Here at LEWIS PR we deal with big brands. LexMark, Second Life, BT,
Adobe – they are all names and logos which consumers and businesses
look to for a promise of innovation and quality service. Distinguishing
them from competitors and creating a positive impact is part of the
work we that we as PR professionals do.
So it’s obviously why as a business we instinctively look to hire
people who can support these brands, bringing personal innovation and
their own quality service. In an industry that’s all about image, it’s
the people who can create their own personal brand who succeed.
Promote your brand
As a recruiter, the most frustrating situation I can face is a
disconnect between a fantastic CV and its author. In consumer brand
terms, it’s like buying an ice-cold can of Coca Cola, only to take a
sip and find out it’s the Tesco brand version.
So forget modesty and guarantee the buy-in of your potential
employer. Sell sell sell – yourself, your skills and what you are going
to do for that business. Use your CV as a guideline and provide
rock-hard evidence to back yourself up. Offer something unique.
Personal hooks
In the PR industry, we use ‘media
hooks’ as a way to catch the attention of a journalist’s eye. In an
interview, candidates can utilise their own personal hooks in much the
same way. An interviewer doesn’t just want to know that you’ve led a
project before – they want to know why and how you did it better than
anyone else.
And it’s worth reminding ourselves of that old adage about people’s
minds being made up in the first three minutes of an introduction. It
seems that somehow self-awareness can out the window when interviewing
for a job.
The handshake, the eye contact, and the active
listening are the actions that will convey confidence and capability –
and those are things everyone wants in the brand they’re investing in.
Deliver your brand
So now you’ve got the buy-in to your brand. You’ve proved your worth
and you’re on board with the company. You’ve still got to deliver on
the goods, so now it’s even more important to focus on your personal
impact from a daily perspective.
PR in particular is an industry where people list “communication” as
their strongest skill. But it never ceases to amaze me that people with
these great communication skills allow themselves to forget the primary
rules of conduct in day-to-day work, client-facing or networking
situations.
They forget stop and ask themselves the important questions: How are
you being perceived by your interviewer/boss/colleague? How are you
responding to them? What signals or language are you using to get your
point across?
Unfortunately self-awareness isn’t something that we’re all born
with, but it’s certainly something we can all work on. Slow down your
thought process and ask yourself those important questions to really
analyse your delivery – you might have a better insight of how you are
impacting the situation.
Dress for success
The easiest way of promoting your brand is to put together a clean,
smart package. It’s impressive and fills your “audience” with
confidence that they are working with someone capable and self-assured.
In this day and age, it is difficult because ‘business smart’ does
seem to be getting more and more casual. We’ve got dress down Fridays,
tie-less offices, and a general lack of smartness that was so important
in the not-so-distant generations past.
Particularly in a business smart office, it’s easy to be the one who
always adheres to dress code but doesn’t quite make that effort to be
the smartest dressed worker.
But that’s like being a second-tier brand competing against the big
boys. It does seem like obvious advice, but cleaning up and presenting
yourself appropriately could do wonders in your daily professional
life.
Anna Maio, Recruitment Manager - EMEA at LEWIS PR
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