ULTIMATE GUIDE TO UPSKILL FOR INTERVIEWS AND CREATE YOUR PERSONAL BRANDINGWritten by FlexCareers and FlexCoaches Karen Lewitton and Debra Close.

CONTENTS

Who do you think you are? – create your story and your personal brand in three easy steps

4 tips to set you up for interview success

Interview skills to help you come back from a career break successfully

1-3

4-6

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Having a personal brand is an important part of a person’s career and we are here to help you sift through the noise and get down to the reality of who you are, in your professional and personal lives.

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? - CREATE YOUR STORY AND PERSONAL BRAND IN 3 EASY STEPS.Have you ever heard of buzzwords like ‘personal brand’ or ‘value proposition’ and wondered what it all means? Personal branding is made up of thoughts, ideas, perceptions and opinions of oneself. All of which you have the power to influence.

Having a personal brand is an important part of a person’s career and we are here to help you sift through the noise and get down to the reality of who you are, in your professional and personal lives. By building a solid personal brand, individuals can become more visible in their industry, improve their reputation among recruiters and managers and leave a more lasting impression during online and in-person networking.

Identifying and knowing what your personal brand or distinctive characteristics are will not only give you an advantage during your next interview or performance review, but it will create deep and meaningful relationships at work. Why? Because knowing who you are and what you represent will motivate you and drive your success. It will allow you to take an active role in your life to benefit others around you, in the workplace and outside of it.

What is a personal brand?

Personal branding is not about self-promotion, it is not about how popular or important you are. It starts with a commitment to deliver value. What

we mean by that is your values are your set of principles and standards of behaviour important to you. In turn, these values will be considered as beneficial to someone else. Your personal brand represents what you are consistently able to deliver in your professional life and how you can help others. It creates trust within others because they can see your intentions clearly and know your intentions are genuine. Both are key to fostering trust.

Why is personal branding important?

There are several reasons why your personal branding is important:

1. Gaining trust – people you work with directly or indirectly will feel more comfortable working with you when they know what you do, and what you stand for. It will be easier for them to let you do what you do best and let them know you are genuine and sincere.

2. Building connections and credibility – it can help you build connections with others across your own and other industries. Through your

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personal brand you can establish yourself as a thought leader and an expert in your area which can increase your visibility.

3. Gaining confidence – as you uncover your positive qualities and strengths, you are increasing your self-esteem and self-worth. It can give you direction as to how and where you can best use your strengths.

4. Having authenticity – your personal brand comes from your passions, skills, goals and values. It is unique to you and can help you grow. If you remain true to yourself while developing your personal brand it will showcase your authenticity to others and bring you joy in your work and personal life.

Step 1: Defining your message

What do you stand for? What do you believe in? What problem do you solve? While these may seem a little abstract and hard to pin point, it is good to start with the last question. For example, you know you are good at closing and converting sales. From that you could say “I excel at closing sales. I can provide a unique sales experience to prospects who will choose this company over the competitors.” Another example may be that you work in public relations and want to make the world a better place. Your statement may go something like: “I want to be the best in PR by reaching company goals and personal goals, using best practice for myself, colleagues and clients and use communications to make the world a better place.” By asking yourself what problem it is that you solve, you are asking yourself what your strengths are and where they meet with your passions: who can I help because of my unique combination of skills, experience, personality and passion? As such you are creating authenticity and consistency.

Step 2 – Identify your strengths and passions The easiest place to start to identify your strengths and passions is to ask your friends and family. These are the people you see most frequently and who matter to your life. They are the starting block – who you are to them is who you are. Here are some tips:

• Ask your family and friends to describe you in a one or two words.

• How are you currently perceived at work and within your industry? Is that different to how would you like to be seen?

• Ask a trusted colleague or friend what type of work you would be suited for? Or what your strengths are? What sort of work would they refer you to?

• You could ask one of your connections on LinkedIn. What work do they perceive you would do?

Now you can take some of that information and start to formulate your personal brand. There are 2 ways to start wording your personal brand: 1. Identify one to three values and

the reasons why these values are important to you and what you can do to live by these values: ‘I value…because... Accordingly, I will…’

2. Identify what you want to achieve, do, become and the reasons why it is important and the specific behaviours or actions you can use to get there: ‘To…so that… I will do this by…’.

You can do this exercise as many times as necessary for as many values and achievements you have. In fact, we encourage you to write down as many as you can. Each one will add to your personal brand and help you in your everyday life, be it work, returning to work or looking for work.

Step 3 - Spread the word: How to manage your personal brand Use every tool at your disposition, including your social media accounts, a blog, a website, your online communities…They all tell your story and can spread the word. Make sure your personal brand evolves as you do, for example your story in your 20s will be different to your story in your 40s, and your story before a career break will be different to the one you come back with. When it comes to interviewing, you can use your personal brand to create a picture of who you are. That means talking about your achievements (including those during any career breaks), what you’ve worked on and with whom. It also means talking up the value you have previously added to your organisation, department, team, manager and so on. Now you have identified your personal brand and created an authentic story, it will be easier for others to imagine and picture who you are. Owning your personal brand and knowing your personal brand will build trust within your circle. And remember - whatever your message, the information you share needs to represent who you are and how you want to authentically be seen.

“When we are sitting in front of a prospective employer, their impression

of us is no different.”

4 TIPS TO SET YOU UP FOR INTERVIEW SUCCESS

Tip 1: First Impressions Count

As humans we naturally judge others on appearance, making unconscious decisions about what they look like and their body language, and from that form an opinion, rightly or wrongly. When we are sitting in front of a prospective employer, their impression of us is no different.

These five things should be your priorities when thinking of how to make a good first impression:

• Dress your best for the interview. Choosing to dress formally and professionally will show your interviewer you have made an effort and want to be taken seriously. Even if it is an interview over Skype, it pays off to dress well.

• Make sure you are on time. Make sure you know your travel route and location before the interview and give yourself extra travel time in case something holds you up. You’ll feel much more relaxed knowing exactly where you are going.

• Maintaining good eye contact, posture, firm handshakes and listening carefully are key. Studies show people make judgements within the first four minutes of meeting someone which form the basis of their impression of you.

• Cultural fit. Understanding the culture of the organisation you are interviewing for is crucial because it will help you sell yourself and show how you will be a good fit for that organisation. After all, you have applied for the job because you are

drawn to what the organisation represents.

• Research the organisation’s mission statement and values. Many of the companies that advertise on FlexCareers have a microsite information hub (such as Deloitte) and each microsite is a great source for information about the organisation’s values, culture and work place initiatives. In addition, pay close attention to the job description itself, the company website, your network, annual reports and mentions of the organisation in the news and social media.

In summary, being prepared with as much detail as you can will help squash the nerves you may feel leading up to an interview.

Tip 2: The Elevator Pitch

An elevator pitch is essentially a succinct and persuasive sales pitch. Like your personal branding statement, it needs to convey your skills and abilities and what makes you awesome. Your elevator pitch should be around a minute or so and include something that make you unique making the interviewer sit up and listen.

Here are our suggestions to get the process started:

• Identify your goal: what is the objective? For example, you want to be hired as the Senior Operations Manager for company X.

• Explain what you do: what is it that

Interviews are part and parcel of the job-hunting process, and at the end of every successful job application is an interview, be it face to face, over the phone or Skype. While many of us are apprehensive about this stage of the job-hunting process, there are some neat tricks of the trade we have put together to help put your nerves to rest.

you want? The interviewer needs to remember you. And convey it with enthusiasm. For example, ‘I worked in the business unit dedicated to using technology to manage staff remotely. This resulted in efficiency for managers and staff happiness’.

• Communicate your personal brand: what is it that makes you unique. If you have read the section about Personal Branding and identified yours, you will be able to use it here, once you’ve talked about what you do.

• Engage with a question: preparing open-ended questions to involve the interviewer in the conversation. This will show your genuine interest in the organisation and showcase your listening skills.

• Practice makes perfect: practice your pitch in front of friends or family to get it right. Recite it from memory and deliver it in an enthusiastic and confident manner.

There is no way to predict what your interviewer will ask, but preparation will assist you in doing the best job you can. Being prepared allow the interviewer to have a good understanding of your past performance which is indicative of your future potential.

Tip 3: Interview questions

General interview questions are mainly to break the ice, to build rapport and find out about you – whether you understand the role and the culture of the organisation. Some

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preparation as face-to-face interviews. They allow an employer to screen a candidate before a face to face interview. Face to face interviews allow for interpretation through body language. When someone is physically in front of you, their movements, their eye contact and their tone of voice help you. However, during a phone interview the messages can be misinterpreted, we may speak at the wrong time or not understand intonation.

Follow the tips below to ace your phone interview:

• Preparation: research the organisation as you would do for a face to face interview. Your end goal here is to secure a face to face interview. Prepare an ice-breaker and prepare for expected questions (like those mentioned in Tip 3).

• Answer the call professionally and write down the name of the interviewer and where they are calling from. It is all too easy to get caught up in the interview and the nerves and not remember the name of the person you are speaking with. Using a person’s name is grabbing their attention and letting them know you are focused on them.

• If you get the phone call at a time that’s inconvenient, don’t feel uncomfortable to re-schedule to when you have ideal conditions - when you can speak freely, without interruptions and in a quiet environment. You want to give yourself every chance of success, having the interview on the bus on the way home might not give you that chance.

• Have a cheat sheet – the advantage of a phone interview means you can have a copy of the job description and a copy of your CV next to you. Not being seen allows you to highlight the areas you want to emphasise that relate to the job description. Have a pen and some paper to take notes too. This is useful if you want to extra clarity on something the interviewer has talked about it is easy to forget what has been said mid conversation.

• Have a drink of water before you speak and smile as you speak. Although you can’t see the person you are speaking with, emotions can still be conveyed over the phone. Sitting up straight or standing can also help with nerves and voice clarity.

• Remuneration: The first thing you can do is say that you are more interested in the role than the remuneration package. You can also mention since the organisation pays market rates, you would be keen to hear what they are offering. The best ammunition is research. If you are feeling pushed or want to have a quote or a figure in mind, have a look on a few job boards for similar roles/job titles and you can say you have researched what the market is paying.

Karen, a Career and Executive Coach, brings years of solid knowledge and experience to help her clients discover their goals and provide the tools to assist realisation. Becoming a parent is such an exciting period, at the same time it often means a change in one’s own career expectations. Being out of the workforce can create a feeling of disconnection which can make it hard to re-integrate. Karen’s support will ensure as little disruption to your career as possible. She will provide the tips, tools and strategies to maintain your confidence in your competencies & skills and positively impact your transition back to work, keep your career on track and ultimately enhance your long-term career development.

FlexCareers offers a free 30-minute introductory meeting with our FlexCoaches, to help you establish if coaching is right for you. You can reach out to Karen through her FlexCoach profile here.

ABOUT KAREN LEWITTON

general questions that are frequently asked at interview are: • ‘Tell me about yourself?’: The

focus should be on experience and education followed by information about yourself. This will show the interviewer how you will relate to staff members.

• ‘Would you like to talk me through your CV?’: Spend this time discussing your experience that relates most to the job description. If you have followed the CV structure outlined in the Return to Work guide, you will be able to show the interviewer precisely how great of a fit you are.

• ‘What appeals to you about this role?’: This the opportunity to showcase your strengths and introduce your motivations about applying for the role

• ‘Why do you think you would be a good fit for this organisation?’ and ‘What attributes would make you a strong candidate for this role?’: Your personal brand, your strongest attributes and the research you have done into the organisation’s culture and values will help you answer these questions.

• ‘Do you have any questions for us?’: Don’t forget having your set of good questions about the organisation and the specific role demonstrates that you understand the industry or the challenges facing the role. Asking what would be expected from you in the first 30 to 90 days in the role can be helpful to understand exactly what is entailed.

While it is important to make your case for the role, what you don’t say is equally important. Any negative comments regarding past employers are a big no and the topic of benefits and salary can be challenging, with the general rule being anything related to remuneration should be raised by the interviewer or by you if there is a second interview. Tip 4: Phone Interviews

Phone interviews are often the first step in the process and require just as much, if not sometimes more,

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You want to have the confidence to be able to tell the interviewer why you would make a good fit.

INTERVIEW SKILLS TO HELP YOU COME BACK FROM A CAREER BREAK SUCCESSFULLY

So, you are on a career break and you have decided to start job hunting again. You may be feeling nervous, you’ll be wondering if your skills are up to date, you may be anxious about how you’ll come across, and worry how you might measure up to other candidates who are not returning from a career break. Fear no more! We have outlined what you can do to set yourself up for success in the first interview. This first interview will not just be about what you can do, but also about who you are and what you stand for. The interviewer will be asking themselves questions like: ‘Do I like this person? Can I see myself working with this type of person? Will this person fit into our team? Our culture?’ Your main goal coming back from your career break will be to ‘sell’ yourself. You want to have the confidence to be able to tell the interviewer why you would make a good fit.

Here are 4 common questions to prepare for: 1. Tell us about yourself. You need to

be very clear about who you are and what you can give to this job.

2. What are your strengths? Here they’re looking to see if your strengths match to how things are done in their organisation. They’re looking at the softer skills like teamwork, personal responsibility, perseverance. If you can’t verbalise your strengths, get some help. Some

career coaches are accredited in work-based strengths tools.

3. What are your weaknesses? Find something that has challenged you in the past but you’ve worked to overcome, for example, an ability to delegate. Be real and honest and show you can learn and change - all great characteristics of an employee!

4. Why do you want to work here? Here you summarise how your skills suit the role, but also your cultural fit. You’ll need to have done your research on the company and industry beforehand and thought about how your values and mission align with theirs.

Lastly, be sure to ask some questions of your own in the interview. This shows you’ve thought things through, have initiative and are serious. Examples to help you answer that question may include: what’s the number one priority for the person who takes this job? What traits would the ideal candidate for this job possess? How would you describe the organisational culture? Remember, it’s about you and the prospective company being a fit for both of you. If you work somewhere where your values don’t align with the company’s, it won’t feel right – you’ll either not last or just hate your job. And life’s too short for that! themselves. In the FlexCareers community there are fantastic people to reach out to online and

as FlexCoaches, Kate and Debra are available to chat with you about these ideas and help you get moving again!

First things first: your career break speaks volumes about who you are – your strong family values, and your desire to focus on this for a period of time. We are helping you turn it into a positive!

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FlexCoach Debra Close is a specialist in Positive Psychology Coaching for mums. Whether you’re looking to return to work, or are balancing a career with family, Debra can help you answer your career questions. She is certified with the Strengths Profile tool and specialises in helping women change careers, transition back into work and position themselves for promotion. Her clients tell her she helps them feel fully prepared and confident to kick their career goals.

FlexCareers offers a free 30-minute introductory meeting with our FlexCoaches, to help you establish if coaching is right for you. You can contact Debra Close through FlexCareers here.

ABOUT DEBRA CLOSE

FlexCareers was founded in February 2015 with the goal of improving the career outlook for Australia and New Zealand’s 4 million underemployed women.

Today, we are moving the narrative on flexible working beyond the gender.

FlexCareers has engineered game-changing technology to create a careers platform that connects talented individuals with progressive employers offering flexible work.

As a leading gender diversity and flexible working partner, we support organisations with unique technology, research and strategic consulting services, to achieve gender diversity by making flexible work a reality for more people, including our proprietary Return to Work program.

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