5 Steps to Get the Perfect Letter of Recommendation

Right now you might be like most people - going through the job search and application process with just a standard resume and feeling very rejected and maybe a little hopeless.  Your job application gets much stronger when your resume is accompanied by a letter of recommendation. I’m sure you know this but you might not have made the effort to get a letter of recommendation. So how do you get the perfect one? You write it.  What?!  Yes, you write it.  Let me explain.

Here are the 5 simple steps to follow to make this happen:

1.    Carefully consider who would be the best person to ask for a letter of recommendation.  Think about who would impress the recruiter and hiring manager most and who will be willing to advocate for you.  This is ideally someone you have reported to in some sense such as a boss or teacher. 

2.    Email that person and ask them if they’d be willing to provide you a letter of recommendation.  Let them know that you know how busy they are so to make it easy you’d provide them with a draft version that they can edit and sign off on.

3.    Assuming they say yes, now you can write a draft version of the letter of recommendation.  The reason why you write it is you have the time (most senior people barely have time for a bathroom break and typically have 100+ unread emails in their inbox at any time!)  Plus, you know exactly what you want said about yourself as it relates to past performance and to the position you are applying for.  Focus on results and impact from previous roles and anything that relates to the position you’re interested in. Also highlight attractive intangible skills like work ethic, team work, problem solving, leadership, etc. Think about which skills you have and what the position / company will want and choose the right ones to highlight. 

4.    When your draft is ready, send them the document in word format so they can make any edits to it and ideally put it on company letterhead.  Ask them to add their contact info to the bottom. It would actually be smart to send them two versions of the document – one for the specific position you are going after and one that’s more general that you could use in the future if needed.

5.    Ask them to save the document(s) as a pdf so they are noted as the author of the file, send it to you, and you are good to go! 

This letter of recommendation should go in your portfolio with your other documents.  Not sure what a portfolio is?  If you have only been applying for jobs with a resume and bringing just that to an interview, it’s time to step up your game.  Check out my online course to learn how and until next time …follow me on Twitter at @MadeToHire, Instagram, and on Facebook. 

p.s. Here’s a sample letter of recommendation to help you craft yours!

Insider Tips for Getting into adidas

This month we chatted with adidas' Women's Brand Marketing Director, Ashley Czarnowski, to understand what a hiring manager at adidas is thinking when looking for someone to join their team.  Check out what she had to say ...

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Made To Hire: How and when did you get into adidas?  

AC:  I’ve been at adidas for 5 years.  I was lucky enough to be recruited by an adidas HR recruiter on LinkedIn for a Brand Marketing position in Running.

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Made To Hire:  What’s your advice on how people can get their resume noticed when competing against hundreds of applicants for a job at adidas?  

AC:  Work to find that special thing that differentiates you from the competition and highlight it.  Also be sure to tailor your resume to the job description, highlighting the experience you have that directly relates to that position.

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Made To Hire:  During the interview process, what do you think the biggest things are that hiring managers look for when considering applicants at adidas?  

AC:  Cultural fit with the company/team, honesty and transparency, and ability to articulate their experience in a way that relates to the position.

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Made To Hire:  How important is knowing the company history, vision, and values when applying?  

AC:  It is pretty important.  Doing your research prior to an interview shows your commitment and excitement to the company and role.

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Made To Hire:  How would you describe the company culture once you’re in?  

AC:  Collaborative.  We are all very focused on a common goal.  One of the things I love most about adidas is its collaborative culture and the drive to be as creative as you can be.

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Made To Hire:  Complete this sentence, ‘You’re a great fit for adidas if you ….

AC:  …. are a team player who brings a unique perspective to the table.’

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Made To Hire:  What advice would you have for someone trying to get into adidas?  

AC:  Be patient but persistent.  Meet with as many people as you can to find the best place for you in the company and then make sure you have the skills and experience to reach that goal.

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For more tips on how to land your dream job, check out our online course. It's open to the public and only $49.99.  

The Connection Between How You Enter a Room and Your Success

You don’t realize it but every time you enter a room you’re making a statement about where you’re going in your career. People quickly reveal themselves as heading down one of two paths. Path 1 = motivated and success-bound. Path 2 = disconnected and disappointed. Which path are you on?  Is that where you want to be?  Let’s explore.

You’ve gotten into a routine of how you enter a room. It’s your way of announcing yourself and it speaks volumes about where you’re going.  

People on path 1 (the success-bound crowd) enter a room ready to connect with others. They walk in confidently, with their eyes forward, and a warm expression on their faces. They greet other people in the room and don’t doubt their right to be there. These are the people others want to work with. These are the people who interview well. These are the people who get hired.  They might have the exact same skills on paper as people on path 2 but they are actually trying and it shows. They are actually letting themselves be seen and opening the door to career opportunities. 

People on path 2 (those likely to be disappointed with their careers) enter a room hiding. There’s no better way of saying it than ‘hiding’. Their heads are down, they are typically deep in whatever screen they can hold onto, and they do everything possible to avoid connecting with other people. And to make matters worse they usually hold this same posture and approach as long as they possibly can while in whatever room they’re in.  Anyone in the room who is on path 1 sees it whether they acknowledge it quietly to themselves or not.  

How you enter a room sounds like a small thing but I promise you it’s an indicator of success.  So ask yourself: which path are you on?  And if you don’t like the answer, you can change it. 

Until next time …follow me on Twitter at @MadeToHire, Instagram, and on Facebook.

10 Rules to Ensure Your Emails Get Read

You write more emails each day than you can count.  Let’s make sure your email communication style isn’t putting people off.   Here are 10 simple, yet very important rules to follow when sending emails:

1.    What’s the subject?  Use an informative subject line.  Avoid using vague subject lines like ‘hi’ or ‘application’.   Be specific so it’s obvious what the email is about. 

2.    Get off on the right foot.  Be professional with how you start and end emails.  Avoid casual opening and closing remarks like ‘hey’, ‘later’, ‘ciao’, etc.  Using ‘hello’ or ‘hi’ to start the email is fine when combined with the person’s name. And ending with ‘thanks’, ‘thank you,’ or ‘best’ are all good choices.  

3.    Get to the point quickly.  Don’t assume the recipient knows what you’re talking about. In that first sentence, you should be specific and concise with why you’re sending the email.  

4.    Keep it tight.  Time is one of the most important commodities for mid-level and senior-level executives.  Say what you need to say as concisely as you can.  Anything over 150-200 words looks like work to the reader and they may just dismiss it and not even respond your email.  

5.    Sign it.  In most email programs, you can set up an email signature that will automatically include your name and any other details you’d like in every email you send.  I suggest including your full name and phone number as a baseline.  You could also include your job title, website, or LinkedIn profile.  The number of emails I receive with no phone number in the signature really surprises me.  It should be easy for people to get in touch with you.

6.    Limit your excitement.  Inserting multiple !!! in an email will make you seem young and unprofessional.  Occasional use of one exclamation mark is appropriate.  

7.    Manage attachments.  Be careful not to put people off by sending multiple attachments. Generally speaking, sending anything over 8MB isn’t a good idea as many companies have mailbox size limitations. Use free file sharing services like WeTransfer to send large files without clogging up recipients’ inboxes. If you’re sending anything over 3-4MB apologize to the recipient for the large file. Also, be sure any attachments are properly labelled.

8.    Proofread. Spelling mistakes in an email can be a big turn off in terms of gauging your attention to detail.  Don’t let this easy-to-fix issue happen to you. Spell check is great but also reread the email yourself for nuances spell check won’t catch.

9.    Be aware of ‘reply all’.  Double check who the email is going to before you press send. You might have accidentally pressed reply all and not have meant to.  Don’t include people unless they actually need to be included as people don’t appreciate extra unnecessary emails. 

10.  You have 24 hours.  Once you receive an email, the clock is ticking.  My rule is you have 24 hours max to respond to an email that is related to your career. Your response time speaks to how on top of things you are and implies a standard around how you conduct yourself professionally.  Also avoid middle of the night replies as those may make you look crazy.

Double check you’re following these quick tips in order to best represent yourself.  Often our first impression is a virtual one so small things like how you communicate over email matter.  

Want more help stepping up your game? My online course covers communication, networking, interviewing, and more.  Learn more.

Until next time …follow me on Twitter at @MadeToHire, Instagram, and on Facebook.  

Are You Making These Mistakes When Giving Presentations?

We’ve all watched presentations that were painfully bad.  Remember thinking, ‘I’m so glad that isn’t me standing up there?!’  Most of us dread public speaking.  For that reason, it’s one of my favorite things to work on with people because with just a few small adjustments you can make a huge difference in your presentation skills.  

So what are the biggest mistakes people make when giving presentations?  And how do YOU avoid them?

1.    Lack passion. Presenting is 50% what you say and 50% how you say it.  Energy, passion, enthusiasm …. all that good stuff matters!  If you can’t hold an audience’s attention by being authentically energized by what you’re talking about, you’ll lose them to their smartphones, to day dreaming, or to something else.  Sometimes you have to fake passion a little by finding things about the topic you think are actually interesting to help create authentic energy in your presentation.  

2.    Memorize. People get bored quickly if they feel like you’re reading off a script in your mind.  Plus, it can really make you stumble when you forget a word.  The best way to handle a presentation is to have a few key points you’re going to talk about for each concept or slide.  The key points can be on your slides if needed but they should lead to stories and/or facts that you’ll talk about.  Exact words shouldn’t matter with what you say but rather focus on telling a story that feels natural and engaging.

3.    Talk too quickly. When people are nervous they usually speak quickly.  It’s as if they’re in a race to get through it.  I’ve definitely been guilty of this in the past.  Speed presenting is painful to watch and difficult to follow.  Practice is key here.  Work on your breathing and on calming your nerves.  Try presenting in your bathroom mirror or to your roommate, or record yourself prior to the presentation to make sure your pace is on point.  

4.    Dancing feet. For a standing presentation, there isn’t anything much more distracting than someone who dances around the front of the room with wiggly feet.  The best thing you can do is plant your feet.  If you want to move to a new location at the front of the room, that’s great but plant your feet when you get there.  Until you get more comfortable presenting, planting your feet is the best way to eliminate this common mistake.

5.    Talk to the wall.  If you want people to pay attention to you, you need to actually look at them. Looking at the wall or the floor will just show your nerves.  Work on making intentional eye contact with people.  Think about addressing the entire room and try to make eye contact with all or most people in it.  That’s the best way to connect with your audience and get your message across.  

Putting all these tips together can be difficult and feel a bit daunting when you’re preparing for a big presentation.  One of my favorite tricks to help with all this is to record yourself on your smartphone while you’re practicing.  Seeing what you’re actually doing will help you immensely to know what you need to work on before the big day.

And when it’s game time, remember to breathe and tell yourself you have the right to be there.  Giving yourself that vote of confidence will work wonders with any nerves you might feel.

Want more help with this?  My online course includes a 20-minute video on presentation skills that leave an impact plus many other topics that will help you up your game. Learn more here.

Until next time …follow me on Twitter at @MadeToHire, Instagram, and on Facebook.  

What It Takes To Get Hired At Tesla

We sat down with Tesla's West Region Director to uncover what Tesla looks for when hiring employees and how you can stand out from the crowd.  Whether you want to work at Tesla or just get insights from a seasoned business expert, check out this interview.

MADE TO HIRE:  What does it take to get hired at Tesla?

Tesla:  Passion, grit, drive, results-orientation, intellectual curiosity, integrity, and trustworthiness.  You literally have to be able to come to the table with the ability to execute in the current climate while challenging the status quo and offering solutions with better efficiencies and higher results.

MADE TO HIRE:  What % of applicants get hired at Tesla?

Tesla: I recently read that less than 1/2 of 1% of candidates applying actually get a job at Tesla. So one of the biggest challenges is how do you separate yourself from the masses? What is it that you bring to the table that other candidates don't? Experience and education are key here.

MADE TO HIRE:  What's a current priority for the company when it comes to hiring?

Tesla: Hiring and developing top talent is extremely important as we are scaling our business to 5 times the volume. As a leader, I want to know that an applicant can develop the people who are working for him or her. It's all about managing up or managing out. Due to the pace, candidates need to be resilient and adaptive.

MADE TO HIRE:  What's one thing that's unique about Tesla that you'd like to share?

Tesla: Our CEO always says working for Tesla is like joining the Special Forces. The general understanding is that if you're at Tesla, you're choosing the equivalent of the Special Forces. There's the regular Army, and that's fine, but if you're working at Tesla, you're choosing to step up your game. And that has pluses and minuses. It's cool to be on the Special Forces, but it's not for everyone.

5 Things You Must Do Online

When was the last time you checked out the social feed or LinkedIn profile of someone you’ve never actually met?  I bet for many of you, it was within the past 24 hrs.  What did you think of what you saw?  Without even realizing it, that person’s feed or profile made an impact on you.  

When we think of first impressions, what usually comes to mind is what you think when you first see someone in person.  The reality, however, is that your virtual first impression is just as important as your live first impression.  And if you’re working towards your next career goal, then you better make a strong virtual first impression because hiring managers and recruiters are looking. 

Check out my advice on the 5 things you should do today to make the right virtual first impression.

1.   Google yourself

If you haven’t googled yourself lately, it’s time.  See what comes up.  If there’s anything that is unfavorable, see if you can have it taken down. 

2.     Scrub your social media accounts

Dig into your social media accounts, both casual social media like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc., and professional social media like LinkedIn.  Look through old posts and pictures for any comments or images that may paint you in an unprofessional light. These might be things like vulgar language, polarizing political views, illegal activities, or overly revealing clothing.  These could be things you posted or posts you were tagged in.  If you find anything that could reflect poorly on you, remove it or untag yourself from it as privacy settings aren’t 100% reliable.  

3.     Play it safe on casual social media

Use your casual social media to showcase your passions.  Ideally these are things that sometimes overlap with your professional goals.  Be authentic to who you are but remember hiring decisions about you may take what you post into consideration.  

4.    Maximize your LinkedIn profile.  This means:

• Make sure you have a professional profile picture. Profiles with pictures are much more likely to be viewed.

• Brand yourself with a background picture. This sits behind your profile picture and helps tell your story. Choose this picture carefully to convey a passion of yours that aligns with your professional goals.

• Keep your profile information up-to-date. Write in first person. Make sure to keep your headline, location, and jobs current. And don’t forget about other sections you can add that may add depth to your profile like volunteer work, awards, and languages.

• Simplify your LinkedIn URL. LinkedIn automatically gives you a long custom URL including your name and a bunch of numbers and letters. In the contact info section, you can change this to get rid of all the extra numbers and letters.

• Make endorsements work for you. Your connections may endorse you for various skills. Make sure you delete any that don’t make sense in terms of your career goals.

• Ask for recommendations. Be sure to have a few strong recommendations supporting your expertise in the area you are growing your career.

• Work on actively building connections. Don’t be shy. It’s okay to reach out to someone you’ve never met before. That’s all part of networking! It helps to add a personal note to your connection request. Just be sure to be polite and professional.

• Join groups. The group feature on LinkedIn is an amazing way to connect with like-minded people. Take advantage of it and use it as a way to build your connections.

5.     Don’t over-post

Nobody wants to be inundated by your status updates so be selective about the information you share.  It’s all going into building your brand so be thoughtful and intentional about what you say. 

Even if you just spend the next few minutes online reviewing these 5 things, you could really change the game when the next recruiter or hiring manager looks you up online.  Until next time …follow me on Twitter at @MadeToHire, Instagram, and on Facebook.  

Nail Your First Impression

You might not realize it but you are constantly being judged by how you put yourself together.  The next day you feel lazy and decide not to shower could be the day you meet someone who could change your career.  It’s better to just accept that first impressions truly matter and take control over how to nail yours.  Give me 5 minutes and I can help.

I do an exercise with my students where we review different looks on the same person and use adjectives to describe the person in each of the looks. It’s amazing how much people infer by how you dress and the other little details that make up your look.  Let’s play the game and you’ll see what I mean.

Meet Theresa.  On the left Theresa is dressed in casual attire.  This could be jeans and a top or athletic clothes.  There are two images shown for casual attire so you can get a feel for sporty vs jeans casual.  In the middle, Theresa is wearing business casual attire and on the right side she’s wearing formal attire.  What words come to mind when you look at each picture of her?  For the casual pictures, perhaps you’re thinking she looks sporty, relaxed, or easy-going.  For the business casual picture, you might say organized, polished, or stylish.  For the formal picture, you could say professional, in charge, or confident.

What Theresa wears definitely creates a judgement in our minds about her skills and abilities.  The point to make here is what you wear and how you put yourself together really do matter.  It’s best to limit casual looks to situations that are without a doubt casual.  Formal looks should also be limited to when you’re specifically instructed to dress formally.  Your safe zone or sweet spot for attire, if you are building your career, is business casual.

Here’s a cheat sheet for what the differences are between casual, business casual, and formal attire: 

All in all, there are three main things you should think about with your first impression:

1.     How You Enter a Room

Do you walk in with your head held high and consciously make eye contact with people or do you look down at your phone and hope that no one notices you walk in?

How to win when you enter a room:  walk with confidence, smile, make eye contact with people, say hello, introduce yourself where possible with a firm hand shake, and choose a seat or standing position that will get you noticed.

Avoid doing these things:  looking at your phone, walking with a slumped posture, sitting at the first open seat at the back of the room.

2.     What You Wear

Follow the guidelines above and err on the side of business casual.  If you’re building your career, be very selective with where you choose to wear casual attire.  To be safe, limit casual attire to the gym, at home, or at a friend’s house because outside of those areas you might meet someone who could influence your career and you wouldn’t want to be caught looking sloppy.

Even if you work in an office that is casual and allows for jeans and sneakers, I suggest you choose nice jeans without tears or stains and dressy sneakers not the sneakers you wear to the gym or do to yardwork.  You want to stand out for being well put together where you work.  This is an important component of your brand and it actually will significantly affect how seriously people take you.

On the same note, as I mentioned above, limit formal attire to occasions that specifically call for it.  For interviews, you can ask the person who contacts you to schedule the interview if business casual or formal would be appropriate attire.   In some industries, over-dressing too much can be a misfit with the company culture so be aware of that too.

Keep in mind, these rules don’t apply to people in senior positions.  People who have made it in their careers have much more flexibility to wear what they choose than someone who is still building their career so don’t be distracted if senior people are dressed more casually than other employees.  They can wear whatever they want but you need to be more careful.

3.  Grooming, Personal Hygiene, and Other Niceties

We’ve all had a coworker who clearly doesn’t shower regularly or who always has crazy bedhead hair.  Don’t be that person.  Make an effort to always be clean, smell good, style your hair, and keep facial hair well-groomed.  Smelling good doesn’t mean overloading on cologne or perfume though – go easy so you don’t turn people off.  And for women, we all know pony tails are our lazy hair style unless you’re talented at doing fancy ponytails.  It’s okay to occasionally put your hair back in a tidy pony tail or bun but realize that a more polished, professional look is having your hair styled and it being down.  If you’re a guy and you have facial hair, I strongly encourage you to keep it well-groomed.  Bushy beards just aren’t a good idea unless you want to be a lumberjack.  And ladies, go easy on the makeup.  Subtle makeup can really complete a look but beware of overdoing it.

I hope this discussion on first impressions has been helpful and given you some guidelines to follow so you build a powerful personal brand. 

Next time, I’m going to talk about your virtual first impression.  There’s a lot to talk about there.  In the meantime, I encourage you to do a little poll.  Ask your classmates or coworkers what their impression is of how you put yourself together.  You may be surprised at what you hear.  If you don’t love the feedback, still be grateful for it, and realize that you can change it.  Today, you can start putting together a look that will help you get the career you want.

Until next time …follow me on Twitter at @MadeToHire, and on Facebook. 

Establish Your Brand: Having a Clear Vision

How are people supposed to help you if you aren't clear on what you want?  I always tell my students, ‘Fake it till you make it.' 

It's okay if you don't know exactly what you want to do and exactly where you want to do it.  We were all there at some point but how you manage that uncertainty is actually very important to ultimately get what you want in your career.  A big part of your journey is figuring out exactly what you want, but in the meantime, you should have a vision for yourself that you can clearly articulate.  If it changes, that's okay.  It might change three times this year but realize the worst answer you can give when asked, ‘What do you want to do with your career?' is, ‘I don't know.'  That answer not only closes the door to possible connections but it also makes you seem lost.  And most accomplished people want to help fuel the budding careers of people who have a vision, who have a purpose, and who are going somewhere.  I want you to be, or at least appear to be, one of those people.  If it feels uncomfortable faking it a little, that's okay.

So, what should your vision look like?  It should be one sentence and very clear, so it's easy for people to get it and potentially help you.  In my last blog post, Establishing Your Brand: Your Personal Description, I talked about how to describe yourself.  Let's look back at one of the examples I shared:

For a 20-something working professional, an effective personal description could be:

Former collegiate athlete with four years of experience in sales and marketing.  Expertise in project management, marketing planning, and social media buying in the sports and entertainment industries. 

For this person, the vision could certainly be a marketing position in a global sports product company.  That would make sense.  On a resume that would be an easy one-sentence addition to the personal description like this:

Former collegiate athlete with four years of experience in sales and marketing.  Expertise in project management, marketing planning, and social media buying in the sports and entertainment industries.  Seeking mid-level marketing position in a global sports product company.

The key to your vision is it should be clear on the function, the industry, and ideally the company size too.  Let's explore each of those:

Function:  What department do you want to work in?  Examples include finance, customer service, marketing, research & development, etc.

Industry:  What industry do you want to work in?  This could be automotive, medicine, arts, sports business, chemical engineering, etc.

Company size:  Are you looking for a global company?   Something that is mid-sized?  A small, start-up?  Not sure?  I like this quiz from Monster to help you figure it out.  Took me 3 mins to confirm I should be working for my own small company… phew!

When you're talking to people, try to be clear with them on the function, the industry, and the company size.  That will help people place you in their minds and perhaps they'll have ideas or connections to help you. 

And again, it's okay if things change but having a vision of what you want and being able to clearly state it will help you further establish your brand and work towards your career goals. 

Next time I'll talk about first impressions.  It's a big, important topic, so I'm excited to share some insights on how to nail yours! Until then…follow me on Twitter at @MadeToHire, and on Facebook at @MadeToHireCareers. 

Establish Your Brand: Your Personal Description

There are so many things you are and aren’t doing that are creating your brand. You’re being defined by people around you based on how you communicate, how you dress, how you carry yourself, and much more. And I hope you’re starting to feel empowered by the opportunity you have to actively define how you’re viewed professionally. 

In my last article, I talked about the basics of marketing yourself, and today I want to take that a step further. Last time, I encouraged you to think about adjectives you want to define yourself such as ‘results-oriented’ or ‘team player’ and challenged you to live by those adjectives. Today, I want to touch on personal descriptions aka personal overviews, personal summaries, or introductory statements. Well-written resumes often have one at the top. 

One of the biggest issues I see with young professionals is they haven’t actually put words to describing themselves. This becomes a problem in many situations – on your resume, in an interview, at a networking event, and the list goes on. You need to make it easy for people to understand you and you should want to make it easy for them to help you. You can do this by packaging yourself with words in a way that makes it easy for people to understand what you’re all about and even better – in a way that makes you relatable and valuable. On a resume, this would be done in your overview or introductory statement. Here are some examples you could find at the top of a resume for people in various phases of life with different types of expertise. You’d find this sort of personal description below the name and contact info on a resume:

For a high school student:

Tech-savvy, engineering-focused, high school senior with a passion for how things work. Experience in computer programming, customer service, and project coordination.

For a college student:

Bilingual, Chinese-American pre-med student. Committed to community impact through volunteerism in developing countries. 

For a 20-something working professional:

Former collegiate athlete with 4 years of experience in sales and marketing. Expertise in project management, marketing planning, and social media buying in the sports and entertainment industries. 

The examples above would be great for the top of a resume to position those people for a recruiter or hiring manager. The statements make the candidates’ value clear. For a networking situation, they’d want to be less formal. For example, in the case of the 20-something working professional, if he was asked, “So tell me about yourself,” he could respond by saying, “I’ve worked for 4 years in project management and marketing between the Blazers and a local event company. Before that, I played division 1 soccer at the U of O while studying business.”

It’s easy to add one line to a statement like the ones above to describe what it is you’re looking for. One of the keys to that is to know your audience, which I’ll talk more about next time. For now, use the examples above to think about how you could concisely describe yourself to best showcase your most marketable experience. Leverage anything impactful such as of years of experience, areas in which you have expertise (i.e. office management, customer service, etc.), any impressive personal skills or accomplishments (i.e. language skills, athletic or artistic accomplishments), education or special training, etc. 

Next time I’ll go into tips on describing what you’re looking for. Until then…follow me on twitter at @MadeToHire. And stay tuned for big news from me next week as we enter 2018!

What is Marketing Yourself and Why Do You Need to Get It?

What is Marketing Yourself and Why Do You Need to Get It?

We’re constantly bombarded by companies marketing and selling things to us. Whether it’s the new sneakers they make you believe you must have or the next iPhone about to release, brands are marketing to you every day. Believe it or not, you really have a crucial role in all the marketing happening out there. It’s to consciously and actively market yourself. 

No matter what your career goals may be, your ability to market yourself will be the biggest reason why you succeed or fail. That sounds heavy, but I promise you that in all my years in business and career coaching, it’s the golden ticket. You may have the right degree or look fantastic on paper, but nothing will be more critical to your career success than your ability to market yourself.

So, what does it mean to ‘market yourself?’ Well, the guy who beat you out for that internship or job you really wanted last year…he marketed himself better than everyone. The girl who got all the face time with the guest speaker at that networking event this summer...well, she nailed it. Marketing yourself is how you present yourself and how you communicate to make yourself stand out. I want you to be the one who wins in those situations. I promise you; you can do it. And I’m here to teach you the things you need to know to make it happen.

So where do you start with marketing yourself? It begins in your head. It’s time to start thinking about marketing differently. Specifically, how marketing can help you. The most important thing currently being marketed [or not!] is YOU. And the great news is there’s nothing you know more about than yourself. You might not be doing much to market yourself just yet but it starts today, and step 1 is simple. It’s tweaking how you think about yourself. Starting today, you are the empire. You are the company, and you are also the number one product. I encourage you to read that again – you are the company, and you are also the number one product. 

To get yourself started, you need to answer this question:

What adjectives do you want to describe you? I love words like ‘results-oriented’ and ‘team player.' After deciding on the words you want to be known for, you need to challenge yourself actually to live by those words. Ask yourself daily if you are putting that version of yourself forward and course correct if you need to. 

The next step will be going further into how you describe yourself and what sets you apart. I’ll talk about that in my next post but for now, start being keenly aware of how you are presenting yourself and communicating. Until next time…follow me on twitter at @MadeToHire.

I want to help you get to where you want to be.

Over the past 17 years, I’ve built my career in marketing. I've been hired by companies ranging from global brands to start ups to help them solve marketing challenges. Helping others through marketing is not just my profession; it’s my passion.

While building my marketing career, I also started career coaching; fueled by my desire to share the insights I’ve gained around career success that aren't taught in school. Working with countless students and young professionals, I've developed a kind, yet direct approach to help people move past just looking good on paper to actuallygetting what they want in their careers. It has worked time and time again, which made me think…

What if I could teach more people about the parallels between marketing and career building? Simply stated, marketing is connecting a product or service with a target consumer. Building your career is the same thing - it's just that YOU are the product and the career or company is your target.

I had a dream years ago to write a book on this topic to make all my tips and tools available to more people. I’m thrilled to announce that dream has become a reality with my new venture: Made To Hire: Market Yourself For The Career You Want. Not only is that the title of my upcoming book, set to release next fall, but also the name of my new company. The company is focused on helping students and young professionals reach their career goals by thinking like an expert marketer.

Over the next few months I’m excited to share more with you about Made To Hire. Not only will I be publishing my first book, but also hosting workshops (the next one is Feb 10th at the Moda Center and it's open to the public). I’ll let you know when workshop registration is live. An online course is also in the works. 

I hope you'll stay connected with me on this journey as I launch Made To Hire. The best way to do so is to follow my new Twitter account, @MadeToHire, and look for updates on my LinkedIn page. 

Thank you for all your support!

 p.s. My marketing consulting firm, FIXX Consulting, is still doing business as usual.