You Are Unique: What Does Your Personal Brand Say About You?
What are Your Gifts?
If you’re a gifted technologist for example, odds are pretty good that you’re not gifted in sales and marketing. This is not to say that a technologist is never gifted in sales and marketing but this skill mix is an anomaly rather than the norm.
Marketing and Packaging
When it comes to packaging and marketing yourself, if you can blend technical writing, business writing and a little bit of creative writing simultaneously, you’re in good shape. However, if you are not sure how to blend technical writing, business writing and creative writing, this activity is probably not your gift. You might want to seek help from someone who understands your giftedness and who also possesses the gift of writing, sales and marketing and has a results-filled track record.
First Impressions and Personal Branding
If you have a LinkedIn profile, you are making first impressions whether you’ve strategically thought about it or not. LinkedIn offers a tremendous opportunity for personal brand building. If you haven’t invested time to strategically build your personal brand on LinkedIn; consider doing so soon.
Consider this when you think about personal branding and how to package and market yourself.
1. LinkedIn and Resume Audience: Always build your Resume and your LinkedIn profile for the benefit of other people who make up your audience. While your Resume and your LinkedIn profile are about you, they are not for you. It is always someone in your audience who will be forming a first impression when they review your Resume or your LinkedIn profile for the first time.
2. Align Your Communication: Be sure that the message on your Resume aligns with the message on your LinkedIn profile. Your audience may see your Resume first and then look you up on LinkedIn. Or, a recruiter who is searching for your skill set may find you on LinkedIn and then ask for your resume. These two modes of packaging and marketing your background should project the same message and a similar first impression.
3. Clean, Clear and Logical: Write your resume in a clean, clear logical manner that can be visually scanned in a matter of seconds. Because your resume is about you and not for you, it is important that your resume not require any interpretation from your audience. You can apply these same ideas to the building of your LinkedIn Profile.
4. Align Your LinkedIn Message, Resume and Interview Approach: Start with the end in mind. If your purpose in building a resume is to get to the next step in your career, think about what message you need to project in order to attract the next step in your career. What you plan to say in an interview should align with what you wrote on your Resume and the message you projected on LinkedIn.
No matter who you are, you have the potential to deliver a great performance. Find out how you’re able to deliver your best performance and then build your personal brand around your unique giftedness.
Jeff Snyder Coaching, Recruiting and Public Speaking
Life Happens: Stop, Ask and Listen
The nature of all of my work dictates that I deal with lots of people all around the world. People in different cultures, situations and circumstances.
This morning, I communicated with someone in Ecuador. This afternoon, I’ll be communicating with someone in Guatemala and someone else in Colombia. Yesterday, my global communication led me to Chile, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. My domestic communication led me to people in Dallas, Los Angeles, New York and Seattle yesterday.
Every person I communicated with was in a different environment, had different circumstances and faced different challenges and/or opportunities. The experiences I have working with people around the world are fascinating and sometimes challenging. One thing is for sure. I’m never bored!
While some communication experiences are fascinating, others are puzzling. The older I get, the more I’m learning to stop, ask and listen before processing what I think is happening. I want to get the reality of the situation right.
Over the past couple of years, I’ve frequently applied this stop, ask and listen approach to many people who had gone silent on me for reasons I did not understand. Here’s what I learned when I listened.
- I went through a brutal divorce and other personal stuff. Doing well now…how have you been
- My son in another state from my first marriage drowned trying to save his friend who fell into a fast running river.
- My husband died from a heart attack. Nobody is monitoring that account any longer.
- I don’t have time to communicate. I’m up to my eyeballs in problems. (Unfortunately, this person created his own problems and was now operating in crisis mode…not a pretty picture)
- My husband fell off a ladder. I’ve been trying to juggle the pressures of a new job, regular life stuff and the added burden of helping my husband get back on his feet.
- We lost one of our children to Leukemia.
Wow! This is some serious information that I would not have known if I hadn’t asked and listened. Stopping, asking and listening allowed me to process my response more carefully. In many cases, relationships were saved.
One of the skills we measure in Emotional Intelligence Coaching is called Reality Testing. Reality Testing means seeing things as they really are rather than seeing things the way we think they are. Possessing strong Reality Testing skills can pay dividends for anyone whose work focuses on people and relationships.
In all of the above cases, I had ideas in my mind to explain why one person or another went silent for period of time. It wasn’t until I stopped, asked and listened that I found out what was really happening.
Try slowing down or even stopping, asking for answers and listening. You might be surprised by what you’ll learn.
When Interviews Don't Result in a Win
The Resume Review Journey...After The Gate Keeper
The Resume Review Journey
Emotional Intelligence Coaching
Competitive Edge
Reached His Goal!!!
You Cannot Lead Without First Establishing Trust
How Old Is Too Old To Look For A Job?
At one of my recent speaking engagements, a woman came up to me and asked a question about searching or a job. Her question grabbed my attention and continues to stick with me.
How old is too old to look for a job?
This question came to me from a woman whom I would guess to be in her 50s. I politely asked her what she thought the appropriate answer to the question was. She didn’t have an answer.
I told her the correct answer was whatever she thought the correct answer was. I wasn’t trying to be funny. There is no age when someone should stop thinking they can be productive. It’s up to the individual.
If you were to ask some of the guys I skate with who are in their 50s or 60s when someone should stop playing hockey, I suspect they would tell you when it’s time. In these guy’s minds, the time to stop skating would be when they can no longer skate and not a moment sooner.
I’ve shared a testimonial recently from a 60+ year old career coaching client of mine. I share this kind of information to let others know that success can be achieved at any age. This 60+ year old client was having trouble getting interviews when he first approached me. After opening his mind to coaching, his resume changed, his LinkedIn presence changed and his job search results changed for the better.
Don’t let anyone else tell you when you’re too old for something. Decide for yourself!
Resume and LinkedIn Coaching Success for a 60+ Year Old Information Security Professional
Resume Coaching Success for a 60+ Year Old Information Security Professional
Client Profession: Information Security Architect / Engineer
Client’s Problem: Client’s original resume was not generating any interviews in a hot job market for information security talent.
Client’s Original Resume: 8 Pages in length covering 40 years of professional experience
Client’s Original Resume Content: 5 of 8 pages focused on managerial skills. The coaching client disliked managerial tasks.
New Resume after Jeff Snyder Coaching: 3 Pages covering 40 years of professional experience that aligned with my client’s LinkedIn profile message.
New Resume Content after Jeff Snyder Coaching: Hands-on technical information security topics with no mention of managerial skills. The new resume generated interviews.
Coaching Client’s Results: Coaching client found a Cybersecurity job 20 minutes from his home.
“I wanted to let you know that I have found a new - and very good - home here. I think it's fair to say that I am about as happy as the law allows. I also wanted to let you know that I got the job largely as a result of the resume and LinkedIn profile you helped me construct. I have to say that one of the other things that helped me was my attitude.
Thanks again for all your help. I fully expect that this job will last me into retirement. (I'll be 66 in just over two years and if I end up liking it as much as I think, I may well continue working a reduced schedule past then.) From what I can see now, it looks like I'll be living the good life for the foreseeable future."
Jeff Snyder Coaching is found at www.jeffsnydercoaching.com, 719.686.8810
Self-Regard, An Emotional Intelligence Skill
Self-Regard is one of 15 Emotional Intelligence skills that can be measured with the EQi-2.0 Emotional Intelligence assessment. In order to acquire this assessment, a person has to go through training and certification in order to understand how to interpret and work with the results of the assessment.
Self-Regard has to do with one’s confidence and/or the ability to respect oneself.
Too much Self-Regard can come across to others as arrogance.
Not having enough self-regard is not healthy either as the person who does not have a healthy level of self-regard may come across to others as lacking confidence.
One of the ways to address one’s self-regard is by concentrating on strengths. People who know their strengths and understand how to properly leverage their strengths can develop a well-balanced, healthy level of self-regard.
Jeff Snyder Coaching is found at www.jeffsnydercoaching.com
Thank You!
Two weeks ago was apparently the anniversary of when I first stepped onto a stage as a public speaker. Hundreds of you recognized that anniversary and I thank you.
When that anniversary occurred according to LinkedIn, I was somewhere deep in a canyon of Utah hiking and taking pictures. The trip I recently returned from was a reward trip for me. It was one of the many goals I put on my white board 1.5 years ago just before having open heart surgery.
I love Bryce Canyon National Park and I made it a goal to get back there to repeat a 10 mile hike I'd taken a few years ago with a buddy and a camera.
In order to be ready for this trip and all the physical activity my buddy and I had planned, I had to execute all of the physical recovery goals I set over the past year following open heart surgery.
This week is apparently the anniversary of when I created SecurityRecruiter.com and Jeff Snyder Coaching. I don’t keep track of these things but apparently LinkedIn does.
Thank you to each and every one of you who have acknowledged my anniversaries. I apparently have a history of creating new things after the summer ends!
I hope to get to work with you in the future through Jeff Snyder Coaching, SecurityRecruiter.com or through Public Speaking opportunities you might need a speaker to step in and fulfill.
What is the value of LinkedIn Endorsements?
When LinkedIn created a new way to endorse others a few years ago, many people formed many different opinions regarding the value of these endorsements.
LinkedIn Endorsements
This is what I'm referring to when I talk about LinkedIn Endorsements:
These endorsements came from my own LinkedIn profile.
Check Box Endorsements
Prior to what I call the “Check box Endorsement System”, we were encouraged to write written recommendations. Written recommendations are seldom written any longer. If you want to capture someone’s attention and you want to make someone’s day, consider writing written recommendations for a couple of your LinkedIn connections every week.
Don't Endorse Me!
One of the first people I endorsed through the new check box endorsement feature got a bit upset with me. He made a quick decision to dislike the new endorsement system and he didn’t like it when I endorsed him for many skills which I knew he had.
This reaction to being endorsed was surprising to me. Surprised or not, it was this LinkedIn member’s choice to like or to not like the endorsement system.
Don't Miss This Opportunity
Whether you like or dislike the endorsement system and whether or not you think the system has any value, if you’re not leveraging the opportunity to endorse your peers and/or colleagues from the present or the past, you’re missing a golden opportunity.
There will be a person here and there who doesn’t like to be recognized. You’ll have to be prepared for that. For the most part, there aren’t going to be many of your LinkedIn connections who don’t appreciate being appreciated and recognized.
20 Seconds to ROI I Can't Even Measure
I just endorsed one of my connections and I can tell you that it took 20 seconds for me to exert this effort.
A 20 second investment in order to make someone else’s day is a minuscule investment of time and energy. The ROI from this 20 second investment could be priceless.
Use conversation to solve conflict
Conflict will arise…Time to Speak
The Big Oil Company
Several years ago, I was at a standstill with regards to a contract negotiation with a Fortune 50 company. After speaking with several people from Human Resources, Compliance and Risk Management departments and making no progress, I finally received a call from a very intelligent Harvard educated Corporate Attorney.
My phone rang unexpectedly that day and the Corporate Attorney on the other end opened the call by introducing herself and asking if I had 30 minutes to work with her to solve a problem. She suggested that she knew I had been mistreated by several people in her company and she wanted to fix that situation. How could I say no to an introduction that was designed to disarm my legitimate frustrations with her colleagues?
Of course I wanted to have this conversation!
Thirty minutes later, we negotiated a 34 page contract down to less than 10 pages. The Attorney removed every part of her company’s contract that did not apply to the relationship between my company and her company and we found common ground where we could compromise.
This 30 minute conversation did in fact solve problems because it was a verbal conversation rather than email upon email. And, this conversation produced success because both parties to the conversation wanted to solve the problem and were willing to compromise when possible.
Conflicts occur because of:
- Lack of communication
- Broken communication
- Lack of understanding
- Misinterpretation
- Too much email and not enough talking
- Selfishness by one or both parties to a conflict
- Deception
- Skewed Reality Testing
- And more…
Solution
The next time you find yourself in a conflict, stop sending email. No matter how small the conflict might be, walk down the hall or pick up the phone and have an old fashioned conversation. Be prepared to talk but be even more prepared to actively listen.
Conversation gives both parties to a conflict an opportunity to explain their position and to be heard. Approach this conversation with an open mind and with the objective of solving the problem. Look for opportunities to compromise when you don’t have to win.
