Assessing and Improving Your Brand

We briefly touched on the importance of career development earlier in this book. Here, we’ll look at career development from the standpoint of judging and managing the value of your brand.

The idea that we have a brand image was brought home to me as I began to think about the power of LinkedIn and other social media in providing a first impression of who a person is. There, I have seen others effectively promoting their differentiated experiences, accomplishments, and skills. They present them in such a way as to tell a story aligned with their personal goals.

Most assessments of a brand begin with an in-depth look at the current state of the brand. For you, that should include an assessment of your skills and knowledge, personality, values, interests, and ability to deliver impactful solutions that meet or exceed expectations.

Your interests include job responsibilities that truly excite you along with the technologies and skills that are required to accomplish the job. To help yourself clarify what you want to accomplish in your next job, you might go so far as to write a personal mission statement stating a vision of your future self.

As you research personally desirable jobs, you will want to consider the likely future demand for such jobs. After all, you don’t want to invest time in pursuing a job that is likely to disappear. You should note the skills and other qualifications required and will then be ready to perform a gap analysis between what you currently bring to the table and the requirements needed to land the job that you are aiming for.

Also, you should evaluate the alignment of those jobs with your personal life and family goals, including places where you would like to live, the amount of travel that might be required, and the work–life balance present. Such alignment or misalignment with your personal goals should impact your level of interest.

If you aim high enough for your next role, you will likely find significant gaps between what your current brand image portrays and what it needs to evolve to for you be seriously considered. You will then need to figure out a series of steps to improve your brand. Short-term steps might include a rewrite of your online profile and resume. Longer-term steps might include the development of new skills and the fine-tuning of existing skills.

Some use a SWOT analysis that documents their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The SWOT technique dates back over 50 years and is frequently used to analyze products, companies, and organizations, as well as people. When using a SWOT analysis to define yourself and your ambitions, the strengths and weaknesses identified are your own while opportunities and threats refer to external positive and negative trends and possibilities that you face.

Figure 6-1 illustrates some of the information you will want to record in your personal SWOT:

You might have previously associated career planning only with developing your technical skills. However, your personality and reputation are also part of your brand. For example, are you open to criticism? How do you respond when questioned? Do you mentor and share best practices with others? Do you take on leadership roles when required to get the job done? Have you built a track record of success that you can point to and that others will vouch for? If the answers to these types of questions is frequently “no,” then you will likely need to develop in these areas as well.

If you intend to move into a leadership position that involves technology, some areas of your personality will likely require a more strenuous assessment. For example, your ability to lead innovation should include an assessment of your openness to ideas and perspectives from others, your willingness to take calculated risks and quickly recover from failures, your ability to act in a decisive manner and appear confident when doing so, and your ability to maintain optimism in the face of problems.

As you implement your development and branding plan, you should continue to gather intelligence about the skills and qualifications that you need for your ideal future job. You might do this by interviewing for similar jobs that appear to be currently beyond your reach. Though you might fail to land such a job prematurely, you will nevertheless find out where you fall short and can focus your personal improvement efforts there.

This likely sounds like a lot of work beyond normal career development. But I have found that individuals either believe that they are continuously competing for a better career or they don’t. Those who have a competitive spirit will continually look for ways to improve themselves and for better ways to do things. They continually fine-tune their personal plan for career development, making it more comprehensive than their company’s guidance or the plans that others put together, because they understand its importance.

Promoting Your Brand

When doing a search using a popular search engine, what do you find in the search results about yourself? Do you primarily find links that take you to your posts on LinkedIn and other social media sites? Can you find other links to work-related experiences that would impress an employer prospecting for new employees?

For example, have you published works or commentary that demonstrate your expertise, and do links to these works appear in your search? Do you appear to be someone who frequently speaks at technology conferences? Is it apparent that you have demonstrated your experience in diverse roles and to diverse organizations?

Now, let’s explore your LinkedIn profile in more depth. LinkedIn is the first impression many recruiters, human resources departments, and job interviewers gain of you. Your profile should present you as an accomplished individual with a unique combination of skills relevant to the kinds of jobs that you seek.

How unique is the story that you present in your profile? Does it convey that you have demonstrated lengthy periods of success in your various roles or does it appear that you have moved from job to job before success (or failure) was clearly established? Are the skills you applied in your various roles clearly documented along your career path? Have others endorsed you by calling out specific skills and the value you provided while highlighting some of the unique aspects of what you have to offer?

Does your personality and passion show through in your LinkedIn profile? For example, have you shared best practices in the form of articles that you’ve posted? Do you have examples of teaching or mentoring others? Are the work-related activities you like to engage in clearly indicated?

An older style of resume can also prove to be important in attracting the right attention of human resources departments and recruiters. While some companies allow you to import your LinkedIn profile into an online resume format, others require submission of a resume as a formal document and sometimes also request a cover letter. When this is a requirement, you have an opportunity to customize both the resume and cover letter to highlight why you are particularly qualified for the job to which you are applying.

You should ask yourself this question when applying for a job or a new role: if you only have the LinkedIn profile or resume by which to judge yourself, would you hire yourself or would you search for other candidates? If you are underwhelmed by your own profile or resume, you should determine what is missing. Work on filling in missing pieces if it is simply a matter of documentation and references. Develop a plan to cover other gaps through personal development if you don’t have the right experience, skills, and other qualifications.

The Hiring and Interview Process

I have frequently been involved in the hiring and interview processes for prospective employees. I have provided input to other hiring managers and have also been the hiring manager for teams that I lead. Of course, I’ve also been interviewed myself for many jobs and promotions.

These experiences have been invaluable when I have sought career movement for myself. You should welcome the opportunity to engage in this process whenever you get the chance. Many people that I know keep their interview skills sharp by periodically interviewing with other companies and organizations, even when they are not seriously looking to make a career move.

The hiring process at most organizations begins with a job advertisement written by the hiring manager in collaboration with human resources. Human resources and recruiters often sort through an avalanche of responses from potential incoming candidates. They look for candidates with the necessary skills, but some candidates will usually stand out from others based on additional skills and work-related experiences that they possess.

At this point in the process, previously established networks can come in handy. Many times, people inside an organization or a company that I was interested in moving to and who were familiar with my past contributions to their success made sure that I made it to the next stage in the hiring process.

As part of the initial screening, salary ranges and some of the benefits of working in the organization are often discussed. Then, the hiring manager will usually have a discussion with the candidate over the phone. If sufficiently impressed, they often arrange phone or in-person interviews with people in their organization who are working in similar roles, including with senior team members.

A day of in-person interviews often follows. Where presentation skills are deemed critical, a presentation might be scheduled that will be delivered by the candidate during that day. A mixed group of managers and team members will serve as the audience, asking questions along the way.

Following the day of in-person activities, interviewers and those who attended the presentation compare notes. They critique the candidates, rank them, and offer their opinion on hiring any of the candidates.

Figure 6-2 illustrates these steps commonly used in the hiring process:

Obviously, the interviews are a key step in this process. When I am going to interview a candidate, I begin by exploring their resume and their LinkedIn profile a day or two before I talk to them. I look for areas where their background aligns with job requirements and make note of areas that I want to explore.

I am more impressed with the candidate if I find that the candidate has looked at my profile prior to a pre-arranged interview. This indicates that they are a person who does their homework. I also expect the candidate to have investigated my company in their preparation for the interview. These are steps that I also personally take when I prepare to be interviewed at a prospective employer.

The interviews often follow this pattern, with some variation as to the order. The amount of time spent in each area depends on the focus that the hiring manager places on each. Some hiring managers will direct certain interviewers to focus on just one or two of these areas. Much can be learned during this interview sequence that might not always be apparent to the candidate.

For example, I will often ask a candidate if they understand their potential role in the job for which they are interviewing, especially if I haven’t talked to the candidate previously. I like for them to respond by saying that they always welcome multiple perspectives and want to hear my version of what is required in the role. That indicates that they have a mature understanding of how to gather information and gain the true picture of a situation.

When exploring their ability to solve problems, I’ll often ask them how they gain an understanding of business needs, link technology solutions to those needs, and prioritize their activities. I will sometimes want to learn about how they have dealt with situations where technologies that the stakeholders require don’t align to their skills or how they have solved particularly difficult problems in the past.

Judging verbal communications is possible even if the candidate is being interviewed via phone or web conferencing. I seek to determine their enthusiasm, ability to clearly articulate ideas, and whether they take time to pause for questions, listen to responses, and ask probing questions of their own.

Proof of written skills can be illustrated by exhibits that the candidate provides in the form of technical documents, articles, or whitepapers that they have written. A mock presentation can expose their ability to diagram solutions and deliver a cohesive story in front of a live audience.

I’ve found that technical skills are often best evaluated by team members working in similar roles. The goal is to understand whether the candidate has a depth of knowledge beyond buzzwords, getting into some detail as to how real solutions are defined, designed, and built.

The maturity of the candidate can be determined by how they respond to the interview process. The most mature candidates usually show an ability to think on their feet and are highly adaptive. They will often talk about sharing their knowledge with others and serving as mentors. They are not afraid to turn the interview session into a collaborative discussion where they ask as many questions as the interviewer. At the end of the interview, they might ask qualifying questions to determine if they are going to be offered the job.

Many soft skills, as well as technical skills, will become apparent. The candidate’s personality will often shine through. Sometimes, they will demonstrate a sense of humor or a genuine interest in learning more when questioned during discussions and mock presentations. I usually gain an initial understanding as to how well they will fit into the team that they are being hired to join.

The companies with whom I interview to explore new positions are usually looking for similar skills and traits that I seek in job candidates. Seeing how outstanding candidates performed in interviews that I conducted and comparing them to those who failed to impress me and others provides me with best practices that I can apply to myself. I am always looking for an edge.

While I always recognize that an interview requires give and take, I also find that if I am interviewed poorly, I come away with a negative view of the company interviewing me. I then begin to question whether I would be happy working there.

Starting Out on Your Own

A career option that many skilled in technology consider is to operate independently as a paid consultant. The decision to become an independent consultant should not be taken lightly. There are many additional skills and job requirements needed to be successful.

The technical skills and experience that you wish to be paid for as a consultant must be in demand. Ideally, you possess unique technical skills that can fill the knowledge gaps in clients, as these can drive higher billing rates. Once you are in this role, you should continually assess the demand for your technical skills and develop new skills in accordance with client needs.

You must become highly skilled at scoping engagements, putting the scope in writing, and then enforcing the agreements. You need to choose your clients wisely, looking for clients who see these engagements as partnerships built on mutual trust. Since you are directly accountable for on-time deliverables, any scope creep can be particularly painful. Regardless, you will often find yourself working long hours to fulfill your obligations.

You will also be responsible for aspects of the business that others perform if you currently work for a larger company. Marketing and building relationships and a pipeline for future business is your responsibility. Setting your billing rate, and then billing and collecting the money that is owed to you, is also something that you need to deal with.

Many individuals that I have worked with and who have successfully made this transition began working as independent consultants in a second part-time job while they were employees in larger companies. They used the second job to understand the new responsibilities they would need to undertake and to understand their likely cash flow when they left their primary job.

Others became consultants when faced with layoffs or other job reductions at the companies they were employed by. Quickly developing a business plan for making the transition is critical to success if you believe that this scenario could be in your future.

Taking Control

You will not own your future until you take control. Throughout this book, we provided guidance on how to further your career. Of course, you must now apply these techniques.

We began our guidance in Chapter 1 by describing situations that you should avoid. These included roles where you have little opportunity for technical skills development, are disconnected from the business, lack opportunities for experimentation in creating solutions, or find yourself in a place where there is little emphasis on career development.

We then described the impact of company and organizational cultures on your career in Chapter 2. In an innovation-driven culture, you will have the greatest opportunity to develop leading-edge solutions and apply newer technologies. Process-driven cultures managed as hierarchies can present very limited opportunities for you to reinvent your career and drive change. This is especially true if senior management believes that they must provide all direction.

In more dynamic companies, several cultures will likely be present. So, we also described the importance of possessing a growth mindset so that you can react to, anticipate, and embrace changes that you will need to deal with.

In Chapter 3, we desribed how the political landscape of your company or organization also impacts your ability to get things done and to drive change. Where political savvy is essential, your ability to network with others who are politically influential within your current organization or company can impact further success in your career. By focusing on growing your extended network into other organizations and companies, you will widen available options when you seek your next career move.

Next in Chapter 4, we explained the importance of diversity. It can provide you with new perspectives and help you grow as a person and avoid bias. We also described techniques used in creating and managing diverse teams and the impact diversity will have on how decisions are made. Your experience working in diverse teams and organizations can be very helpful when you seek a new job at a company that understands and values it.

We then described in Chapter 5 the kinds of skills that will be important in furthering your career and how to anticipate what will be needed. In this chapter, we described assessing and improving your “brand,” best practices in hiring and interviewing for jobs, and considerations for starting out on your own as an independent consultant.

To own your future, you can’t wait for your company or organization to change. In each of the chapters in this book, we described a means to take appropriate action. If you feel held back or frustrated, there will always be alternatives and organizations looking for your talents and experience if you have properly managed your career with an eye on the future.

You own it. Now is the time to do something about it.

Summary

We end this book in a time of rapid and far-reaching change, similar to the period I encountered when my career began and at certain points as it progressed. As the invention of new technologies and creation of new jobs and the disappearance of many old technologies and jobs accelerates, I believe that the lessons that I shared in this book will grow in importance to you.

I know that the roles that you will pursue will change over the many years of your career. The values and skills that you possess today and that you develop along your career path will be more relevant in some situations than others. Some of the relevance will depend on who you work for and the business and technical needs of those companies and organizations at any given time.

You possess limited resources to deal with the changes that you will encounter. Of the limited resources that you must deal with, the allocation of your personal time is probably the most limited. You must use that limited time to develop and execute your career development plan and manage the other things that are important in your life.

Use your time wisely. Invest it to pursue goals that align with your passion, where you see an opportunity for personal growth and reward, and where you can leave behind something meaningful when your career comes to its conclusion.

I hope that my experiences and the lessons learned that I shared in this book will help you to create a plan to do that. My goal in writing this book was to help you further your career success (as you define it) in some small way.

Best wishes for continued success in your future.