Where to Use a Branding Statement » Blog | Great Resumes Fast

You’ve been working on your resume, and you fashioned a fancy branding statement for yourself.  Of course, you want to display it across the top of your resume, but where else should you be using it?

Cover letter: Format your cover letter to match your resume by copying your contact information and branding statement in the same format.

Thank you letter: Same as your cover letter.

Business card: If you’re using networking cards while you’re out job hunting, your branding statement will look great on them.

LinkedIn profile: Don’t be shy, place it right below your name.

E-mail signature: If you’re e-mailing applications for jobs, make items such as your LinkedIn address and branding statement part of your contact information.

Blog: If you have a professional blog, your branding statement can go there as well.

Twitter: If you’re tweeting statements related to work, why not add your branding statement to your bio section?

Web site: If you’re using a Web site to advertise your professional accomplishments, your branding statement can reinforce your message.

If you need help thinking about where a branding statement might be useful, think about how McDonald’s uses “I’m lovin’ it” on everything from billboards to cups.  It takes some thought to develop a branding statement that truly summarizes you.  Once you’ve got one, use it everywhere you can!

via greatresumesfast.com

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

Career Advice by Career Experts J.T. O’Donnell & Dale Dauten : CAREEREALISM

‘JT & Dale Talk Jobs’ is the largest nationally syndicated career advice column in the country and can be found at JTandDale.com.

We live in a cold state and want to move. My husband is going to lose his job and has been looking in warmer areas, with zero success. I landed a good job here, but it won’t pay the bills. Should my husband focus on finding a job in town, or should we both start looking for new jobs in the new location? — Trina

Dale: I recently heard an interview with Jimmy Buffet reminiscing about his early days, saying he decided that because he could cook and play the guitar, he could support himself anywhere, and he chose to move to Key West. OK, you could object, arguing that singing and cooking are “anywhere” jobs, but it turns out that most jobs are…case in point, there’s a shrimp farm in Gila Bend, Ariz.

J.T.: Sounds warm, all right. Once you pick your desired geography, you start by creating targeted lists of companies based where you want to live, and start networking online with people who work there. Then, set up quarterly “job search trips” and spend three to four workdays there. If you’re going to go ahead and move, make sure you have money saved to live for one year without employment.

Dale: Hold on. I was with you till moving day. That would be awful pressure when I don’t see any reason to burn through your financial resources. Besides, those job-search trips can be highly effective, even more so than local searching. Coming in from out of town appeals to a sense of hospitality and puts calendar pressure on the people you’re trying to meet. Indeed, I hope you’ll be a test case: Get your husband to do two searches, local and relocation, and see if you are in a sunshine state by fall.

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Jeanine “J.T.” Tanner O’Donnell is a professional development specialist and the founder of the consulting firm, jtodonnell.com, and of the blog, CAREEREALISM.com. Dale Dauten resolves employment and other business disputes as a mediator with AgreementHouse.com.

Please visit them at jtanddale.com, where you can send questions via e-mail, or write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10019.

© 2010 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

The photo for this article is provided by Shutterstock.

via careerealism.com

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

Tell Me About Yourself | Monster

Tell Me About Yourself

By Carole Martin, Monster Contributing Writer



It's one of the most frequently asked interview questions: Tell me about yourself. Your response to this request will set the tone for the rest of the interview. For some, this is the most challenging question to answer, as they wonder what the interviewer really wants to know and what information they should include.

Eleanor dreaded this question. When it was the first one asked at her interview, she fumbled her way through a vague answer, not focusing on what she could bring to the job.

"I'm happily married and originally from Denver," she began. "My husband was transferred here three months ago, and I've been getting us settled in our new home. I'm now ready to go back to work. I've worked in a variety of jobs, usually customer service-related. I'm looking for a company that offers growth opportunities."

The interview went downhill after that. She had started with personal information and gave the interviewer reason to doubt whether she was an employee who would stay for very long.

• She's married, and when her husband gets transferred that means she has to leave; she did it once and can do it again.
• She has some work experience with customers but didn't emphasize what she did.
• She is looking to grow. What about the job she is applying for? Will she stay content for long?

The secret to responding to this free-form request successfully is to focus, script and practice. You cannot afford to wing this answer, as it will affect the rest of the interview. Begin to think about what you want the interviewer to know about you.

Focus

List five strengths you have that are pertinent to this job (experiences, traits, skills, etc.). What do you want the interviewer to know about you when you leave?

Eleanor is strong in communications and connecting with people. She has a strong background and proven success with customer relationships. Her real strength is her follow-through. She prides herself on her reputation for meeting deadlines.

Scripting

Prepare a script that includes the information you want to convey. Begin by talking about past experiences and proven success:

"I have been in the customer service industry for the past five years. My most recent experience has been handling incoming calls in the high tech industry. One reason I particularly enjoy this business, and the challenges that go along with it, is the opportunity to connect with people. In my last job, I formed some significant customer relationships resulting in a 30 percent increase in sales in a matter of months."

Next, mention your strengths and abilities:

"My real strength is my attention to detail. I pride myself on my reputation for following through and meeting deadlines. When I commit to doing something, I make sure it gets done, and on time."

Conclude with a statement about your current situation:

"What I am looking for now is a company that values customer relations, where I can join a strong team and have a positive impact on customer retention and sales."

Practice

Practice with your script until you feel confident about what you want to emphasize in your statement. Your script should help you stay on track, but you shouldn't memorize it -- you don't want to sound stiff and rehearsed. It should sound natural and conversational.

Even if you are not asked this type of question to begin the interview, this preparation will help you focus on what you have to offer. You will also find that you can use the information in this exercise to assist you in answering other questions. The more you can talk about your product -- you -- the better chance you will have at selling it.

via career-advice.monster.com

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

Can One Hour Boost Your Personal Brand? | Brand-Yourself.com Blog

My business partner and I returned from a sales meeting late in the afternoon one recent Thursday, just prior to a three-day holiday weekend. The meeting went well. The prospective customer expressed openness toward our proposed idea. We were very pleased with her response.

She asked that we check back with her on the following Tuesday. And that’s precisely what most people would do.

At our company, we have a sacred rule about sending Thank-You notes. We always send one, and it’s always handwritten. An e-mail Thank-You note simply isn’t sufficient. It’s too easy, too convenient and too impersonal. By contrast, a handwritten note is highly personal. The recipient sees your handwriting, your greeting, your signature…and gets an impression of your personal brand. It takes time and effort. And in our experience, it creates a noticeable difference. The handwritten note communicates an important message: we care, we customize and we go the extra mile.

At four o’clock on that Thursday, it would have been easy to just call it a day. It would have been easy and commonplace to end the day by basking in the glory of a good sales call and to head home to celebrate a good sales call. And that’s precisely what most would do.

Yet instead of calling it a day, hopping in our cars and tending to the handwritten Thank-You note on Friday, we stopped and thought about the opportunity and the timing. There was no doubt that we would send the note. If we sent it the next day (on Friday), our prospective customer would not receive it in the mail on Tuesday. However, if we went back to the office, wrote the note and got it out in Thursday’s mail before five o’clock, she would get it on Friday—prior to the three-day holiday weekend.

And that’s exactly what we did. We spent the extra hour…even thought it took extra time and energy…at the end of a busy day (when we were tired and hungry) to make certain that our prospective new customer received our personalized, handwritten Thank-You note the very next day (which she did).

How do you think she felt when she got her mail the next morning? I can tell you that when we spoke to her again on the following Tuesday, she responded even more positively. I contend that our incremental effort in spending the extra hour from 4:00 to 5:00 on Thursday created a strong impression. That one hour boosted my (our) personal brand and very well may lead to a sizable contract with a new client.

The importance of a Thank-You note can never be underestimated. That’s the incremental edge that is required to brand yourself as conscientious, eager and attentive. One hour can, indeed, change your personal brand!

Create a Brand-Yourself.com Account to Manage Your Online Reputation!

Brand-Yourself.com is an award winning toolset that helps you proactively manage your online reputation and promote yourself across the social web. Create an account today to see how we can help you win new opportunities, jobs and clients online. It’s easy and it’s fun!

Skip Lineberg is co-author of “Effective Immediately: How to Fit In, Stand Out and Move Up at Your First Real Job.” His book is filled with lessons, like this one, about leveraging the incremental edge to ignite your career success. Reportedly, he spent one (incremental) hour to prepare this blog post for you.

via blog.brand-yourself.com

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

New Interview Norm: Dress Business Casual

I recently interviewed someone.  Not a direct report.

But it was for a new and influential position with our company.   An executive level position.

First round interview.

And the guy walks in without a tie and without a suit coat.  I know, how dare he?

But you know what?  I was glad for it.

And I want to state here and now that job seekers should be released from the painstaking process of interviewing all day in a suit.  Male or female.

After all, no one you interview with is wearing suits, are they?  Most are in cheap slacks or faded blue jeans these days.  Sure there are exceptions.  Bigger companies.  Banks, law offices, large corporations.

I interviewed for 8 hours at a company a few years back.  On a Friday.  Turns out it was their casual day.  Strange.

But listen to this: here’s one way that companies can welcome employees now or minimally when the economy starts to come back.

Advertise your next job and say in the ad:

Business Casual Dress Encouraged

Yes, remove the question and outright invite comfortable attire.

I know what you are thinking.

1.  It’ll never happen.

2.  They will still wear a suit even if allowed to dress down.

3.  They’ll dress down and worry throughout the interview that they made a mistake.

4.  They will come too casual and not impress (yes, that could happen)

And you may say “I will always expect a job seeker to ’suit up’ for an interview.  It is the best they will ever look and I want to see that”.  What?  Really?

Business casual interviews will also take the pressure off the interview team.  No more having to think about dressing up because I have to interview someone today.  Hooray!

My recent interview was not hampered by his stunning lack of suit and tie.  It was improved by it.  It allowed him to relax, me to see him as I would on his first day and allowed for a more conversational interview.  My favorite kind.

So join me.  Spread the word.  Suggest to your HR team that they encourage a policy of business casual for interviews.

What do you think?  Would it work at your company?

Photo Credit

via timsstrategy.com

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

Blog Your Way to a New Job: How to Use a Personal Blog as a Career Stepping Stone - Careers Articles

There are as many ways to find your next job by blogging as there are blogs. So when it comes to blogging your way to a new job, the tried-and-true rules apply: write what you know about, follow your bliss and make honest connections.

Some personal bloggers publish posts that give details about their job search. And with the clever use of search engine optimization, links and tags, these bloggers gain the attention of hiring managers in their field.

Other bloggers create their own jobs.

In Brooklyn, New York, for example, a borough wide group of bloggers calling themselves the Brooklyn Blogade joins together on a regular basis to share their ideas on what topics to cover, how to write a good blog post, blog technology, techniques for driving Web traffic to a blog such as RSS feeds, ways to monetize a blog and the use of marketing, branding and promotion tools.

One blogger, for example, Louise Crawford of Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, has successfully promoted her blog by writing meaningful, newsy content. In addition, she frequently hosts neighborhood blogging events and has become known all over New York as a blogging expert. Early in 2010, she moved a step up the professional blogging ladder by moving her site to a new ad-friendly platform.

Another well-known (not to say notorious) New York blogger, Jake Dobkin, the publisher and co-founder of local news blog Gothamist, runs a site that covers the metro area so broadly and so well that he and his partner Jen Chung have hired a team of 15 editors and advertisers are coming to them, asking for ad space on the site.

"There's no secret to running a successful blog," Dobkin said at a recent Brooklyn blog event known as Blogfest. "You just create a lot of content, day after day, year after year."

Finally, David Leite's James Beard Award-winning food site, Leite's Culinaria, started out as a blog and has gone on to become an amazingly "sticky" website full of reviews, recipes, videos, podcasts and articles written by a large stable of writers.

"When you write a blog, you need to know what your brand is," Leite recently told a classroom full of aspiring food writers. "Mine is witty, sassy, welcoming and personal. Write a tagline for yourself. Decide what your brand is, what you represent and who you stand for. And once you find your niche, you have to stay there."

via jobs.aol.com

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

Improve Your Interviews by 1,000,000%

Improve Your Interviews by 1,000,000%

July 9th, 2010

So I came up with this arbitrary percentage… I don’t know if you’ll improve by 100% or a gazillion percent… but I bet you will improve SIGNIFICANTLY (that’s a term we used in the MBA program that meant “enough to care about”).

How?  Should you:

• Study common questions and prepare answers ahead of time?
• Make sure you dress right and floss your teeth?
• Have a strong first impression (great handshake, flashy smile, etc.)?
• Tell stories?
• Relate to the interviewers?

Perhaps all of those, and more, will help you improve your job search interviews.  Here’s my one piece of advice to help you improve your interviews a ton:

Record yourself in a mock interview.

It is wierd.  You might feel silly and uncomfortable.  But when you review the recording, with some peers, you will uncover a lot of things and find yourself saying “wow, I didn’t know I did that with my hands,” or “why do I keep looking around the room, I look too nervous,” or “why can’t I just give my response smoothly,” or “I didn’t realize I said UM 40 times in that one response,” etc.

I don’t care how good you think you are…. record yourself, and have some others record themselves in a mock interview, and then sit down and critique the recordings.

You will find big and small things you can improve on.

I double-dog-dare you to do this.

via jibberjobber.com

Posted via email from AndyWergedal