Brand You is the product you’re selling to your prospective boss. You need to qualify your job leads to narrow your choices to the employers whose workplace culture and environment mirror you own values and needs.
Qualifying your job leads is a way to act strategic instead of blitzing scores of companies blindly with your resume simply because you want a job.
Target your job search to the firms where you will fit in. Kate Wendleton published the book Packaging Yourself: The Targeted Resume.
I figured out quickly when I took a job in a law firm while going to school that transferring from one office job to another office job (even in a different field) was a mistake.
What the company needs and what you need in terms of goals (their bottom line and your professional goals) should be in synch.
You will ensnare your future boss when you’re able to cogently tell that person why you want to work for that company. This is critical when you’re going on a job interview.
Remember these sales dictums: Don’t try to sell the customer a blue shirt if all they want is a white one. Sell the benefit not the feature.
If you’re wearing a “blue shirt” to a company that needs a white one in effect the interview is a waste of time.
Power listing your skills, abilities, strengths, and experience gives you the features of your product. What is the benefit of the company in hiring a person like you who has these qualifications?
What you bring to the table should demonstrate that you will fit into that particular workplace.
More on promoting The Business of You in the next blog entry.
Coming up after that: a list of job search websites specifically for individuals with disabilities.
WorkingAssets 