in New England therefore if I feared what others thought or said about me it would be difficult for me to market.  One of my nieghbors says I am too out there, too much out in front and she does not like that.  I get it, her style is different those differences add value.  My gifts are what make me unique and of value to those who work with me.

Here is how to make your résumé stand out:  Start your list of your unique talents, put them all down. Make a decision to get very honest with yourself and about what are your unique gifts and what makes you different, not shy away form the things that others don’t like about you.  Write them down.  Your list will give you the key ingredients to make your résumé stand out.  Then incorporate the best items into your résumé.