Executive Career Brand » Executive Career Management

7 Reasons Not To Be a Personal Brand Copycat

Meg Guiseppi — Tue, 08 May 2012 11:49:04 +0000

(Following is a slightly modified version of my latest Personal Branding article at Job-Hunt.org.)

You see a beautifully written, branded resume – or maybe a LinkedIn profile – of a job seeker with similar qualifications to yours, seeking the kind of job you want. It sounds a lot like you, and you don’t write so well, so you see no reason why you shouldn’t use some of that good writing in your own resume or LinkedIn profile.

Somehow, because it’s right in front of you, and there for all the world to see (if it’s online), you don’t think of it as stealing. But it most certainly is stealing.

I’ve seen it more times than I can count . . . people copying parts or all of brand statements or other brand content I’ve written for clients and using it for their own. In other words, plagiarizing – known as copyright infringement, and in the social media sphere as “scraping”.

Copyright infringement can lead you into all kinds of problems. When you borrow someone else’s brand, you put yourself in a tenuous position. How will you come across in an interview – confident and convincing or floundering and failing? When you borrow content, you risk exposing yourself as “less than” what you intended and who you know you are.

Several times I’ve found content from the sample resumes on my blogsite in the resumes prospective clients have sent to me. I have to wonder, did they think I wouldn’t notice or that I’d be flattered that they thought that much of my writing?

As the manager of Job-Hunt’s Personal Branding LinkedIn Group (a subgroup of the Job-Hunt Help Group), I was recently monitoring a new discussion started by a new member who was introducing herself.

Her intro was vaguely familiar. Then I realized she had copied it verbatim from a sample personal brand statement in a Job-Hunt article of mine. I responded to her privately, and gently, that it’s never a good idea to “use” other people’s content, and why she needed to start from scratch and write her own brand messaging.

Here are 7 reasons why borrowing content is a bad idea:

1. Copyright infringement has expensive penalties.

In the USA, the government thinks stealing content is wrong, too, and makes violating copyright law a serious, punishable offense, with fines up to $150,000 for each infringement.

ANY content you’ve found online, even if it doesn’t carry a “© Copyright” claim, is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which is international in scope and consistent with similar laws in the European Union and most other parts of the globe.

2. A borrowed “personal” brand isn’t personal enough.

A “personal” brand is just that. It’s associated with a specific “person,” designed to resonate with their specific target employers, and crafted to showcase that person’s unique set of personal attributes, motivated strengths, passions, and value proposition. The content you’re stealing may sound like you, but it’s really not your brand story.

Employers are increasingly using the Internet to validate what is contained on a resume or in an online profile. If everything isn’t “in sync” it will look very odd, and will likely negatively impact your chances.

3. Not your unique personal brand.

Branding is all about differentiating yourself. It’s not about how you’re the same as the others competing for the jobs you want. In today’s highly competitive job market, you need to stand out . . . not get lost in a sea of sameness.

Identify and help people assessing you understand what specifically elevates you above the rest, and makes you the best-fit candidate for your target companies.

4. May not be appropriate for your situation.

The well-written content that’s tantalizing you may not do the job a resume or online profile is meant to do – aligning what you have to offer with the current needs of your target employers. You MUST research those companies to determine the key functional areas that will be important to them, and pump your resume and LinkedIn profile with your specific expertise, contributions, and value-add in those specific areas.

5. May cause you to be shut out by identity confusion and conflicts.

That resume you stole from may still be in circulation, being used by an active job seeker, or the LinkedIn profile you borrowed may belong to a job seeker who is pursuing the same jobs you are. What do you suppose happens when a recruiter or hiring professional notices the same content for two (or more, if others have stolen the content, too) candidates they’re considering for the same job? All of you get shut out. Nobody wins.

6. Puts your integrity in question.

If hiring professionals find out, you could be jeopardizing your chances to land the jobs you want. What does stealing say about your integrity? What kind of employee are you likely to be if you have no qualms about scraping copyrighted content? Even if you never heard of the DMCA, you should know that stealing is wrong.

7. Bad SEO (search engine optimization) reduces impact and authority.

If you create a web resume that duplicates more than 50% of someone else’s web resume (or any other web page), Google and other search engines will view yours as “duplicate content” and will place it further down in search results, below the “earlier” version done by the originator. Search engines penalize duplicate content!

Bottom Line:

You’re an original. Reflect that in your brand. Authentic branding doesn’t come from using someone else’s brand messaging. It comes from digging deep and differentiating yourself. Read my 10-Step Personal Branding Worksheet to learn how to develop your own brand content.

Related posts:

What Personal Branding is NOT

Executive Brand Online Reputation Management: Relevance, Quality, Diversity, Volume, Consistency

Top 10 Executive Resume Branding Tips

photo by woodleywonderworks

Self-Google or Doom Your Executive Job Search

Meg Guiseppi — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:52:01 +0000

Right before I speak with potential clients for the first time, I Google their names.

This is exactly what many hiring professionals and executive recruiters do when they’re assessing candidates.

What I typically find is a very meager online footprint, with very little social networking. They’ll almost always have a LinkedIn profile and, unless that person shares a name with others, LinkedIn will be the number one search result on the page, and it will be associated with the person I’m about to speak with.

Most often, they’ve posted a bare-bones LinkedIn profile, with no summary section, no keyword-rich professional headline, and very little (if any) information under each job title. Beyond LinkedIn, they will rarely have any social media presence.

I generally only search the first page of results for my initial chat. What I’m looking for is more information about the person to assess whether they’re a good fit to work with me, to see whether they’ve done any work to build their brand online, and to see if they have any digital dirt that could cripple their search.

Frequently these job seekers are unaware of how important it is for them to have a strong, branded online presence. Given the same set of qualifications, skills and expertise, those who have a diverse and higher-volume of search results are more likely to be noticed, sought out, and hired.

According to Talent Management Magazine’s article about a recent survey from CareerBuilder, nearly 37 percent of firms use social networking sites to research job candidates. What are they looking for?

To see if the candidate presents himself/herself professionally — 65 percent
To see if the candidate is a good fit for the company culture — 51 percent
To learn more about the candidate’s qualifications — 45 percent
To see if the candidate is well-rounded — 35 percent
To look for reasons not to hire the candidate — 12 percent

Nearly 34 percent found information that caused them NOT to hire a candidate.

That issue can pose major problems for some job seekers. In today’s highly competitive job market, hiring professional have their pick of the absolute best. If they find dirt or even a flimsy reason to rule you out, they will. There are plenty of others to slide in place.

One of the major problems I find when Googling people’s names is not within content these people posted themselves online (if they’ve even done so). It’s not inappropriate behavior that found its way online, or that they posted somewhere.

I’m finding content on the first page of results that the person DIDN’T post themselves, so they may have little control over it.

Sometimes the person knows about it.
Sometimes the person had an unfortunate blip in their career or personal life that made news. They’ve since made amends, but the bad news lingers forever online.
Sometimes the content is associated with some dastardly person who has the same name.

Whatever the reason, those search results could seriously damage their job search.

My searches on two recent client prospects revealed problematic online identities:

1. A 65 year old mid-level sales and marketing executive, who was very concerned about ageism in his search.

LinkedIn was the #1 search result. About half way down the first page was a link to his high school yearbook and the year he graduated. Instantly, his age was revealed.

2. The second search result for a CMO in medical devices (let’s call him “Joe Smith”) jumped out with the hyperlink “Can anyone share their real thoughts on Joe Smith?” Who wouldn’t be drawn to that headline?

The link led to a snarky industry-related chat site where several anonymous people on his team trashed his leadership abilities . . . in detail.

In both instances above, the job seekers probably can’t get those pages taken down. Their only recourse is to work on outdistancing those bad search results with good ones, pushing the bad ones down and onto the second, or hopefully, third or fourth pages of results, where they’re less likely to be found.

Your takeaway?

Follow the steps that hiring professionals do when they’re sourcing and assessing talent by what they find online. Know what the people who have a hand in hiring you will find when they search you.

Do a quick Google search on “your name” right now, and then once a week or so, and see what’s out there.

If you find digital dirt, here are three things to do:

Try to push it down beyond the first page or two by building up branded, relevant search results on high-ranking sites.
See if you can get the page taken down.
See if you can rewrite the content to position yourself in a more positive light.

Executive Job Search: 6 Ways to Get Good With Google

Executive Branding Online: Write Book Reviews on Amazon

photo by SallyB2

10 Keys To a Memorable Personal Brand

Meg Guiseppi — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:54:34 +0000

With so much misinformation about personal branding bombarding us across social media, it’s easy to see why people are confused.

But the concept of personal branding is quite simple:

Define, differentiate and communicate the unique ROI (return on investment) value you offer your target audience over your competitors.

Target audiences differ, just as what they’re looking for in people like you differs.

For job search and career management, your brand and the way you communicate it need to resonate with your target employers and/or current employer.

In business, build your brand communications around what will hit home with your customers or clients.

In effect, your brand helps people decide whether to hire you, keep you as an employee, or do business with you.

The concept is simple, but uncovering your brand to get to that simple formula requires deep reflection. The factors that converge to exact a memorable brand and express it powerfully are complex:

1. Targeting

Get clear on what you want to do next, which employers will fulfill your career needs, and what current needs of theirs you’re uniquely qualified to meet. Know your target audience so you’ll know what makes you a good fit for them.

2. Passion

Think about the activities, interests, or conversational topics that fascinate or excite you and make you feel energized. Your passions make you get out of bed at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning or get you talking enthusiastically with others. How do your passions converge with what you are best at doing?

3. Chemistry

Give a feel for the kind of person you are and how you used your top personal attributes to make things happen for your employers.

You’re unique. Make your brand messaging reflect that. Translate the passions you have into content with personality. Don’t be afraid to pack a punch. Generate excitement about you as a candidate. Get “personal” with your brand.

4. Authenticity

Don’t be fake. Don’t make claims about yourself that you can’t back up. Be genuine. Define who you are now and what you offer now – not who you want to be or the kind of person you want to be thought of.

5. Introspection

Dig deep into the personal attributes and qualities that drive you and make you unique. How have you used these traits to benefit your employers?

Showcase your motivated skills and areas of expertise – the ones you excel at, love doing and contribute the most by doing. Having a hard time identifying them? Try developing Challenge – Action(s) – Result(s) or CARs stories.

6. Extrospection

Find out how you’re perceived by the external world – the true measure of your personal brand.

Get feedback from those who know you and your work best – peers, management, staff, employees, clients, mentors, etc. They will affirm or make you question your own assessment of your value to your target employers.

7. Differentiation of Your Unique Value Proposition

What qualifications, skills and areas of expertise set you apart from others competing for the same kinds of jobs? What combination of things do you have to offer that no one else does?

Quantify – or better yet, monetize – your ROI value. What makes you worth the high cost of hiring? What makes you the best hiring choice?

8. Precision

Work on tight writing on the (paper, digital and web) page and to-the-point verbal communications of who you are and the value you offer. Don’t bore people with superfluous and irrelevant content.

9. Visibility

Keep yourself visible and top of mind with your target audience/target employers. Position yourself on LinkedIn and other social media, and relevant blogs. Develop a realistic online brand communications plan and stick to it. Be online or be invisible.

10. The 3 Cs – health insurance for your personal brand:

Clarity – Be clear about who you are, who you are not, who your competitors are, and who your target audience is.

Consistency – Consistently express the same personal brand message, designed to resonate with your target audience, across all communications channels you decide to use.

Constancy – Memorable brands are always visible to their target audience. Proactively stay top of mind with them through social media, real-life networking, and all other personal marketing efforts.

Top 10 Executive Resume Branding Tips

10 Things to Love About Your Executive Brand

Working With Executive Recruiters

Meg Guiseppi — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 12:28:37 +0000

Are you confused about the different kinds of recruiters, why you should connect with them, and what they can do for you? Did you know that internal recruiters and external recruiters — either retained or on contingency — help you in different ways?

As an executive, you’ve probably worked with recruiters in the past. The story I most often hear from my c-level executive clients is that they were pursued by recruiters while they were employed, and easily slid from one job to the next, without much effort. The recruiter(s) took over and landed them in most of their jobs.

Executive job search doesn’t work quite so easily these days, unless you’re very lucky.

Don’t expect executive recruiters to come knocking. They’re certainly out there looking for candidates like you, but with so much competition in the job market today, they’re looking at a lot more people. You may not be in demand in the same way you were a few years ago. You’ll need to reach out to them.

For help in sorting out all the pros and cons and how-to’s, go to the Work Coach Cafe and 2 posts written by Susan P. Joyce, online job search guru — one on Internal Recruiters, the other on External Recruiters.

Some of Susan’s tidbits on Internal Recruiters:

→ They have an insider’s perspective. They see how the organization works and typically know many of the people inside the organization, particularly the hiring managers.

→ They may be your advocate, if they believe you are the best person for the job.

But . . .

→ Their loyalty is to the organization. No matter how tempting, don’t tell them anything that you don’t want the rest of the organization to know.

→ They can “bar the door,” keeping you from being interviewed or considered, even if (sometimes, especially if) you try to go “around” them directly to the hiring manager.

And a few of her points on working with External Recruiters:

→ Contingency recruiters may be strong advocates of your candidacy – because they, or their employer, will earn a commission if you are hired.

→ They have an outsider’s perspective, so they are not caught up in the politics inside the organization, although – if they have worked with an employer before – they may understand quite a bit about how the organization and the people inside it operate.

But . . .

→ External recruiters are outsiders. They don’t know everything going on inside the organization. They may or may not know the people involved in every hire, so they may not be able to provide you with any meaningful coaching.

→ Your “cost of hire” (what it costs the employer to hire you) is higher than an internal referral or someone who walks in off the street because of the commission paid them if you are hired based on their referral. It can be as much as 20% to 25% of the annual salary.

Each kind of recruiter works differently. Understanding what motivates them can help you avoid making damaging assumptions that can derail your job search. Knowing how they work with candidates can help you to build positive, mutually rewarding relationships with them.

Executive Job Search: How Recruiters Find You

Working with Recruiters For Senior Executives Over 50

photo by Rosmary

Job Search Fizzling? Maybe It’s Your Executive Resume

Meg Guiseppi — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:45:40 +0000

For the past several weeks a lovely cardinal has been hanging around one of my office windows, alternately perched on a branch of a nearby shrub and smashing into the window.

He does this for hours at a time, every day.

He could be thinking the window is an open space he can get through or that his reflection is another bird coming at him.

Whatever the reason, he’s getting nowhere. But he keeps banging against that window, day after day.

Remember Einstein’s definition of insanity?

“Doing the same thing over and over again,
and expecting different results.”

Are you one of the many, many executive job seekers locked into a repetitive process that’s not working?

If you have a branded, targeted LinkedIn profile (so you’ll be found in online searches) and resume you’ve been using diligently, and you’ve been in a proactive job search (I mean, you’re actively and purposefully networking for a new job) for more than let’s say a month, and you’re getting nowhere . . . no interviews . . .

It’s time to revisit your resume because it’s not positioning you as the good-fit candidate you know you are.

Maybe it doesn’t clearly align your expertise and value proposition with the needs and challenges your target companies are facing right now. If so, go back and stress these attributes and qualifications using the relevant keywords and phrases recruiters and hiring professionals will be looking for.

Or maybe you’ve made the biggest resume writing mistake . . . you haven’t done the personal branding and company/industry targeting work you MUST do first, before even attempting to write your resume.

Either way, take another look at your resume. If it’s broke, fix it!

Put yourself in the place of the people who will be assessing you through it (and your LinkedIn profile). Make sure your promise of value hits home with them.

Related posts:

Top 10 Executive Resume Branding Tips

Executive Brand Resume: Differentiate Your ROI Value Above the Fold

The Lazy C-level Executive Job Search

photo by hart_curt

How Do You Deal With Job Search Stress?

Meg Guiseppi — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:50:43 +0000

The other day I had a small task in front of me. I needed to sort through what had been piling up on the kitchen table and clean it off.

No big deal. There wasn’t that much there. Just a few small piles of paperwork. Should have only taken me a few minutes to assess the items, and either file them where they belonged or throw them in the garbage.

I took a look at the table and, for the life of me, couldn’t figure out how to do it. You should know that I’m a very organized person. This was a task I would normally whip through in no time.

But for the previous few weeks I had been under a lot of stress, dealing with a trying family matter that demanded I juggle lots of critical details and make important decisions affecting a family member.

I was so overloaded with details, my mind couldn’t handle one more thing. I had to walk away and come back to it later.

Those of you mired in job search can probably relate. Your stress level can be elevated. You may find it hard to concentrate on even the littlest (but still important) things, let alone the big issues impacting your ability to land a job.

Or maybe you just had a great interview, it’s been several days or more, and you haven’t heard anything. You find yourself fretting about it. You can’t stop ruminating about your performance. “Did they like me enough?” “Oh boy, I really blew that important question!”

How good are you at decompressing and dealing with job search stress? Do you have some good tried and true tactics to distract yourself to regain focus?

My remedy that day was to take a few deep breaths, realize the task could wait a bit, and sit myself down and work on a crossword puzzle. It did the trick. Pretty soon my head was clear enough to deal with the table pile-up.

I’m reminded of an excellent post at Work Coach Cafe by Ronnie Ann, I Got the Post-Interview Temporary OCD Blues.

She offered a dozen great suggestions, including:

Rent LOTS of movies and re-direct your obsessive behavior in that direction.
Go to the library or local bookstore and find a bunch of books you’ve been meaning to read. Learn something new.
Volunteer somewhere. Turn your energy into something that helps others.
Exercise. Even if it’s only walking 10-20 minutes a day.
If all else fails, use bad TV to get lost in.

Say NO to Social Media . . . Sometimes

7 Ways To Stay Sane in Your Executive Job Search

photo by karindalziel

Is Your LinkedIn Profile 100% Complete?

Meg Guiseppi — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:20:23 +0000

You may be wondering what “100% complete” is, and why it even matters.

When your LinkedIn profile meets their criteria for completeness, your profile is more likely to land higher in search results.

Your visibility increases dramatically. Executive recruiters and hiring decision makers at your target companies are more likely to land on your profile when they’re sourcing and assessing good-fit candidates.

In mid-February, LinkedIn changed the completeness criteria and the way they calculate profile completeness:

“The new calculation gives you more control of your score by emphasizing things you have direct control over, like Skills, and putting less weight on areas you may have less control over, like Recommendations. The score also takes profile freshness into consideration, so frequent profile updates can now help with profile completeness.”

Here’s what you now need for a complete profile:

Your industry and location
An up-to-date current position (with a description)
Two past positions
Your education
Your skills (minimum of 3)
A profile photo
At least 50 connections

LinkedIn says that adding a profile photo makes your profile 7x more likely to be found in searches. Having your 2 most recent positions makes your profile 12x more likely to be found.

Looks like it’s time for you and all of us who rely on LinkedIn to attract business and job opportunities, to spend a little time working on our profiles.

LinkedIn Guide for Executive Branding and Job Search

Does My LinkedIn Profile Really Need a Photo?

Best LinkedIn Tips: Find LinkedIn Groups to Join

photo by nan palmero