Five Tips To Assure Interviewers Remember Your Brand

Create your brand by being yourself.

The most common interview question interviewers ask is, “Tell us about yourself?” If you aren’t ready to answer this question then you’re already in a lot of trouble. Your response to this question should be a 2-3 minute introduction highlighting your career, skills and passions. The best way to prepare for this question is to simply ask yourself, “What is my brand?” You have to convey your brand to the interviewers and leave them with something to remember you by. Your reputation is your personal brand, and your brand is what sets you apart from the others.

How do you make your brand stick with recruiters and hiring managers? Here are FIVE tips to ensuring that your brand lingers in their minds weeks after your interview.

1) Your brand doesn’t have to be only “professional”. 

You are human and your brand should be too.
Don’t let your corporate skillset distract you from who you are. Companies want to get to know you as much as they want to know if you are capable for the job. Let them know you do more in your free time than developing marketing campaigns. Figure out what your passions are and convey that in your interview when appropriate. This is the area to fill in the blank to “the girl or guy who…” The more unique to you it is, the better.
 
2. Be more than who your resume says you are.

Leave them with something to remember you by.
Unless you left them with something to remember you by, most interviewers will not remember your name when making their decision on who to hire. However, they will remember what you told them. It’s not enough to be John Smith from Dallas anymore. When you leave the interview room, be John Smith the award winning photographer. John Smith the cliff climber. John Smith the weekend karate teacher. You want them to remember you for something more than just John Smith the Creative Director.
 
3. Anyone can learn a skill, but strengths are unique to you.

Identify your strengths versus your skills.
Skills are defined as something that you do well, whereas strengths are a good quality or attribute about you. The difference between the two is skills can be learned, while strengths are slower to develop over time. Jennifer down the hall may be just as good at SPSS as you are, but is she as meticulously patient when discovering trends in the data? Both you and Jennifer are skilled in SPSS but your difference is that your strengths lie in your work ethic and attention to detail.
 
4. Getting the job is as much about how relatable you are than it is about your skillset.

Find commonalities with your interviewers.
If your bosses are going to spend eight hours a day working with you, they want to know if they can relate to you first. Find commonalities with them, and nurture those until you form a connection. This is all part of instilling your brand with the interviewer so they remember you after the interview.
 
5. Invest in Professional Career Coaching

Utilize a career coach to help shape your brand.
Sometimes it can be hard to look at ourselves objectively. Asking friends and family what your strengths and weaknesses are can be hard because they are biased toward you. At DCAProSearch we offer some of the highest caliber career coaches in the industry. We work with you to develop your brand, and help you build the brand that will land you that dream job. Visit our website, or give us a call to learn how to use a career coach to build your brand.
 
Want to learn more about how to build your brand? Contact us and let us get to know your personal brand.