I was sitting down with my realtor yesterday, and she was telling me about a course on credit she was teaching at the local high school, and that she was thinking about teaching another course on selling yourself.  This got the old wheels turning in my brain, and I thought I would give a little snippet on the subject myself in this blog as it pertains to careers.

In an earlier post, I gave a quick overview of building an Employment Plan, of which this segment backs up, and talks about, but I want you to think about branding yourself, and to keep this a part of your daily life, whether you are in the job-search, or not.  Here are four steps I want you to follow – make the changes as you can, and only take on what feels right, and you have time for:

1. Understand who you are.  Are you creative, analytical, methodical, etc.  Think about what makes you tick, and what makes you happy.  Be honest, and write this all down.  Don’t write what you want to be for now, just what you are.  The format should be outline, or bullet points.  Nobody knows you like you, so map it out because at some point, you’ll want to share with others.
2. Know that you are always being viewed by others.  In many cases, you never know who you will run into randomly that may either be able to connect you with a job, or know someone who can.  Stay on top of getting your haircut, keep your clothes neat, and tidy your apartment/house/property.  Make sure that when you go out, you take an extra couple of minutes on yourself, whether it is ironing that wrinkle, trimming that beard, or matching the clothes.  This sounds trivial, but in most cases you get only one chance to make a first-impression.
3. Get active.  If you are currently not working, or even if you are, get involved in your community.  This gets you positive visibility as well as keeping you going.  Whether you volunteer at the library, join a society (Lions, Freemasons, etc.), or coach a kids team, you are giving others a positive image of you while truly helping others.  People notice people who get out and do things.  Activity begets activity — it’s a win/win situation.
4. Always be closing.  I believe that expression was first widely heard in Glengarry Glen Ross.  This statement is not just bound to fast-talking salesmen! It goes for everyone.  Think about it, we are all always selling, whether you are getting your significant other to change the channel to what you want, convincing your kid that running into the street is bad, or interviewing for a job.  If you are not used to doing this, start on simple things – start getting people to give you milestones.  Sample “Dad, assuming that you can fit this into your schedule, when do you expect to be here?”,  “If I were to buy these two items at the same time, what kind of discount would I get?”, “After my interview, and pending positive feedback, what would the next step in the process be?”  You accomplish a couple things with closes:  1, you get people to commit to things, or at least give you a better sense. 2, you gain more control over the situation when people are answering your questions. 3, people feel like they can rely on you to drive whatever process it is more as you have commanded more in the situation.

I didn’t want to make a long read or a book, so I’m going to stop here.  I hope this information has been a valuable catalyst for you to build upon!

My $.02

A little about me:

I don’t have a crystal ball, nor do I have all of the answers.  I do have a little over 18 years of Human Capital Management experience in my life – Operations, Management, Consulting, Recruiting, and Ownership.  Please don’t stop your reading and research with my post, but use this as a basis to formulate your winning strategy