We want to draw a clear line between the Do’s and Don’ts of self-promotion, so you can achieve confidence, but not over-confidence.
We’ve been all about your personal brand lately because even though in this day and age makes the job-seeking experience virtually (pun intended) robotic, there’s nothing more valuable than the soul behind the brand.
This past month, we brought you 4 Personal Branding Tips You Should Be Using and How To Stand Out in a Tech Interview because we know everyone is asking the question, “How can I be the best me for this job interview?” This week, we want to draw a clear line between the Do’s and Don’ts of self-promotion, so you can achieve confidence, but not over-confidence.
The Do’s:
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Become a Subject Matter Expert (SME)
Glassdoor’s blog “How To Promote Yourself In Today’s Job Market” explains that by creating your own content, you can “brand yourself as an expert,” giving others the opportunity to share and use your work. From here, your actual work experience becomes viral and you are recognized for your skills and knowledge within the industry.
This information is so valuable because your brand as an SME speaks for you, meaning any potential hiring managers you come across will already recognize you as top talent, without you having to proclaim it for yourself. It’s just like Business Intelligence says in their blog, “How To Sell Yourself in an Interview. ” You want to “show, not tell.”
Our skill listing and 3D resume tool help you quantify your skill sets and act as a guide to help you more confidently speak about your experience. More so, we allow you to share your online content within your skill listing, so you can connect your digital presence in 1 place.
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Help Your Interviewer Get Off Script
We love this piece of advice from Liz Ryan, in the Forbes article, “How To Sell Yourself and Get The Job.” There are a lot of ways to interpret what this means, but the main takeaway is that when you get to an interview, you and the hiring manager can both expect a standard set of questions and answers.
While some see interviews as tedious, awkward, and stressful, there are ways to approach them so you never have to dread another interview or feel indifferent toward standard interview questions again!
“You can get them off the script, and here’s the wonderful thing — 90% of managers will be happy to get off the script. They don’t like it any more than you do — but someone handed it to them and told them to follow it. They will be only too happy to get off the interview script and let you “sell” them by asking them smart questions about the Business Pain they’re dealing with. (There is always a pain in the mix — otherwise, they’d wait and fill this job next year, or never!)” – Ryan says.
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How do you get off-script?
In “How To Sell Yourself During a Job Interview” the balance suggests sharing your experience in the form of a story! Stories are engaging and they have a start and finish, which helps your listener understand the context of what you are sharing about yourself.
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Ask ONLY Smart Questions
As Ryan mentioned in her Forbes article, asking smart questions can actually prompt your interviewer to go off script and share more about themselves and their company than they would normally. By asking smart questions, you actually engage your interviewer and force the conversation to become 2-sided.
Put simply, you are selling yourself and who you are in an interview. Asking smart questions also helps you become an effective “salesperson,” because successful sales entails just as much, if not more, listening, than talking.
The Don’ts:
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Sloppiness
In Forbes’ “Please Don’t Do These 9 Things In An Interview,” Erika Andersen says what we are all thinking – “When someone comes to an interview looking like he or she has just rolled out of bed, it communicates lack of respect for the interviewer, the job and the company.”
While this should be common sense, it continues to go ignored! The age-old adage of dress for the job you want still applies. 1st impressions still have an effect on us psychologically, so be smart and do the easiest thing you can do for an interview – don’t be sloppy!
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Agreeing with Everything
Anderson makes a good point – being opinion-free comes across as though you don’t have a sense of who you are and you don’t care about anything specific. Just agreeing with everything isn’t going to make you stand out. Having an independent thought is way more memorable and paints a picture in the recruiter’s head about how you can contribute to the company.
Try and find a balance between what you are agreeing with and what you feel you can offer the company, outside of the construct that the interviewer is offering you.
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Oversharing on Social
In the article, “Using Social Media: The Do’s and Don’ts of Self Promotion on the Internet,” Sara Mannix makes a good point about how not to use social media. Just because you post everything that appears in your timeline, doesn’t mean it’s worth sharing.
Focus on the important and relevant. Make sure it aligns with the brand you would show if you knew a potential hiring manager or colleague was reading it.
If you are interested in more 1-on-1 personal branding tips, feel free to sign up for SkillGigs and speak to one of our talent advocates. Get started today!
