How to Brand yourself and Win the Interview

The presenter for this topic was Victoria Gates, a recruiter for the company Aerotek. She went over how to build up your own personal brand, how create an all-star profile on  LinkedIn that will help you appeal to HR professionals, and how to nail the second interview.

Victoria explained that building your personal brand requires answering three questions:

What is your mission statement?

How will you market yourself?

Where are you going to market brand?

She then shifted her presentation over to creating a solid online profile, more specifically on LinkedIn. She explained how 77% of HR professionals use social media to recruit most of the people for their company. She stressed that being able to network effectively, particularly online, is the biggest difference someone being perceived as a highly skilled worker or a mediocre one. It's also important to be relevant, to brand yourself, and professional.

Victoria explained that in order to have an effective LinkedIn profile, achieving an All-Star level was a huge first step. To gain All-Star you must:

• a photo
• a headline
• an industry and location
• a summary
• at least 3 experiences 
• your education
• five or more skills 
• 50+ connections

As far as photo is concerned, Gates said that make sure it isn't a group photo and that it shows your personality not just a boring version of you. She talked about how the profile isn't like a resume so when putting down experiences use anything and make sure it isn't vague, predictable or, fluffy.

Lastly, she gave us ways to prepare for interviews and how to nail them to get the job. She said to do your homework and research a company before interviewing for a job there. Also she suggests using the company site to learn more about them. Be prepared to tell a story about how your experiences relate to the job. Behavioral interview questions are some of the most common and the key is to talk about your experiences in a logical, linear way. Finally, she said that a thank you note is important and that if you really like the job then to send it within 24 hours.