Branding for my job interview!  I can already hear the protests from the peanut gallery: Come on Tantillo, I get why branding’s important for big companies and big products, but how does it apply to me and my job interview?  Fair enough.  Here’s how –even better, here’s my “how to” on branding your next job interview.

Branding isn’t just about setting yourself apart from the competition … it’s about figuring out what sets you apart from the competition.  It’s about figuring out who you are (and who you’re not) –this is your brand, after all!— and how to best express your brand. 

Most important, you need to figure this out before you walk through that interview door.   A great outfit and a decent joke are good to have in your interview “toolkit” but if you don’t know your brand –well, it’s over before it even started.

Getting to know your brand takes a little market research.  To do this, here’s the Marketing Doctor’s Four Point Inventory:

1. What one word do I think best describes my brand?
2. How do people close to me describe my brand (family, friends, colleagues)?  (Hint, ask them!)
3. What one thing do you like about my brand? Dislike?
4. What one thing do people close to me like about my brand? Dislike?

The picture you get won’t replace your resume, but it will add to it in these four big ways (and will probably help treat those pre-interview jitters):

1.  If the interviewer asks why you’re a good fit for the job, you’ll actually know because you’ll know your brand and how it fits;

2.  When they throw those hardballs at you –like what’s your biggest weakness— you’ll have an answer that’s believable but doesn’t sink your ship;

3. You’ll have plenty of confidence (ever try asking family and friends what they really think about you?); and

4.  You’ll be the one in charge.  After all, you’re the one marketing your brand to a potential consumer (your employer).

And remember, always keep marketing (and your brand) in mind!

A few extra thoughts for the day:

There really was a peanut gallery once.  In vaudeville, they were the rowdiest seats in the house.  And vaudeville makes me think of Jack Benny—my favorite comedian and a great brand.   JB got his start there.  What an entertainer!  During the early days of radio when you mentioned a product on air, the manufacturer of the product actually delivered the product to you.  The story goes that JB asked his butler, Rochester, to “pick up the Cadillac.”  Rochester says to JB, “But boss we don’t have a Cadillac” to which JB replies “We do now!”  I can just hear you saying “Tantillo, I did not know that.”  So there!  Here’s more info on the man who was the David Letterman and Jay Leno of his time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Benny

Folks, a follow-up on Martha Stewart, a master of branding!  Yesterday, I was having lunch with a friend of mine from the Red Cross and learned that one of his committed volunteers was a Martha Stewart Living employee.  Seems that “giving something back” is just part of MSL’s brand.  One of these days soon I’m going to blog on CSR (“Corporate Social Responsibility”) and branding –but, wow, what an example of what knowing your brand does!  Here’s a link to this year’s Top 100 CSR companies from Fox business: http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/industries/technology/article/intel-tops-corporate-citizen-list_487237_12.html

And here’s a op ed from Forbes on the challenges of CSR: http://www.forbes.com/2006/11/16/leadership-philanthropy-charity-lead-citizen-cx_ba_1128directorship.html

And just for kicks, here’s John Cleese’s YouTube take on interviewing:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5389954651376664891&q=cleese%2Bjob+interview%2Bvideo&total=12&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1