Are you Compromising Brand You?

"Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You."  

                                                                                Tom Peters – Fast Company 1997

Having met thousands of people over the years in an interview setting, I can whole heartedly agree with Mr Peters.  When I meet with candidates it is always those who really understand their personal brand who come across the best.  Now this may seem an obvious statement, and maybe it is to those of us who have a natural bent for sales and marketing, but for many people, particularly those in more analytical based professions, “selling yourself” does not come easily.

Are you attending lots of interviews but not getting the job? Are you being fobbed off with feedback such as “there was another candidate more qualified”, or “we felt that the other candidate would fit our culture better”? If the answer is yes, then aside from plain bad luck, there could be other factors at work that are stopping you from getting the job.  The problem is that some of these factors can be quite sensitive to broach, so many people delivering feedback take the easy option with a meaningless statement that gets them out of a potentially embarrassing situation, but does nothing for you in terms of offering constructive feedback that could help you ace your next interview.

I think it is really important to give honest feedback to candidates – however tough it may be to deliver, or to hear.  So I thought I would compile a list of common mistakes people make during interview which damage their Brand and stops them getting the job of their dreams:

First Impressions Count

It’s a fact that people will have made a judgement on you within the first 7 seconds of meeting you.  This doesn’t give a lot of time for you to impress them with words.  In fact, only 10% of how someone formulates an opinion of you will be based on what you say.  The majority of us formulate our impressions of someone new based on how they look and how they talk, not what they say.  It’s also true that once this first impression is created, it becomes very difficult to change that view.  So if you create a bad first impression, you have a mountain to climb to reverse the damage done.

Appearance then is very important.  This isn’t about how attractive you are, but how smart/professional you appear.   Whilst you may think that people shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, the fact of the matter is that they do, so if you want that job you have to be pragmatic about it and dress with this in mind.  That means covering up any tattoos or facial piercings and consider waiting until you have the job before you dye your hair bright pink!  Whether it’s right or wrong for people to not be able to express themselves is another argument for another day, the point I am making is that if you want that job you have to accept that if you choose to express your individuality with the way you look, whoever is interviewing you may not share your taste and so it could go against you.  The key to dressing for an interview is to be as non-controversial as possible.  By entering as a blank canvas, it gives you more time to impress them with YOU and not how you look.

So you have 7 seconds to make a positive impression.  This essentially is the time it takes to meet and greet your potential new employer.  It may not seem much but there is an awful lot to get right/ wrong during this time:

Eye Contact:  It is vital you make eye contact and maintain it during your greeting.  Breaking contact can indicate a lack of confidence or worse, dishonesty. 

Firm Handshake:  A short, firm (but not too firm – a candidate nearly broke my fingers once and that didn’t go down too well) handshake is a must.  Again, a weak, limp-wristed handshake indicates a lack of confidence and potential weakness in an individual.

Smile!  It may seem obvious but it’s so important to greet your interviewer with a smile and when you are nervous it can be a difficult thing to do!

So you have got through the vital first 7 seconds and now the interview gets started.  Obviously it’s important that you have done your homework on the business you are meeting, the person interviewing you, and that you have gone over your CV and feel ready to answer any questions that are thrown at you.  However even if you get all of this right, there are things that can still make you fail the interview.

Body Language:  Non-verbal communication is a massive part of any interview.  Again, the focus is often on HOW you say something, not WHAT you say.  Nervous candidates can have a propensity to fidget in their seat or maybe play with their hands – both very distracting and can detract from that amazing achievement you are telling the interviewer about.  Likewise, sitting with your arms folded or leaning back with your legs crossed can make it come across that you are defensive or disinterested. 

Positivity is vital:  Despite how much justified ill feeling you may have towards a previous employer, it is always advisable to be as upbeat and positive as possible within an interview.  Try to steer clear of casting a negative light over any of your previous companies.  What you are saying may be completely true, but your interviewer doesn’t know you and human nature predicates a natural suspicion and a “there’s no smoke without fire” type attitude.  Also, it’s natural that people want to work with positive individuals.  We have all worked with that glass-half-empty individual and done our best to avoid taking a coffee break at the same time as them!  Think about LinkedIn and the posts you read from disgruntled candidates bashing recruitment companies…what impression do you have of those individuals?  The same applies if you are negative in an interview setting.

Ask the right questions:  Its often the part of the interview that can go wrong.  You are at the end of your interview, starting to relax and you are asked if you have any questions and your mind goes blank…. The obvious thing is to ensure you have prepared some questions before you go into the interview.  However, be careful that you don’t ask something that has already been covered off by your interviewer during the meeting.  Ensure your questions are relevant and remember that this is your time to suss out your potential new employer – you need to feel as confident in them as an employer as they do in you.  However, at first interview do avoid talking financials.  It can give the wrong impression in terms of your key drivers and can create issues if discussed too soon within a process.

Finally, I always recommend that you follow up the interview with an email to express your interest (if you still are!) in the opportunity.  This creates a great impression and really reinforces your Brand. 

This is one in a series of blogs I have written to help everyone involved in the recruitment process to make it a more enjoyable and successful experience!  For more please visit our website www.jps-supplychain.co.uk