Simplify systems for solo businesses to be purposeful, productive, profitable, promotable.
What do you think about branding mistake #3.5? What position have you strategically chosen for your personal brand?
Personal Brand Mistake #2 – Failure to track your own accomplishments and articulate them well. You can not rely on your manager to understand the work you do, or to know when recognition is warranted.
What to do instead – Keep track of accomplishments, praise reports, and great results you have achieved with and for your business partners. When the time comes to sit down for that next performance review, be ready to list out how well you have contributed to the company’s overall goals. And if that performance review somehow does not get scheduled? Make an appointment yourself to meet with the manager and share your accomplishments, in a way that boosts their confidence in your work as an achiever. This record will also be great for your portfolio when it’s time to move on.
You’ve been selected for the interview to get that next level job. Now all it means is that you have to get ready to compete. Interviewing is a prime opportunity for you to market and test that brand you’ve spent time to create and it’s a likely part of your career management plan.
It can be a pretty stressful situation for many people to cheer themselves on in this setting, but if you take the right steps in the interview, it can land you the job promotion you have been after.
Let’s look at 5 mistakes professionals make when preparing for the interview.
1. Not rehearsing in a mock interview
It doesn’t matter how wonderful you are, or how good your results are demonstrated in your day to day job. Interviewing is not a “natural” event that you get to rehearse every day. Find someone to do a “mock”, or rehearsal with you and make sure your practice environment is as much like the expected setting as you can make it. For example, I was told that my interview would be by phone so I asked a leader a few levels ahead of me to help me by conducting a mock interview by telephone.
It will give you a chance to think through the type of answers you’ll respond with, possible questions you may be up against, and you can often get great advice on improving your response from the mock interviewer. All without jeopardizing the job.
2. Assuming you already know what will be asked
Just because you are preparing for the interview in advance and you may have some ideas of the questions that will be asked, don’t assume you can prepare for everything. Believe me, there will be something asked that you did not prepare for.
Some common questions you can count on (even if they sound a little different) are: a) Tell me about yourself; b) Why do you want this position?; and c) Why should we choose you over the other competitive candidates? Otherwise, the interview is fair game. Do your best to prepare but realize that in the end, you need to yourself, your stories, and your accomplishments more than the set of 10 questions you assume they will ask.
3. Not doing your homework
It is critical to get as much information as you can about the job, the company, the environment you may be hired into. Why? Two reasons. First, you should know these things so that you know if the position truly is right for you. Secondly, you will generally be given an opportunity to show that you cared enough about the job to do your homework – e.g. “So, how did you prepare for this interview?” Talk to people doing the job, research the top challenges and wins for the department/unit, find out about the personality of the interviewers, read any special reports so you know their relevant metrics.
Some of this may be difficult if you’re outside of the company, but this is especially important when you’re interviewing internally.
4. Having a weak opening and close
The last time I interviewed, I had a great opening. It included key highlights of my career, titles I’ve worn not listed on the resume, key strengths, and a little personal detail (e.g. “Proud mother of 2 little girls”). But when the time came to close, I was not ready. I was asked the question I shared with you earlier in this article: “So, why should we hire you over anyone else?” and for a few minutes I stumbled in my head over all the things I knew I could offer. Eventually, it came out of my mouth but it was certainly not as smooth and well-packaged as I wanted it to be.
My own lesson was to be sure to rely on the personal branding statement – know it like the back of your hand so that when the time comes, you can say it with ease.
To get this right through practice, practice, practice. If nothing else is rehearsed, know your intro because this is your chance for the first impression. Know your close because it’s the taste of what’s to come if they hire you.
5. Letting rumors about your competition sink your confidence
Especially in an office setting, rumors get passed around. Just because you may have heard you’re up against some solid competition in the interview, do not let that sink your confidence in yourself. There is a reason you were selected to compete. Whatever that reason is, capitalize on it. Know your strengths and how they can enhance the position. Be confident that this is the right job, and you are the right person. It will shine through in the interview.
Good luck!
About the Author: Tanya Smith of Be Promotable helps ambitious working professionals get the promotion of their dreams. To get instant access to her free special report on how to surefire steps to get promoted stop by and visit http://www.bepromotable.com/
Career development plans of the past have been way overrated. You are promised one thing and you end up without being selected for the job, or maybe even for an interview. Would you like to know the real success secrets used by working women and men to get the job promotion? Read on to discover tips and tools to do just that.
Most career pros will train you on how to revise your resume, steps to preparing for an interview, and other basic skills you need to compete in the workplace. But not too many of them will teach you what it really takes to create a sustained brand in your career that will take you all the way, and allow you to still keep your personal values intact.
As a successful entrepreneur who simultaneously works a full-time corporate job, I have found that there are 7 critical success factors that business owners use that can easily translate into the corporate workplace:
Promotable mindset
Success factor number one is all in your mind. You are a product of your environment, but you are also a product of your own thinking. If you have not been able to stretch yourself to the next level career so far, there may be mental obstacles in your way. You can become a winner in everything you do when you learn how to program your thoughts with a winning, promotable attitude. Promotable people are set apart from the crowd. They believe in themselves and their abilities.
Positive personal brand at work
A second success factor is the personal brand you have created at work. How others perceive you can keep you in the same job, get you to the next job, or boot you out of a job. What is the skill you’re known for at work? If you don’t know what your brand is, it’s time to do some honest examination of your reputation. This might be the toughest thing to do, but the most fruitful when you are getting ready to launch to the next level.
Connect with the right people & resources
Many people have heard the term, “networking”, but not a lot of people are in love with the word. The reality is that it is important to connect with people who have knowledge of your target job/company & with people who have a relationship with decision makers. Who do you think promotes you? In addition, there may be tools and resources available that help you be the most competitive for the job. Your task is to get access to them.
Develop well-formed goals and visualize your outcome
Have you ever heard a colleague at work say, “Wow, I could do that person’s job” or “I would love to make that kind of money one day”, but they never do anything about it? That is because some day is not anytime soon. And it will only become a reality when you plan for it. Thus, the idea that goals are important. I’m not talking about a some day goal, but a well-formed goal with clear dates and specific actions tied to it. And one that you can actually visualize happening because you have taken the time to consider what it can mean in every area of your life when you achieve it.
Add value.
This one is short and sweet, but it is clearly another critical success factor that can be overlooked. As much as you may rebrand and identify what you want, the employer also is asking, “what’s in it for me?” to promote you. You have an opportunity to get results that change the company for the better in some way. Provide solutions that will generate a competitive advantage for your employer. What better way to be promoted than to have proof of what you can do.
Establish a set of personal policies.
Look at your values and decide what you can and cannot live with in the next level career. For example, if you have a family and you decide to be promoted, there may be changes in the available time you have for them. On the other hand, you have to look at the boundaries you are willing to set for yourself with the employer, with your direct supervisor, and even your co-workers. It will be better to examine these before you get into the role, so that you can train others up front on how you want to be treated.
Take strategic action.
All of the above success factors mean nothing if you don’t back up your plan with action. Successful entrepreneurs and corporate professionals know that all the planning in the world gets no results until the strategy is executed. This may mean that you do something you have never tried before. Otherwise, you live the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over to get the same results. Being promotable means that you are getting the results you want by taking the intentional steps to get there.
You are invited to study these critical success factors over and over again – burn them into your brain and incorporate them into your personal career development plan.
And now I would like to offer you access to free career development resources when you register for my free teleseminar at http://www.thepromotionformula.com .
From Tanya Smith – The Job Promotion Coach and the Design Your Work Network
© 2011-2012 Be Promotable All Rights Reserved -- Copyright notice by Blog Copyright
Follow Us!