Darrin Grella – Interview Guru

In a recent post, The 7 Differentiators to Getting Hired I spoke of a killer concept by World renowned Sales Trainer, Don Hutson.  The first of his differentiators is PRODUCT.

In the hiring process, what is your product? Is it your resume?  Your career history?  Your favorite lucky interviewing suit?  The answer is YES.  Your product is everything that makes you.  You are now the Product.  If you are not a sales person then you better be because you now have the most valuable product on the market, YOU.

In chapter 10, “The U”,  in my recent book, The 10 Key Interviewing T.E.C.H.N.I.Q.U.E.S. we dive into depth on the topic of personal branding and I will provide you an excerpt from the chapter.

While developing your brand, you need know and understand
who you are and where you are going. If you are indecisive about
what you like, what you want to do and where you are going with
your life, then advancing yourself will be difficult. Not knowing
where you are taking your career is like jumping in the car to take
a road trip and having no idea where you are heading. First, know
what you are good at, what you like to do, what you don’t like to
do as well as your career goals and objectives. Truly, if you know
that, it is a great start. When talking with a potential employer
you need to know which of your particular experiences to sell.
You have done so much, where do you start? What do you bring
up that will express your uniqueness?

Sell, market or brand your:
1. Education
2. Experience
3. Ability to continue to learn or adapt

In your notebook, or right here in this book, list all the
details behind your education. To get your mind rolling, think
of where and when you attended school, the degree(s) you
pursued, types of classes, internships, co-ops, projects, lab work,
your favorite and least favorite classes and why. How about your
extracurricular involvement? Were you involved with a fraternity,
sorority, any clubs, groups, campus initiatives, charity events,
fund raisers, varsity athletics or intramurals? Same goes with
your experience; list your previous jobs, what you did on a daily
basis, your goals, initiatives, what you learned, liked, disliked,
struggled with, and so on. Think about ways in which you learned
and adapted to new environments. Maybe it was changing majors
during your schooling or maybe it was a job change that required
you transcending industries or skill sets. This is an important
exercise that will help define your brand.

You are the product.  You must know the features and benefits of who you are.  Remember, this is only one of the differentiators amongst the seven.  Knowing your product alone will by no means increase your odds of landing a job in today’s difficult economy.  Tune in for the next differentiator tomorrow at noon, PRICE.

Until then, Much Success.