December 2010
CareerTips
What’s Your Brand?
By Myles Golden
Martha Stewart once said, “About two years ago, I realized I was no longer a person but a brand.” Yes, we all have a brand and it is a never ending work in process. Have you thought of yourself as a brand? It sounds very impersonal doesn’t it? However, the fact is we do brand ourselves in the way we live, work and play.
Recently I participated in a branding workshop in Naples, Florida, where I attended a large conference of Rotarians. The workshop was facilitated by Daryl “DC” Cobbin of Brand Positioning Doctors, Inc. DC is the President and CBO (Chief Branding Officer) of the company. He has had an outstanding career with such companies as Coca-Cola, Sprint and Disney. His firm focuses mostly on billion dollar revenue companies all over the globe, so no one questioned his credentials. As he described the components of a successful brand, I found myself thinking how I can use his formula in my business of coaching executives to more rewarding careers, especially those in our outplacement and career transition programs. DC’s Branding Pyramid looks something like this. Visualize the first tier as your product features or specifications so to speak. Example: 50 year old CFO, CPA, 20 years of experience with a career in Textiles, etc.
The Branding Pyramid
The second tier of the pyramid is composed of two parts, Functional Benefits and Emotional Benefits. Functional Benefits are those benefits to the buyer/employer that they think you can deliver. The things you know how to do that will impact the bottom line. You should have these bullets in your resume and be able to showcase them in an interview. Now for the most interesting benefits, the Emotional. What are they? It’s the feelings the buyer gets from buying your service. You come across as likeable, ethical, and honest, trustworthy, of good character and a good communicator, team player, sincere, dedicated, and so on. These are all the emotional benefits the buyer must feel and hopefully wants. It is the blend of the Functional and Emotional Benefits that creates the brand Personality, the third tier in the pyramid. The Brand Personality creates the Meaningful Differences that make up the tip of the pyramid. A buyer will use his/her emotions to buy your meaningful difference. Think about your meaningful differences for your next interview. It’s been said that there are three reasons you will be hired:
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You have convinced the employer that you can do the job.
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You have convinced the employer that you want the job.
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You have convinced the employer that you will fit into their organization. Fitting in is an emotional benefit decision. Rest assured, if the employer does not think you will fit in you will most likely not get an offer and you will be wondering, “What did I do wrong?“
So what’s your brand? Can you present your meaningful differences?
Trust Me…
By Terry Hollon
 Whenever organizations list their values or the cultural attributes they consider crucial for success, “trust” is always at or near the top. However, despite almost universal inclusion of “trust” on these lists, multi-year research by two national consulting firms reveals that it is at an all-time low among people in the workplace:
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The average level of trust in the workplace is 5.5 on a scale of 1 – 10.
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Only 40% of employees trust leaders “to always communicate honestly.”
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Senior leaders have the most impact on organizational trust, yet they are the least trusted.
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The best level of trust exists between frontline employees and their immediate supervisors.
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It takes an average of 7 months to gain trust in a leader and 3 months to lose it.
People and organizations are reeling after decades of downsizing, restructuring, and reengineering, or of upsizing, mergers, and growth. However, unmet expectations, disappointments, broken trust, and betrayals are not restricted to big events like downsizings and restructurings. They occur almost every day at work --- some intentional and some unintentional. These definitely impact people’s trust in and commitment to the organization, thereby negatively impacting performance. Thus, leaders must work at understanding, building, and maintaining trust so that both they and their organizations will be more effective.
Click here to read the rest of this article.
If You're Applying for a Job, Censor Your Facebook Page
by Kit Eaton (published Wednesday Aug 19, 2009)
 A new CareerBuilder survey reveals that prospective employers use social networks more than ever to check out job applicants--45% of them--and they use Facebook more than LinkedIn. What's even more interesting is how they're using personal info to reject your applications.
Last year a similar survey showed that only 22% of employers were using social networking info to screen job applicants, and the explosive growth in this figure parallels the rise to fame of Facebook and Twitter and the rest, and the fact that it takes a while for the latest social meme to filter its way into typical corporate thinking. But that last point is where the survey data gets incredibly interesting--while you may be well up on the usual habits, norms and joys of social networking, your prospective employer really isn't. And of those employers who did surf the social 'Nets, 35% reported rejecting a candidate thanks to data they found there.
Look at these stats as to the reasons why, and how many of the employers acted on such data:
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Provocative or inappropriate photos or info--53%
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Drinking or drug use--44%
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Bad-mouthing previous employee, colleague or client--35%
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Poor communication skills--29%
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Discriminatory comments--26%
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Lied about qualifications--24%
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Leaked confidential info from previous job--20%
The drug use, leaking info and lying...okay, I can understand. But if you step back and think about the others, they're absolutely shocking. If you're using a social network, it's to share aspects of your private life. And if you're applying for a high-profile, public-exposed job, then perhaps behaving yourself outside of work will reflect better on your day job. But who would've thought that a photo of you sinking a beer with your mates in a bar (that possibly you didn't even upload) could prejudice an employer against you? And who said that you have to use correct, well punctuated writing on your Facebook profile? Don't even get me started about how wooly the definition of "inappropriate" can be: Does a photo of yourself sunbathing in a bikini count? Possibly, to some overly-stuffy employer.
Click here to read the full article on FastCompany.com.
Volunteer Opportunities
~Helping Through the Holidays~
Roper Mountain Holiday Lights – contact The Rotary Club of Greenville at 864-235-2293 or email clubadmin@greenvillerotary.org
Salvation Army bell ringers – contact The Salvation Army at 864-235-6047
Ongoing Opportunities
United Way agencies
Habitat for Humanity
Mauldin Miracle League
Greenville Literacy
Meals on Wheels
Greenville County Library System
American Cancer Society
Greenville Area Opportunities
- searchable by category
Golden Career Strategies Speaks:
Recent & Upcoming Speaking Engagements & Sponsorships
Myles Golden spoke to the Clemson University Chapter of SHRM on November 17.
Pam Wessel spoke to the St. Mary Magdalene Employment Support Group about “The Top Ten Tips for Networking in Transition“ on September 23rd.
Pam Wessel was quoted by Anastasia Howard in her article "Time to gear up for life planning"
GCS ~ Silver Sponsor for GSATC (Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson Technology Council)
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