No Gurus please! How to write a personal brand statement..

by K B , updated on November 8, 2020

Before you write blog posts for the masses, before you apply for those positions, before you even set up your LinkedIn profile there is one thing you should do – craft your very own personal brand statement.

Your bio, elevator pitch and any other descriptive text about you will invariably start out with your personal brand statement.

What is a personal brand statement?

Your statement is 1-2 sentences answering what you are the best at (value), who you serve (audience) and how you do it uniquely (USP). It sums up your unique promise of value. Your personal brand statement is distinctive to you and you alone. You could liken it with a tagline, strapline or even a catchphrase that product brands will have.

The personal brand statement is not a job title. A job title is what others will try to classify you with, what employers and others want you to be to fit you into a corporate setting. You deserve better than that.

It’s also not your personal mission statement, career objectives or even life purpose. These are much more long-term concepts intended to guide you through life and not aimed at marketing you to anybody.

A personal brand statement is memorable, punchy and solution oriented. As opposed to simply saying “John is a boiler man”, why not “John keeps families warm through bespoke heating installations”, To be continued…

Why do you need a personal brand statement?

How many times have you been asked what you do? Do you feel like people really understand what you do or is it merely pleasantries? I bet you can tweak what you say and leave a lasting impression with that person, an impression that might just lead to business one day.

Just being another hairdresser or plumber is not going to allow you to stand out. When you don’t stand out, you will have to compete against everyone else on price which isn’t a great situation to be in. To be successful in today’s economy you have to specialize; you have to choose a topic and master it. Your statement will clarify exactly what you do, how you do it and for whom. By communicating this, you and your target audience will know exactly what you are capable of.

How do you write a personal brand statement?

Start with listing your key career or business attributes on a piece of paper. Once the list is complete, take a good look at it and pick out the ones that make you unique. These will form your unique selling points, or USPs.

Look at your unique values and key attributes and you should be able to develop a 1-2 sentence brand statement, answering these three questions:

What value you provide (what problem do you solve)
How you do it uniquely (your USPs)
Whom you do it for (your target audience)

Remember to be clear on the value, don’t confuse anyone with any fluffy terms that don’t mean anything. Furthermore, what makes you unique in one place may not be unique in another, e.g. big cities will have lots of specialists and experts in certain fields, small towns only one and that makes him or her unique to that location.

Target your audience

Whom are you aiming your services at? A particular industry, geography, age demographic? Try to stay somewhat focused on a sector of the market and don’t spread yourself too thin. The reason personal branding has become critical for business and career success is that nobody wants to buy from the person that does everything for everyone. Look at what target audience would benefit the most from your services and zero in on this.

Stay authentic

When writing a personal brand statement it’s easy to get carried away and putting down what you’d like to be one day. The old “fake it until you make it” approach does carry some merit but don’t overdo it. Never call yourself a guru, ninja, samurai, expert or even thought leader unless you truly are one. Only your audience can determine whether you are an expert and you will know if that is the case. The aim of your statement is to inform and inspire the reader, not to scare them off with fancy titles.

Make it punchy and memorable

Using technical or big words could alienate your target audience. You want a seven year-old to understand and be able to repeat what you do. Whenever you introduce yourself at a networking event, stay punchy and memorable. Ideally you will want that person you were talking with to tell other prospective customers what you do – this will cover a lot of ground, trust me.

Keep it reasonably short

Less is more as they say. Your ability to describe exactly what you do in one sentence says a lot about your introspection and professional focus. In some cases you have to take up two sentence but always aim for one. I will give you a special dispensation to write more if you have done more things in your life than  Tim Ferriss.

It ain’t cast in iron

You will soon find that you are going to tinker with your statement after it’s written up. It’s easy to change it but just don’t get carried away and change it every week. On the flipside, some people will never look at it again. Even though it’s time consuming, your personal brand statement should be revised at least once a year to reflect changes and advancements in your professional career. In order to be effective, it needs to stay current.

Example brand statement

Back to our Scottish boiler man, here’s an idea for a statement:

“John keeps families in Edinburgh (target audience) warm (value) through bespoke heating installations using only the most advanced German boilers (unique)”.

This clearly tells you what John does, for whom and gives you an insight into how. I would say the statement is memorable, I for one think of a family keeping warm and snug over Christmas all thanks to the fantastic boiler man John.

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Finally it’s your turn to start looking at your statement. Don’t put this off, you’ll find that it’s a wonderful marketing tool that you are going to use over and over. Most people haven’t really thought about their statements so you will stand out with an effective one. Over time I would think personal brand statements will be part and parcel of any successful career or business.

Do you have a personal brand statement? What is it?

Jorgen Sundberg is a Personal Branding Consultant based in London. He helps sales people, entrepreneurs, business owners and executives to create, build and promote magnetic brands to attract more business online.  After 7 years of marketing people in recruitment, he started Personal Branding UK and he blogs at The Undercover Recruiter and JorgenSundberg.net. You can connect with him on Twitter @jorgensundberg.

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Yes you can find a job via Twitter – A top consultant tells you how

by K B , updated on November 8, 2020

There are lots of great blog posts around now about how to use Twitter and other social media to find a job. I’ll link to some of the better ones at the bottom of this post. Twitter I love. Used productively it’s a fascinating and friendly little job hunting tool and it’s one you can use in both bold and subtle ways.

One job seeker @EllisonHR used Twitter boldly to find a job with her dream employer, Deloitte. She stated her intention. She blogged about how she and Deloitte could be one. Her Twitter followers in the HR, recruitment and social media community encouraged her and gave her ideas about how to market herself. She must have impressed Deloitte with her networking, enthusiasm and innovation because they’ve just offered her a job. (Read Ross Clennett’s post on Ellison’s journey.)

Would they have offered her a job anyway? While I can’t speak for Deloitte or Ellison, maybe not. It’s incredibly difficult to demonstrate that you’re a good cultural fit or have networking nous as a piece of paper navigating your way through several screening tools. For Ellison, Twitter, her blog and a bit of imagination provided a platform for her ideas and talents.

So what do employers and recruiters look for when they interact on Twitter? The clever ones are not just there to tweet about what they eat.  For some deeper insight I spoke to Greg Savage this week. He’s a highly successful recruitment leader and is now the founder and CEO of Firebrand Talent Search. He’s used Twitter as a tool for over a year now. Last time I looked he had a following of 5582 people and had tweeted 5511 times.

Greg runs a global business. As an employer and recruiter he uses Twitter as a branding tool and to tap into a market of passive candidates. By default and design he’s cultivated followers who are recruiters, designers and marketers. When he’s been actively recruiting he’s changed his status on LinkedIn and tweeted out a message. In doing so he’s filled jobs directly and saved massively on paid advertising or headhunters’ fees.

So what are Greg’s tips if you’re looking for a role using Twitter? “Do not look desperate” says Greg. He’s placed people who have taken time to build a relationship with him and had intelligent conversations. One new hire had his own business when he began talking to Greg via Twitter. He wasn’t looking for a job, but when he was in the market, he’d developed enough of a relationship to start talking about where he could fit in.

Also watch your Twitter handle suggests Greg. He’s seen one applicant whose handle was an obscene joke. Greg replied back and said I’m not really sure if you’re serious or not. He never heard back. “Because of the familiarity social media breeds, some people have lost a sense of the right way to use it” he says. “I had one candidate whom I invited to email me directly. Instead he kept tweeting me questions”. While this person may have been a fabulous tweeter, they still needed to show that they could communicate as a consultant where it counts, either face to face or over the phone.

If you’re applying for a role you can expect that Greg and other tweeting employers will look to see what your tweeting about. They’ll respond to a nicely written bio, a face not an “egg”, a link to a website or LinkedIn profile and some sensible sharing among your online conversations.

One of the biggest things to think about, is that the way that you interact online can be very telling about your mastery of the medium and your ability to build relationships. If you’re looking to build an online relationship with Greg and any other employer or recruiter:  read Greg’s tips on who he’ll follow.

Also read: The Twitter Job Search Guide – by Susan Britton Whitcomb, Chandlee Bryan and Deb Dib.

Miriam at Keppie Careers provides a social media job hunting guide from a series of experts, and writes often on the topics of social media and your job hunt.

The Undercover Recruiter features some exceptionally good writers on the topic of tweeting for jobs! 😉

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Are you in the hands of a recruiter, or a consultant?

by K B , updated on November 8, 2020

I get a lot of emails and comments about job seekers’ frustrations with both recruitment consultants and the recruitment process itself. The comment from Leah Gibbs on this post is typical. Candidates often complain that recruiters will pigeon hole them into a particular position, or that they are not able to convince a consultant about their suitability for a role.

Bronwyn Murphy, principal of BJ&M Consulting and trainer to the recruitment industry, says there is a big difference between a recruiter, and a consultant. Here she asks those in the industry what they are. If you’re reading this as a job seeker and struggling to get past the recruitment gate-keeper, her questions will be illuminating. There will be a big difference in the service you receive from a consultant, compared to a recruiter.

Recruiter or Consultant. which one are you?

Let me start by saying there are differences between being a consultant and a recruiter. You can be both or one or the other.  Neither one is better than the other but issues occur when you call yourself a consultant but deliver your service as a recruiter.  Anyone who has attended my training sessions or even broached the subject of recruiters with me over the past (almost) two decades in this profession will have heard me say  “If you are going to call yourself a consultant, act like one!”

Here are a few characteristics that define a good recruiter and a good consultant.

Recruiters:

– Take job orders

– Fill jobs

– Write job advertisements

– Find candidates

– Conduct interviews

– Undertake reference checking

– Negotiate placement

– Schedule and manage times for meetings and interviews between candidates and clients

– Liaise with clients and candidates over feedback

– Keep in touch with candidates and clients until the guarantee period is over

– Attend to a whole lot of administrative tasks

– Manage database and data integrity

– Work quickly

-Work in a transactional manner

Consultants:

– Have an in-depth understanding of the market place they work in

– Have knowledge of the candidate expectations

– Act as a resource to their candidates and clients

– Work with the client to develop a job brief

– Can give advice based on their knowledge of the market pace

– Have a wide network of professionals that they can use as candidates or clients

– Are active within these networks to give services and advice as required: that is give as much, if not more, than they receive in knowledge and assistance

– Have advanced skills in interview techniques, negotiation and reference checking

– Can pickup and understand subtle nuances

– Have high emotional intelligence and acute instincts

– Enjoy helping people

– Find satisfaction in a job well done and strive to be of service to all

– Give feedback and solutions to clients and candidates

– Work fast

– Offer solutions

– Pre-empt any issues

– Work tirelessly to resolve issues

– See their role as long term and ongoing

– Provide good value to their networks clients and candidates

– Work proactively

– Build long term relationships

Now be honest, which one are you?

Bronwyn Murphy is a coach, trainer in recruitment skills and tender writer for the recruitment industry. She also specialises in performance management, process engineering and QMS Auditing in the recruitment arena. You can find her website here:  www.bjmconsulting.com.au

Bronwyn would tweet @luddite if she knew how to use Twitter.

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How do you deal with poker faced job interviewers?

by K B , updated on November 8, 2020

Good question! How do you deal with poker faced interviewers?

One of the things my clients find difficult to handle in interview, is the person who gives nothing back except a “blank stare”, so no “nods”, no “ah ha’s”, no “reallys?”, no “rights” – nothing for the other person to work with.

I don’t think we realize how much we need visual and verbal cues when communicating until we are confronted with none. Then the conversation feels plain weird. Interviewers who do this deliberately are disturbing. There is no way you can get good information from someone if you make them feel uncomfortable.

When candidates, or anyone really, are confronted with a poker face person, they can talk too much as they think the other person doesn’t believe them (like the interviewer over-talkers I describe in this post). This doesn’t work. The more people talk, the less sense they can make, or they lose the heart of the message in the detail.

Other people give up and shut down.

Like most people I struggle with managing this. So I asked a couple of communications trainers what they suggest to their clients, when they see an audience full of blank faces. They said some people do not know they do poker face. So if you’re presenting or communicating, and get nothing back, do something to break the moment. Ask the audience if you’ve lost them. Change the tone. Tell a joke. Use a visual. Flip the topic.

To do this in interview I think you’d need to be pretty brave. Unlike a presentation the direction of an interview is not in your hands.

If you’re reading this post and you’ve got a suggestion or a funny story on how you’ve dealt with a poker faced person, outside of taking them outside a game of cards and beating them up, I’d love to hear from you.

Need to get ahead of the pack for your next interview?

Get our free e-book The 7 Deadly Sins to Avoid at Job Interview!

Deborah Barit wrote this book. She is one of Australia’s leading interview coaches.

To get your free e-book and some of our best interview tips direct to your inbox, simply click on this link.

Here’s what happy readers said about the e-book and interview tips:

“Deborah Barit is a very smart lady…She is good at figuring out what an employer is looking for. It’s like she has ESP, with her help in preparing, I found no surprises in a recent interview and I was prepared for every question….” Cathy, Leichhardt, NSW

“Because I read so many of your posts, I feel as if you were my personal employment coach. I start my new position in two weeks. I had so many obstacles to overcome and each day you posted a solution to my dilemma and how to improve my search. Thank you so much for your input and PLEASE continue to do what you do!”

Click here to get access to the e-book.

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Lies on resumes are on the rise!

by K B , updated on November 8, 2020

I seem to be on a theme this week about dishonesty in interviews. Then this popped up in my inbox from Recruiter Daily. A background screening company, First Advantage found that the number of candidates lying on their resumes is on the rise.

They claim resume fraud has increased significantly over the past few years.

Recruiter Daily reports:

“Misrepresentations about candidates’ employment history and educational qualifications have doubled since 2004. Some 40 per cent of employment history checks uncovered an inconsistency, most commonly relating to an inflated salary (13%) or a previous position held (10%). And one in every 18 applicants inflated their previous salary by more than $10,000.

First Advantage research shows that younger applicants (aged 21-30) are the most likely to falsify something on their CV, with the risk trending down for older applicants.

Banking and finance applicants are most likely to be caught out, but this possibly reflects the more comprehensive screening conducted by employers in these industries.

HR professionals are least likely to include false details on their applications.”

(Interesting that HR professionals are the least likely to include false details. Perhaps they know about the consequences of resume fabrications.)

So what does this all mean for the average job seeker?

Whatever you say on your resume or in interview, a recruiter can check out. Many recruiters will ask that they speak to at least one of your direct managers for a reference. They will also question your salary details. One head-hunter friend I know asks to see a copy of someone’s last pay review.

I’m often asked the question “what should I say if the recruiter asks me what salary I’m earning?” People want to know if they should inflate their current salary so they can ask for a higher salary. Apart from the honesty factor, I don’t really see the point. You just make it clear what you would move for, and if you need to, why you can justify that amount.

Be warned also. I’ve also seen quite a few employment contracts where someone’s continued employment is contingent on the applicant representing themselves honestly throughout the recruitment process.

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What does this job interview feedback mean?

by K B , updated on November 8, 2020

job interview feedbackHow to translate job interview feedback…

Often job interview feedback is not as it seems.

I know I don’t need to tell you this, if you’ve come across this post.

So I thought I’d explore this feedback puzzle I received from a blog reader that would make interesting reading for anyone wanting to move from a government role into a job in the private sector.

John, my emailer, was told after an interview that the employer was concerned about the length of time he had been in government, even though the vast majority of his experience has been in the private sector.

For any recruiters out there, reading this blog, I’d love your take on this feedback….

Here’s the weird job interview feedback.

Hi Karalyn

I’m presently employed in government.

I was approached by a Tier 1 IT multi-national non-government IT organisation for a high profile role. I progressed through hour long first and subsequent hour long second interviews with the T1 corporation without issues.

I then had a 15 minute face to face with the T1 client I would be working with and was told this was a “rubber stamp” process to securing the role. In that third interview I was constantly asked about the pressure situation that I would have in a government role in comparison to the client (a financial institution).

I felt I addressed the questions and concerns leaving no doubt about my capability to handle the pressure of the role. I learned 30 minutes later that I was unsuccessful because they felt my term, not my current role, with government would not prepare me to handle the pressure of this role. I have only been with this government role for 3.5 years. The remainder of my 30 years has been predominately with non government.

This isn’t the first time this has happened to me. I was wondering have you had people approach you on this and if so what are some of the successes to overcome these challenges?

John

Here’s what this feedback could mean.

Hi John,

There could be a few things going on here. The first thing to remember is that hiring someone is risky and expensive.

So sometimes people are looking for ways to eliminate you rather than make you fit. If you are not the perfect match, some re-shuffling may be required.

Change means effort.

People, and myself included, often struggle to look past the last five years or so on your resume. So 3.5 years is a significant chunk of that.

As a recruiter I would look at all your experience and say: “why move into government?”

Because often these roles are seen as slightly, if not completely “cushy”.

That’s not always true, but that is the perception. You may be being seen as someone who could not handle the pressure of a private sector role. Therefore you chose a government role.

It is interesting that you are coming across this in IT, though.

I would have thought that the challenges of an IT role, given technology and the way it is set up would be fairly similar in both the public and private sectors.

Saying that, plus the fact that you have moved so far through the hiring process, and the fact that this has happened a few times, leads me to think that something about your demeanor or the way that you answer questions around pressure, is letting you down.

I would say that if the only real focus of your final 15 minute interview was around pressure, then this is the last concern the organisation needed to tick off about you, when everything else seemed to fit OK.

That may have been the nagging concern of everyone in the hiring process to that point.

The conversations around the recruitment table could have been:

“We like John, but we’re not too sure of his performance under pressure?, Why has he moved to government?, Let’s get him in for a final interview and see how he’d cope?” Often at this point the person whom you’ll be reporting to just says “send them in, I’ll sort them out.”

Enter you.

I think whoever gave you the feedback that it is the length of your employment, is being honest, but you do need to unpack what that means.

When people reject you for a role, they can often give you a factual reason that you cannot dispute, rather than getting to the heart of the issue.

It’s easier to do particularly if they cannot really articulate a gut feel concern.

Go back to the person who said that and see if they can give you more detail around what “term” means. I would put it back to the recruiter and say “were they concerned about my ability to cope with pressure, as that was the focus of the interview?”

See what comes from that conversation.

Regardless of the feedback, the best way to prepare for any interview is to try to get a really strong sense of the challenges and pressures associated with the job. You have to join the dots for people. So try to find out what kind of “pressures” you would face in any advertised role.

Good questions to ask are “What are the expectations, three, six and twelve months out?”, “What are the challenges of this role?”, “What did the incumbent find challenging?”, “Why did they leave?”

That way in interview, you can confidently relate examples of where you have experienced similar challenges or pressures.

You could also sit down with a professional, or someone who will give you some honest feedback and ask how you come across.

Do you look like you have the right energy for the role? Have you given relevant examples? Do you actually look and sound like you can cope when the “silicon” chips are down, so to speak!

Hope this helps in some way.

Karalyn

Need to get ahead of the pack for your next interview?

Get our free e-book The 7 Deadly Sins to Avoid at Job Interview!

Deborah Barit wrote this book. She is one of Australia’s leading interview coaches.

To get your free e-book and some of our best interview tips direct to your inbox, simply click on this link.

Here’s what happy readers said about the e-book and interview tips:

“Deborah Barit is a very smart lady…She is good at figuring out what an employer is looking for. It’s like she has ESP, with her help in preparing, I found no surprises in a recent interview and I was prepared for every question….” Cathy, Leichhardt, NSW

“Because I read so many of your posts, I feel as if you were my personal employment coach. I start my new position in two weeks. I had so many obstacles to overcome and each day you posted a solution to my dilemma and how to improve my search. Thank you so much for your input and PLEASE continue to do what you do!”

Click here to get access to the e-book.

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