Sometimes making a bad impression is not always a bad thing. In fact, I'd say it's better than making no impression at all. With people, personalities that are strong, regardless of whether they are positive or negative stand out in other people's minds. Think about being at a dinner party where you meet a group of people with a range of different personalities. One of the characters was arrogant and cocky, while a couple of the others just disappeared into the background. I'm sure you would have left the dinner party later that night with thoughts of the arrogant person.
While I'm not encouraging people to become impossible, the point that I'm making is you need to exude a strong personality – to glue together your personal brand – especially if you're a graduate job-seeker. It thus becomes more a case of Personality Branding!
Employers that you meet on campus, networking events and interviews should go away with a strong picture about who you are. Imagine being at a campus networking event where you meet an HR representative from your dream company. How are you going to stand out in that person's mind after the event is over, when every other student has also been vying for their attention? Well if you guessed "personality", you can see where I'm going with this.
Let's take three hypothetical scenarios of different students that connected with the same company:
1. Jenny, spoke to the hiring manager at Company X and exuded a very warm and friendly personality in their conversation. She later emailed the HM she spoke with to say thanks and she'll be applying for a graduate position. The HM remembered Jenny and was thrilled by her decision and looks forward to her application.
2. Fred, spoke to the same hiring manager at Company X but exuded an overconfident and egotistical persona in his conversation. He also later emailed the HM expressing interest in the position. The HM received his email with some ambivalence as though Fred may have come across as presumptuous, he had a strong personality nonetheless. His attitude can be developed and harnessed for the better.
3. Derek, spoke to the same representative as both Jenny and Fred but did not really radiate any personality at all. He asked a few questions but did nothing to display his character. Derek also emailed the hiring manager later as he was too interested in this company. The HM did not recall meeting Derek at all, so was not anticipating his application with the same interest as others.
You can imagine that from the perspective of a hiring manager that receives many individual requests and applications for the company, making a firm impression is imperative. For the hiring manager above, he now has certain expectations of Jenny and Fred if they make it to the next round of the application process. Derek's lack of personality however means that he really has to start again in depicting his personal brand at the next round … if he actually makes it that far.
This unfortunate exit can put a stop to your job search before it even starts. I recall an incident in my previous role as a campus recruiter, hiring teaching fellows for a position in Africa. One of the candidates that attended the group interview made no impression on me at all. He did not engage me or others in conversation and was quite brief in his responses. I discounted him as a worthy candidate as a result, but tried one last time by speaking to him one on one. It was in that personal conversation that I really understood what made this fellow tick. He had a wealth of knowledge to offer, was so passionate about social entrepreneurship and was an all round compassionate person. If it was not for my last ditch effort to salvage something from his presence, his candidature would have been in the toilet. Job-seekers should be aware that you will not always be given a second chance and first impressions count.
So scenario 1 is ideally where graduate job-seekers should be, but if not, making a firm impression is more important than making no impression.
Personality is important to distinguish yourself whether you're a salesperson, evangelist, artist, athlete, marketer … and especially if you're a job-seeker. When instituting your personal brand, personality is your Brand Promise and you must deliver on it.
