What's your brand?

Last week, I was at a career event featuring Fordham alumni, and one successful alum gave the group an interesting bit of advice. "I'm not saying this just because I'm in advertising," he started, "but employers are interested in buying a brand. You need to create a brand for yourself and then go sell it." His name is Paul and he is the Executive Vice President of BBDO's New York office (so clearly, he has something going with that).

Coincidentally enough, this morning I happened to stumble across an article by Fast Company titled "7 Ways to Build a Brand From Scratch." Ok, I thought, some higher power is really trying to give me a hint--work on my brand. The article was largely about taking advantage of "brand-lag"--when there is clear need for a new product, but no brand to fill it.

This product-development story, along with the words of that Fordham alumni, got me to thinking--what exactly is my brand? What do I have to offer (as an employee, as a volunteer, as a friend) that no one else can offer and that someone else needs?

Think about the last time you bought deodorant (let's forget the fact that you are a broke college student and probably bought the cheapest thing on the shelf). If you're like most Americans, when shopping for deodorant, you have a certain brand in mind. Say your brand is Old Spice. Old Spice smells good; Old Spice is reliable; it is fairly priced; you get along with Old Spice; it's been there for you for a while. You would never take your chances on Fly and Dry, that new brand on the shelf. No, you, like most consumers, will stick to the brand you know, Old Spice. Why? Well for one, you've never even heard of Fly and Dry--why would you buy something that hasn't been recommended to you (either by an advertisement or by a friend)? Two, you don't need Fly and Dry--your current brand, Old Spice, offers everything that Fly and Dry does, so why switch now? According to Paul, this is exactly how employers think.

You have to create a brand for yourself and sell it. Ask, "Where is there a brand-lag, and how can I fill it? What do I have to offer that someone else needs? Have other people tried my brand (at internships, for example)? Have I made my brand credible enough that it can be recommended to others?

Building a brand from scratch is tough, but it is important. Besides, who's to say you can't be the next Old Spice?

P.S. Here's the link to that Fast Company article in case you're interested in reading it.

Give Up the Jigsaw Puzzle

As a senior who will be graduating in May, I’ve been spending a lot of time lately researching prospective employers. I’m from California, but want to stay in New York after graduation. So obviously, I need to have this all figured out (job, money, apartment, etc.) before May 18 (cue the dramatic music). As one would guess, this process is rather stressful and time-consuming. Looking for a job is like having a job.  And even as someone who tries to steer clear of misleading websites like Craigslist, I often find myself sifting for hours through more legitimate websites like Monster.com , Career Link or the like. Though what I'm realizing about myself is that thinking about finding a job actually creates more stress and worry for me than finding the job itself.

This is not to say that my career hunt is half-assed (on the contrary, it is quite rigorous). But I’ve realized that I’ve been looking at my job hunt the wrong way. Rather than see my search as a jigsaw puzzle, in which I need to find all the pieces all at once (job, money, apartment, roommates, etc.), I need to be looking at my hunt as more of a map—a process that I take one step, one stage at a time.

So, if you find yourself in a similar situation—thinking more about what you have to do than actually doing it—I recommend that you give up the jigsaw puzzle and pull out your map; even if you are the world’s best puzzler, it’s impossible to get all of the pieces all at once.

Proofread

There is nothing worse than having your laziness pointed out to you. This morning at my internship, I was in a meeting and someone pointed out a typo that the presenter had made. Naturally, for the presenter, acknowledgement of the mistake was embarrassing. For the rest of the room, the mistake was a huge distraction--now, rather than simply skimming over the presentation materials as most people do, everyone was concerned looking for this (and the next) typo.

This incident brought me back to an internship last summer, when I handed something in to my boss that I had totally neglected to proofread. I was so concerned with getting the assignment in on time (and so confident in my writing skills) that I had completely overlooked typing "on" instead of "of." To my embarrassment, it was pointed out to me, and the fact that I got the assignment in on time was now irrelevant because, in reality, I had turned in the project incomplete. Always, always proofread. It really sucks being caught with your pants down.

The Power of Asking

Often, we are denied things in life not because people won’t give them to us, but because we simply don’t ask for them. I came to this revelation last spring during my hunt for an internship. The company I'm currently employed with called and said that they wanted to hire me. I was stoked. This was exactly what I had wanted in an internship and the work environment was great. However, when I got the offer letter, I was incredibly disheartened. The stipend they were offering me was next to nothing, and I knew that there was no way I could take this internship and simultaneously eat three meals a day. I was ready to turn the internship down, when I remembered something: I was an asset and I had the power to ask, to negotiate. It took a lot of courage, but I asked for more. And you know what? I got it. Simple as that.

It’s scary as hell, but sometimes having the courage to ask is all it takes to get what you really want. Granted, if you ask ridiculous things of incapable people (such as your package being processed on time in the Fordham University post-office), you aren’t going to get very far. You have to ask the right things of the right people. But once you get the ask down, you’re just one step away from getting what you want: a yes.