Social Snapshots: A Candidate’s Personal Brand

 

Personal branding is how we market ourselves to others. It’s a timeless concept. The two reasons why branding has always existed on a personal level is that we always have to sell ourselves in various situations, whether trying to convince our friend to see a movie or trying to impress a hiring manager at an interview – your personal brand is constantly being taken into consideration.

 

People judge us, especially on first impressions, and when we’re looking for work these days our first impressions can occur online with a simple Google search – before you even meet someone. In this day and age it has become common practice to Google something or in regards to candidates – someone. For some ‘googling’ people has now become second nature and just something frequently performed. But why is this?

Because as individuals we are active online and we produce content. Times have changed and with the explosion of social media networks, individuals have become content creators, networkers and spectators – a lot of people are guilty of this – and we end up spending hours online in networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus, creating and digesting content.
Did you know? If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world. Social media has overtaken pornography as the #1 activity on the web. One out of eight couples married in the U.S. met via social media. Ashton Kutcher and Britney Spears have more Twitter followers than the entire populations of countries like Sweden, Israel and Switzerland. See more facts about the social media revolution in this video:

But what does this mean in to pre-employment community? Companies and recruiters have caught on and started using social media in order to learn more about prospective candidates – some will ‘google’ you or browse Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn attempting to dig up more information about who you are. This information was once difficult to obtain pre social media. So what are they looking for?
Fit and suitability. This really resonated with me recently when a friend shared that they were laid off because they were not a “cultural fit.” This person had all of the skills to get the job done and then some, but at the end of the day they did not fit within that company’s ecosystem or work culture. Knowing this person had invested the last six months with this company, and vice versa, I wondered why neither party went to greater lengths to better evaluate this relationship from the very beginning.
Proper hiring or placement is a challenge. Let’s face it, no one enjoys having to look for work and the employment process can be draining and cost all parties time and money. Better assessment upfront can help both job seekers and employers ensure a proper FIT and reduce time spent “in limbo.”
The future of the resume is a social snapshots to showcase a candidate’s personal brand – an expression of who the is their world of social networks. This leads to the question, what do your social networks say about you?
At CrewRevu, we feel there are five C’s to look for when viewing social network information: Community, Content, Context, Communication, and Consistency.

1. Community. Your community reflects where you spend your time and can show your interests, hobbies and who you surround yourself with.
2. Content. Content is king; it is the king of your character and shows potential employers what you’re about, what you are talking about, what you are saying and what you are doing within these networks.
3. Context. Context tells a story about how you are living your life and can give an indication on how professional you are.
4. Communication. This shows how you engage with audiences within your communities – how you talk with your friends, family and your peers online.
5. Consistency. In direct relation to content, context and communication – what consistency do you exhibit across your social networks? This can reflect behavior, validate how you represent yourself or indicate your authenticity, and that you are who you say you are. In this day and age you cannot make stuff up!

Employers are looking for people to fit in with ‘their crowd’ or ‘their team’ – they’re assessing your cultural FIT. Social snapshots transform and streamline the hiring process, allowing for a better connection with employers and add value to all parties involved in the hiring process by increasing the ability to better assess an individual’s cultural and professional fit.
What does your social snapshot say about you?

Don Fried is part of the development team who created and launched CrewRevu social snapshots for the hiring community. The essence of CrewRevu is to be socially seen, to stand out and to be recognized in the hiring process. Photo Credit fansided.
SmartRecruiters is the hiring platform with everything you need to source talent, manage candidates, and make the right hires.

The One Word That Can Catapult Your Career

Do your colleagues have a choice word for you? If not, here's why you want them to…

I was at a conference and a friend who runs a startup introduced me to one of his friends, who was looking for a new opportunity. “I’d like you to meet Joe,” he said. “He’s great.”

I’m sure Joe is talented. I’m sure Joe is skilled. I’m sure Joe is, in fact, great.

But I only remember Joe because of something that happened a few minutes later. Another friend introduced me to one of his product managers. “This is Michelle,” he said. “She’s relentless.”

In the dictionary, “great” means remarkable in degree or effectiveness. “Great” is a wonderful word, especially when used to describe someone… but like “awesome” and “outstanding,” “great” is used so often to describe people that it has lost much of its meaning. When just about everyone is great… no one is great. Great is no longer impactful or memorable.

When described as “great, however remarkable in degree or effectiveness he may be, Joe seems like – however unfairly – just one of many. He doesn't standout.

But “relentless” – who can forget relentless? Hear the word and you instantly think of someone so determined, so persevering, so persistent and tenacious that nothing, absolutely nothing, can stand in her way.

A “great” product manager you might forget. A “relentless” product manager you remember for a long, long time.

Authentic Positioning Matters – Especially for Individuals

Many companies, as Al Ries describes in his classic marketing book Positioning, try to own a single word or phrase in the minds of customers. For Mercedes it’s “luxury.” For Volvo it's “safety”. At my company HubSpot it’s “inbound”.

The goal of positioning is to create an immediate and direct connection in the minds of consumers; that’s what branding is all about.

Individuals need to think about positioning, too. Where Tony Hsieh is concerned, that word is “culture.” Where Eric Ries is concerned it’s “lean.”

So imagine you ask a colleague or a boss or a customer for to pick one word that describes you and they aren’t allowed to use words like awesome, fantastic, great, terrific, etc. They have to pick a specific, non-generic word. What word would they choose?

The word they choose – for better or worse and, where you’re concerned, intentional or unintentional – is your positioning in the minds of the people you work with. That’s how they see you. That’s how they think of you.

That is how they remember you.

What is Your Most Important Word?

The cool thing is, you get to choose how people view you. As long as your actions constantly and consistently match your positioning, as long as you are intentional in thought and action, you can determine the immediate and direct connection people make when they see, hear, or think about you.
What one word best describes you? Better yet, what one word do you want to describe you?

Here are a few possibilities – in the right circumstances these are all wonderful qualities:

· Insightful
· Shrewd
· Ferocious (hopefully in a good way)
· Unflinching
· Indomitable
· Irreverent
· Scrupulous
· Relatable
· Determined

So, back to the original question: What is the one word that can transform your career? As you've probably guessed — it's different for everyone. But, if you can find yours, it can have a profound impact on your person brand, and hence your career.

A short, powerful exercise…

Make a list of the adjectives you want people to repeat after they meet you, talk to you, see or read about you... what do you want other people to think of when they think of you?

Make your list. Then boil it down to the one word you want to encapsulate you – and, in effect, your personal brand. (If you don’t, other people will definitely decide it for you.)

Decide how you want to be defined.

Now, share your one word in the comments below. If you can't quite get it down to just one word, that's OK (I'm an easy going guy) — pick 2 or 3 words. But, leave them in the comments. We're not going to hold you to it, but the simple act of writing them down and sharing them is super-helpful. And, it will help others come up with their words.

I'll kick things with the words I'd like people to associate with me: bold & creative.

Read, think, GO!

Article written by Dharmesh Shah and originally posted on his Linkedin.com blog here



The importance of personal branding when pitching by Inge Geerdens

The importance of personal branding when pitching

 From time to time, I teach people with a start-up idea on how to prepare their pitch for the jury. I love this kind of sessions : each of the participants pitches his or her idea to the rest of the class. The interactivity works really well. They applaud each others’ “performance”, but they’re also quite critical. They all make mistakes, but they learn from each other.

In front of the jury as in reality, the bottom line is that you only get one shot. Your partners, investors and prospects have to be convinced that your idea will solve their problems. I believe a good presentation is the key to success, so here are some guidelines I give in my sessions:

#1. Tell your audience who you are. A lot of people forget the very basics, their name, where they come from, etc. Your audience wants to know who the person behind the pretty face is.

#2. Tell a story. If you had a job before in which you solved problems with your idea, your background will be highly relevant. A nice story about it will prove your expertise.

#3. Highlight the solution behind your idea. Many people are so in love with their idea that they get very technical, and lose their audience with an explanation that nobody understands. Explain your solution and the problem it helps to solve. This really helps in convincing a skeptical jury.

#4.Play the trust card. What have you reached so far? Are there any pilot projects worth mentioning? Do you have a mentor in the industry that is helping you? Does a university support your idea? Or are you in the finals of an entrepreneurship contest? Show your audience that you already gained some trust in your market.

#5.Demonstrate your added value. Criticizing your competitors is not done. But telling your audience why you are much better is, and it will have more impact.

#6. Be specific. In which phase is your idea or company now? Do you already have some customers? Or are you still in a development phase?

#7.Target the right audience. Make sure the people you address represent the right audience. Nobody likes wasting time. Be specific in what you are looking for; adapt your message and questions to the audience.

In a nutshell: I believe pitching your start-up idea is as important as pitching your entrepreneurial spirit, and even yourself. You and your idea won’t be seen as two separate things. That’s why your self-branding is primordial. You have to make them believe in you.

My list of tips is far from being complete. Any ideas you want to share on how to convince a jury?

Authored by/ Posted by (via Linkedin):

Inge Geerdens - Linkedin Followers - (25,235)See all Inge's posts