Every week, NETSHARE hosts Ask the Coach, a phone-in coaching session with leading career management experts. Here is a post contributed by CEO coach Deb Dib, head of Executive Power Brand and Kim Batson, The CIO’s Coach. Nancy, a NETSHARE member posed this question to Deb Dib and Kim Batson after their Ask the Coach call on Monday: "A week ago I attended a career seminar where the speaker mentioned that a candidate’s success during an interview was based on his ability to meet four employer criteria which I’ve listed below with the percentage of importance each has to the hiring decision: · Can the candidate do the job? 20% · Does the employer like the candidate? 40% · Is the candidate a risk? 20% · Can the employer work out the money? 20% Even with a strong brand statement, if a hiring company does not like the candidate he or she may not be hired. What are some tips or suggestions to increase our chances of being liked by the employer? " Nancy, we say that being “liked” by an employer is set in motion by being authentic, confident, talented, and branded. Understanding your uniqueness and strengths will help you formulate your brand, which will in turn attract companies that value your brand and value you. That's the "likeability factor." Projecting authenticity is important because you need to be hired for who you are. You do not want to be hired to be someone you are not; you will then need to hide your true self for the whole of your employment at that company (and that is not sustainable). However, if the company relates to you and your brand, that’s where likability (and sustainability) begins. Certainly there will be times when you are called in for interview and the chemistry is just not there between you and the potential employer. That’s all right, it happens, and in those instances it is perhaps best to move on to the next opportunity. However, there are some steps you can take to cultivate likeability, which we will explore in the next Executive Update post.
