Take this Simple "Professional Brand" marketing test
1- Describe your "Professional Brand" in three concise sentences.
- Sentence One:
- Sentence Two:
- Sentence Three:
2- What are the "active ingredients" of your professional brand?
- What unique skills, talents and capabilities do you deliver very well?
- What human attributes do you possess that inspire colleagues?
- How did you learn these special attributes?
3- What is your Professional "Brand Promise"?
- What can the people in your professional circles rely on you for?
4- What is your Brand's "Secret Sauce"
- What makes you special and unique as a professional?
Hint: Some refer to this as your "Super Power"
5- What is your Professional "Brand Experience"?
How do the following executives experience your brand?
- Peers
- Superiors
- Subordinates
- Clients
- Vendors
6- What is your Professional Brand "Payoff"?
- What makes you compelling to work with?
- What makes you compelling to work for?
- What makes you compelling to people you have mentored?
Public Networks
- How do you stand out?
- What is your message?
- How many recruiters have called you since your announcement to discuss your needs?
Outplacement firms (if applicable)
- What is the background of your outplacement Advisor?
- What is the nature of the "marketing strategy" they developed for you?
- What unique "tools" have they developed that make you stand out and get noticed?
- What type of "connections" do they have that can help you?
- Who is paying them? (Are they working for you or your ex-employer?)
- How much time do you get with them?
- Are you one of hundreds of "newly furloughed executives" in their group?
- What is their track record of getting results?
Resume Writing Services
Today everyone with a $25 resume writing software package wants to charge you a small fortune to "write your resume". Here are some factors to consider.
- Is this person a resume "writer" or a resume "designer"?
- Do they understand the basics of OCR and SEO?
- Have they "interviewed" you thoroughly before producing your new resume?
- What is their strategy for marketing your resume? (Mass mailing? To whom?)
Calling or Mass Mailing Recruiters
What are the odds that the recruiter that you are contacting has:
- The perfect job
- In the perfect location
- At the perfect salary
- At this particular moment in time
- Has no current candidates for the position?
HINT: You might be shocked at how much time you are wasting reaching out to recruiters with an ineffective marketing strategy or an unfocused marketing message.
Some important facts to consider about retained recruiters
Chasing Retained Recruiters does not work even in a good market!
Chasing Retained Recruiters does not work even in a good market!
Chasing Retained Recruiters does not work even in a good market!
Recruiters Want to "Hunt" ... They don't respond well to being "the Hunted". Many retained recruiters view candidates that solicited them as less desirable to present to the client because they were not "pursued"
Do you really need that huge fee?
Chasing Retained Recruiters does not work even in a good market!
Chasing Retained Recruiters does not work even in a good market!
Recruiters charge a very significant fee to their corporate clients for their services. Frankly, the last thing you need is to put a huge fee between you and the leadership role you want. It lowers the odds that your candidacy will see the light of day. There are better ways to reach hiring managers in this market.
Recruiters are not paid to think creatively
Chasing Retained Recruiters does not work even in a good market!
Recruiters are not paid to think creatively
When a client pays a fee to recruiters to hire a new leader, they are looking for an exact match against the position brief. Recruiters that think creatively and want to advance the candidacy of a person who "has the potential" to do the job, will soon find themselves out of work!