— the trademarked YOUTM? And maybe you’re saying, “But Brenda, give me a break! I have no idea how to answer that question!” If this is the case, don’t worry. We’re going to work with a step-by-step formula that borrows from those same six positioning elements used by the most successful marketing experts around the world. That formula will help you pinpoint the best possible personal brand for you as a college grad — a personal brand that will present your best talents, strengths, and attributes and that distinguishes you from other people applying for the kinds of jobs you want most.
The Power of a Framework
Let’s take a look at the six parts of this formula and see first how they work for the name brands we all love and use every day. Then, you will see how to apply those same elements to YOUTM.
Your College Graduate Personal Brand Positioning Statement
Hopefully, by now, you’ve asked yourself: “Who really is [insert your name here]TM?” If you’re not sure how to answer that question yet, stick around. We’re going to walk through each part together in detail as you go through the book.
As we work our way through Step 1 — the “Define it” step — I’ll share with you what you need to complete your “College Graduate Personal Brand Positioning Statement.” Your Positioning Statement will show you exactly how to define who YOUTM really are — which will help you to get the absolute best job for you upon graduation.
Bottom line: This is where “you” become “YOUTM.”
As we work our way through each of the next six chapters, you’ll be able to fill in each portion of your College Graduate Personal Brand Positioning Statement, just like the one below. Then, we’ll get into how to communicate that well-defined personal brand before, during, and after job interviews. After that, we’ll focus on how to avoid damaging the personal brand you’ve worked so hard to create.
chapter
By the time you’ve finished working with the six parts of your College Graduate Personal Brand Positioning Statement, you’ll be ready to put YOUTM into action. Armed and ready with that, you will be able to make clear to your ideal employers exactly what you can offer them. So, roll up your sleeves! Your personal brand — and that amazing job you want — is waiting.…
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Audience
College Graduate Personal Brand
Positioning Element #1
It’s up to the Audience. It always has been.
— Kate Smith, Singer
When you’re just graduating from college and looking for your first full-time job, let’s face it: It’s hard not to focus on yourself. All you want is to find a job that you love with great people to work with and a steady paycheck. But the surprising truth about using personal branding in your job search is this:
The best way to land the job you want the most is to focus on your Audience.
After all, potential bosses (your personal brand “Audience”) are interested in what you can do for them. How are you going to make their jobs easier? What have you learned in school that the company can benefit from? While it’s human nature to wonder what the company can do for you, showing them what YOUTM can offer a company is how you land a great job.
One of the most common myths about personal branding is that it’s “all about you.” But think about it: If your brand exists in the minds of your Audience, how can personal branding be all about you? It can’t, and it isn’t. The focus has to be on your Audience. So, the more you learn about your Audience, the more in sync you will be with the interviewer. And the more you learn about what the company needs, the faster you’ll get the great job you really want.
Now, you may be thinking, “Sounds good, Brenda, but I don’t even know where to begin.” Well, the key is to get as much information about the company as possible. In fact, one of the recruiters I interviewed said: “You want to stick out in an interview? Be knowledgeable about the company. You wouldn’t believe how many students know virtually nothing about the company they’re interviewing with. It’s a big mistake.” Some company recruiters told me that college grads have actually walked into an interview and asked, “What does your company do?” How will a recruiter react to that? Your resume will get thrown in the trash!
One of the HR pros I spoke with said: “It isn’t enough in an interview to simply say, ‘You have a job I’m interested in, and I know this is a good company.’ But you’d be surprised how many candidates do exactly that.” Interviewers will see this kind of thinking as lazy, so not knowing about the company just won’t cut it. You need to have a very specific reason for wanting a particular job at a particular company. And the only way you can figure out if a company is right for you is to learn about it. Then, you’ll be prepared to tell your interviewer that reason.
The more you learn about your Audience, the more you’ll have a head start on the interview process because you’ll already know more about the company than most of the other applicants. Bottom line: Your interviewers will remember you if you can give them a detailed reason why you want to work there, if you’ve taken the time to read about the company’s background, and if you’ve learned about the company’s recent news.
Who is Your Audience?
So, how do you go about getting that information in order to connect with your interviewer? Let’s pretend you’re a top-notch marketer — the newly-promoted Brand Manager of YOUTM. You’re in charge, and it’s your job to see that your brand reaches the top.
If YOUTM were a product, your Audience would be called the “Target Market,” and you would find out all you could about your Target Market through surveys and questionnaires that ask questions about who they really are. You would want to know provable facts about the people in your Target Market, like their age, sex, income, education, etc. How much do they earn? Do most of them live in the city or in the suburbs? In marketing-speak, these provable facts are called “demographics.”
Now, an average marketer might stop there, but provable facts are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to learning about the Target Market. Think about it for a second: If you really want to get to know someone, it wouldn’t be enough only
