Rory Cullen, Kaizen Software Developer

A few months ago, when I was not working on a million projects, I volunteered to speak to one of my networking groups.  After some delays on my end, it is now slated for next week.  The topic is one of my hobbies, “Personal Branding.”  If you have been reading this blog, you know that this is one of my frequent topics.

I became involved in Personal Branding about 15 months ago when I started thinking about a career shift.  In doing my research on “the modern job search” and career techniques, I found that Branding was a common topic.  The concept of selling yourself as a brand is a relatively recent phenomenon (10+ years), but an interesting approach that appealed to me due to the leveraging of the Internet and social media.

Anyway, I incorporated much of what I learned into my own job search over the past year, and feel that it has certainly contributed to a more successful online presence.  I have some doubts about my own branding attempts, but I certainly have been consistent across my online interactions.  If nothing more, it has given me something to write about this year!

I spent the past two days putting together my materials for my talk, including building a “deck,” as my former colleagues used to say (that’s PowerPoint by the way).  Today, as I was commenting on a blog post about Branding, I had to revisit my big dilemma for my presentation.  The majority of the bloggers on Personal Branding are in Generation Y, and the lower part of Generation X.  They are under 40, tech savvy, and raised in a different world than the people I will be speaking to.  I think this is going to have a huge impact on the conversation we will have next week.

No matter where it is defined, Personal Branding is most often described as an intersection of your passion and what you do best.  It also needs to be something that has value to an organization.  Generation Y and Millennials (basically, anyone under 30) were raised by their parents to believe they can do anything they want.  Hence, they may actually be pursuing careers in areas based on passion, rather than on what might be “a good job with good benefits.”  It’s easy to write your branding statement when you are doing what you love.

“Blog about Guitar Hero” – Some dude
“Super-Tweeter about FaceBook stuff” – Cyber dude

The group I am speaking to is likely ages 35-65, unemployed or underemployed.  Solidly GenX and Boomers.  They have probably spent large portions of their careers working for a single company for 10-20 years.  They have been defined by that company’s brand.  These folks were not raised like the younger folks.  They fell (or were pushed) into those careers, or companies, where benefits were good, and prospects bright…or at least predictable.  Passion was secondary.  In fact, they are doing the same now.  If I had a nickel for every person I have heard say, “I was in finance, but I’m looking to get into healthcare,” I’d have a lot of nickels.  I have a feeling they didn’t all just become passionate about healthcare overnight.  Feel free to insert “Green jobs” in place of healthcare!  Again, they are pursuing the stable role, the safe path.

So, on Friday, I will be telling them about Personal Branding.  I will be suggesting that they focus on the intersection of their passion and what they are good at.  I will then wait for someone to say, “This is just my job, not my passion.”  I doubt I’ll hear the real truth, which may be, “I’m neither passionate nor good at my chosen career, but it’s too late to change now!”

Welcome to Personal Branding for the aged!

On a personal note, I love programming, and I’m getting better at it everyday.  I think I caught that Benjamin Button disease, because I’m getting more Millennial by the day!

Last week, I asked for your feedback on my Elevator Pitch.  I received a lot of feedback, both in the comments, and via private emails.

Most common responses:

• I looked stiff
• Didn’t smile at all (or the smile looked forced at the end)
• Tried to say too much
• Clearly reading the teleprompter, should have memorized the speech
• Didn’t seem like the person they know (“engaging and humorous”, I swear it’s a quote!)

Over 60% of Voters felt the production and content were good, while the remaining 40% felt either production or content needed work. That said, since there were only seven votes cast out of 37 viewers (59 total views of the blog post), I feel those numbers may not be statistically significant (my Six Sigma Black Belt days coming out for a visit!) Any way you slice it, I am thrilled with the feedback from so many sources. It also confirms my feelings about the video.

In my humble opinion, it was flat out awful. The awfulness was a true team effort. My eyes kept darting to the teleprompter, but then I’d been guaranteed that no one would notice. I looked like a professional athlete doing a local furniture ad. Stiff as a board, and just reading my lines. Post-production, the video was cut off too quickly at the end, resulting in a smarmy smirk instead of my genuine smile.

In addition, the text added to the top of the video did not accurately describe what I want to do.  It says “Process Improvement Specialist”, whereas I am a Software Developer.  It was like saying you are a real estate lawyer, and being labeled a realtor…or a dentist.  This was just poor marketing, top to bottom, and exactly the opposite of what I wanted.

Mistakes were made:

I stumbled into the filming of my pitch with very little forethought.  I was called the day before filming because a TV station was going to be there that day, and they did not have enough people filming pitches.  As a favor, and with the hope that I might get on TV (non cable-access), I practiced my pitch and showed up.  I admit, the TV angle was intriguing, and I hadn’t thought of the branding control issues I might face.  This was a mistake.

I have a brand.  My brand is “Kaizen Software Developer”.  Conceptually, it is meant to express both my software development focus, and my process improvement ability.  Although I talk about both in the video, I think process improvement was overemphasized as I use those words first.  I did not get across my message. Mistake #2.

I had no control over the release of the final cut.  I would have never released this video to the public, for all of the reasons given.  This isn’t 1909.  Film/Video is not a rare item nowadays, savored despite low quality.  Everyone with a camera or a phone can make a video of himself, so quality DOES matter.  This video is just not quality content that I would consider releasable.  Mistake.

I do not own the video.  For all I know, it could be sold off some day when I’m famous.  I keep a low, but focused, internet profile on purpose.  I try to maintain the highest standards across all of my public personas.  This does not meet those standards. #4.

The Pitch I used is designed for networking events, not for potential employers.  I think the speech itself is not awful, but it’s not made for this type of presentation.  I did not recognize that at the time, but it seems suddenly obvious to me.  I also tried to fit 60 seconds of material in 30 seconds.  Five.

As always, Learnings!

1. Control your brand!  Never let someone else have final cut on something in the public eye.  This is an absolute no-no.
2. Medium matters.  Things that work in person do not necessarily work on video.
3. If you make a mistake, correct it.  When Coke made the mistake of coming out with New Coke, they fixed the mistake (Coke Classic).

Final cut:

I am fixing my mistake.  I have asked them to remove the video from YouTube.  I don’t think it is representative of my best work, and I think it does not advance my interests.  In the end, that is all that matters.

If you need your fix on videos of me that are representative, please see these links to stories from earlier this spring:
NECN: http://www.necn.com/Boston/Business/2009/04/14/Job-seekers-turn-to-television/1239750266.html
WMUR: http://www.wmur.com/money/19075441/detail.html

Note: For the record, I volunteer with the NE Job Show, and do not wish to cast aspersions on the great work they are doing.  This blog is a reflection on my video only, and mostly on my own performance.  Many volunteers put time into this video, and I do not want to put their efforts down.  A camera person, technical guy entering speeches into the teleprompter, a person in the booth, two people to help with your delivery, an interviewer for a long-form segment, countless other organizers, plus post-production work.  Lots of people helped, which unfortunately makes me feel even worse about the result.  Please check out the full episodes of the NE Job Show online to see what they do.

A while back, I posted about my experience filming my elevator pitch.  Compared to many people I had watched, I felt I had a finely hewn pitch which emphasized my strengths and showed where I want to go.  About two weeks ago, the “final product” was loaded to YouTube and placed on the Blog for the New England Job Show.  I have strong feelings about this video, but I’d like to gather your reactions first.

Please take a moment to watch and rate the video using the poll buttons below.  Feel free to leave a comment on your reaction with more details as well.

>> VIDEO REMOVED, no longer on YouTube <<

I will post my own reaction in the next few days.

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First, a bit of housekeeping.  I’ve enjoyed my time on WordPress.com, but over the weekend I made the move to a self-hosted blog using the WordPress.org software.  After (and including) today, all new posts can be found on my primary site: http://www.rorycullen.com/blog/

If you follow me with Google Reader, etc., please update your subscription link.

And now, on to the main event:

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I am not exhausted.  My calves are a little sore, and I need a shower, but I’m not exhausted at all.  This is amazing to me.

A little background for starters:  Since leaving my last corporate role, and losing the subsidized gym that was included, I have been making do with my basement gym that consists of a NordicTrack and a treadmill.  Neither of these inspires me to be all that I can be, and my workouts have been noticeably flat lately, as opposed to my stomach.

About a month ago, on a beautiful spring morning, my girlfriend suggested I might like to run outside.  I was hesitant, but figured what the heck?  I might as well be outside, and it always feels like a better workout out there, not to mention there is nothing on TV on Sunday morning anyway.  I ran our local 3.1 mile loop, and felt pretty good.  I don’t think I even timed it, but guesstimated about 30 minutes or so.

A few days later, I did the loop again, and added a jog up a side street, maybe stretching the run to 3.3 miles.  Again, felt good.  A few days later, I did 4.25 miles, adding a new loop.  That added some serious hills.  This time, I was beat up by the hills, but was self-impressed once I measured it after the fact.  More days out, and I eventually went out and did 6.25 miles.  A few days later, I broke the eight mile barrier.  And since then, I have run two 10 mile days.  Twice this past week I have broken the 8:00 minute mile mark on runs of over eight miles.  Some time over the past month this ceased to be about the workout, and became about the act of running itself.  This whole thing is amusing to me, because I’m not a runner at all.

I come from a family of four siblings.  I am the only one who has not run the Boston Marathon.  One ran it last year at 43 years old.  Two of them have run 10 miles in under 6:00 minute miles.  Even if you don’t run, you might recognize those as impressive stats.  Like many people, I am inspired of the Marathon footage every April, and amazed that anyone can run that far, and even foolishly think I could do it.  But then I remember high school.  I was a member of the Cross Country Ski team.  However, I went to school near the coast of Massachusetts, so we had very little snow.  I definitely remember at least one season when we only put our skis on once, for the championship race at the end of the season.  Anyway, those with snow: ski.  Those without: run.  This was torture for me.  I seem to recall walking in the back with a fellow teammate, complaining of shin splints, generally trying to avoid running with all my might.  Truly believing I was not made for running.

Before this spring, I had never run farther than four miles.  The few times I had run that far, it was for races in support of charities, and I was sore for days.  I have also had some knee issues and have had some overuse injuries in the past.  But over the past month, I have realized that I really enjoy running.  I like knowing I’ll be outside and away from my computer.  I spend seven days a week at my laptop, but I can’t check email out there.  I can’t write blog posts.  I can’t do anything but think and run.  Some days I use the time to write a post in my mind like today.  Others I just purely focus on the run itself.  Most people use an MP3 player, but I am still in the honeymoon phase, enjoying the purity of the act itself.  My breathing, birds, Sunday morning softball games, yard sales.  I’m also on some busy roads of course, so self-preservation comes to mind as well.

So what have I learned this month?

• I shouldn’t run more than 6 miles without a water break.
• Check your route before you run.  If the road is busy, thin, and has no sidewalks, try somewhere else!
• Roads that appear flat from the driver’s seat of your car are not, in fact, flat.
• People are friendlier when you are running.
• Recycling is great, but running by a local paper recycling plant is not (it stinks!)
• Running is more fun if you have a lot of choices.  I run a big loop that offers countless options for expanding my run.  I don’t know how far I am going to run until I’ve hit my last leg.
• Fill up a water bottle before you leave so it’s ready when you get back. (I know this, I just don’t do it)
• You can really surprise yourself when you least expect it.
• I have a lot more to learn.

I will never run as fast as my brothers and I don’t know if I will ever run the Boston Marathon.  Maybe it’s a cliché, but it truly is about the journey, not the destination.  Was I able to run all these years, and just didn’t know?  It goes to show; it is never to late to try something new.  Whether it is a career change at 50, or a new sport at 70, you may have no idea what you can do until you try.

Ok, I may not be exhausted, but my knee might hurt tomorrow…

Have you ever heard of a “phantom” limb?  This experience sometimes happens to amputees, they sometimes feel like the limb they have lost is still present.  It must be a bizarre feeling.  Anything that occupies a spot in your life for 10 years is certainly going to feel like a major loss.  Although not nearly so traumatizing, I have a major phantom limb of my own, born from my last job.

I had lunch yesterday with a former co-worker in my old “work” neighborhood.  While observing several former co-workers enter the restaurant, I was reminded of my phantom limb, my employee ID.  There are memories associated with that ID.  This ID hung off my left pocket for years, and before that, my right pocket.  I remember why I moved it from my right pocket.  I had been playing goalie in indoor soccer, and had sprained my right thumb.  My simian arms hung low enough that I struck my thumb joint on the ID card when I walked around, so I moved it to the left side to relieve the irritation.

Your ID becomes a part of you, good and bad.  You check for it when you leave the house everyday.  Sometimes, you have that brief panic that it’s missing, even though it’s Saturday and you’re on the way to the beach.  Muscle-memory playing tricks, or maybe real memory.

At my former employer, people could use it to judge how long you have been with the company.  Maybe you have gained weight, lost hair, had a nose job.  Maybe your hairstyle was courtesy of Aquanet, or George Clooney (the Caesar anyone?), or Billy Ray Cyrus?  Maybe it hasn’t changed since then?

My picture was a freeze frame of my first day.  I was wearing a purple button-down shirt that my brother gave me.  This was my favorite shirt, which I wore like clockwork until my elbow broke through the fabric in the sleeve one day, also at work.  In my picture, I had good hair, and a decent tan.  I had just returned from a two-week vacation in Japan and Seattle, visiting another brother and some good friends.  I had hiked Mt Washington over the previous weekend.  It’s funny, my first thought while writing this was “Who was that guy?” but I haven’t changed that much at all.  I have hiked Washington seven or eight times since, have been to a few more exotic places, and my hair…well, let’s not revisit that again.  Anyway, sometime over the past few months, I stopped checking for my badge.  I don’t remember when.

This afternoon, I noticed my parking sticker on my car, also from my previous employer.  This was not just a parking sticker, but also a way I recognized cars on my commute, and in other lots around the region.  Some days it seemed like every other car was from my employer.  It was a symbol to me, a way to recognize people who I shared a common bond with.  I guess there will be a finality of removing the sticker, but it doesn’t hold the allure of my ID.  I forget the sticker, tucked there in the rear passenger window, ironically in my blind spot.  Seeing it today was a reminder of the past, but held little emotional resonance.

I think I’ll scrape that sticker off over the weekend.  And you know, I’m a little color-blind, so my favorite shirt may have been blue after all.  If only I had a picture to remind me…

I officially started this blog on April 1st.  As May ends, I am reflecting on what I have learned over these two months.

Stuff I’ve learned:

It is hard to break out from your core “audience” by magic.  Although I have increased readership from seven for my first post, to 50 for my more recent posts, it is hard to break on through to a larger audience.  My core “audience” of course consists of people I already know, who I contact via email, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

I really enjoy writing.  I always have, but it’s rewarding to get positive feedback.  It’s also a lot of work.

Don’t be afraid to scrap a post if it is junk.  I have about five of these so far, so about 25% of what I write gets dumped. Most are only a paragraph or two, as it’s easy to see when you have failed.  More importantly, I posted some that were just not good.

On that same topic…Don’t force it.  Pick good topics.

Don’t sacrifice quality for quantity.  I haven’t blogged in over a week, because I didn’t have a topic.  That said, the list of people who start a blog and abandon it shortly thereafter is a long one, so don’t be one of them!  According to Technorati, of 133 million blogs worldwide, only 7.4 million have been updated in the past 120 days (2008 data).  I have four blogs, and only one has been updated in the past 120 days. That said, one is a placeholder, one was for a short-term event, and one is linked to my Java project rollouts, and has been idle as I work on projects for others.  (Game time: Try to find my other three blogs. Credit in my next post for anyone who can find all three)

I comment on other peoples’ blogs more often now.  This leads to more readers, plus I recognize the value of feedback.  Every comment on my own blog is a coup, indicating that I engaged the reader with my topic.

People like pictures.

Two months, by the numbers:
Posts: 15
Page Views: Over 750
Average Views: 45 per post (excluding the “About” page)
Comments from people I don’t know: 1 (this is a huge achievement)

Most popular post so far:
I’m not a doctor, but I write like one beats out the Beard branding post by 1 view.

I have a few ideas rattling around my head right now, but haven’t pinned down the best topic.  The fact is, I started this blog as a self-promotional tool, and it has rather failed so far in that respect.  In reality, it’s more fun to write about other things.  Yes, I want to promote my skills and desire for full-time employment, but I can’t deny that those posts might be less interesting.  Maybe I’ll test that out later this week with something designed purely with my own self-interests in mind!

Thanks again for reading, feel free to send in topic ideas to keep my creative juices flowing!

When I was younger, much younger, I believed there was a guy in my town named Guy Smiley.  His name was Guy, and he wasn’t too smiley.  But in my memory, my oldest brother put this idea in my head.  A quick Google search today reveals that Guy Smiley was a Sesame Street character, so it is likely that I was familiar with this character on my own accord.  In fact, I seem to recall his “This is your Life” parodies now that I have been reminded by Wikipedia.  Unfortunately, this also means it is unlikely that my brother, ten years my elder, knew of this kid in my town who was a year younger than me.  I have a tendency to blame that brother for most of the issues of that era as it turns out, but that’s for another post.

If you have ever been unemployed or underemployed, you know one of the hardest things to do is to keep your spirits up all the time.  In fact, there are posts written all the time about “getting your smile on!”  First, no one wants to talk to a grumpy sad sack.  Second, no one wants to work with one either!  Third, your family and friends won’t want to be around you.  All good reasons, but still easier said than done!  By the way, if none of those reasons is good enough, smiling is also a key to phone interviewing.  They say to speak with a smile on your face, and people can tell.  Smiles impact the sound and tone of your voice.

Why am I going on about this?  Because on Wednesday, I worked, and it felt great!  It was only an hour, but it felt good to do something interesting.  This is why I can’t wait to get back to work.  The backstory:  I submitted my name for a web usability study for a local company.  I signed an NDA (non-disclosure agreement), so I can’t talk about anything technical, but it was basically user testing of a new website.  I spent the time there with a usability expert, using a prototype of new features.  Since I have been doing web application development myself, I recognized a lot of the functionality and potential ways it was implemented.  I was able to speak in detail about the methods used, and pitfalls to some of the changes we were discussing.  It felt great to be doing something useful, and although my specific skills sets were not required, they certainly were helpful above and beyond expectations.  Clearly, I was pointing out things that they had never seen, but I also brought ideas and suggestions that they were not expecting from a “man on the street.”

So what made this day so rewarding?  I was able to show my technical acumen, my attention to detail, and make suggestions.  In just an hour, I felt like part of the team.  I was there to help solve problems, and I knew that I had contributed in a major way.  It felt useful, and I got a lot of genuinely positive feedback from the expert during the exercise.  The best part of the day was when she brought me my check.  No, not because of the money, but because of the feedback she brought from the other side of the two-way mirror.  Per the expert, one of her assistants said, “This guy is great, we should hire him.”  The pessimist might think, “Maybe she says that to everyone,” but why would she bother?  You don’t need to make me feel good; you’re already bringing me a check.  My read on the situation was that was a genuine expression that I was of value.  Ironically, many people don’t get this much feedback at work all year!

The rewards above are the same reasons why I volunteer to review people’s résumés, why I volunteered to give a speech on personal branding in a few weeks, and why I spent 45 minutes talking to someone I just met at a networking meeting last week.  I want to help, I want to be productive, and I want to be useful to others.  I know a few things that might help you, and you know things that might help me.  And in the end, I want to be thanked for my contribution.  Money is money, and it’s a requirement in the end, but heartfelt appreciation is pretty valuable.

This is exactly the point of this blog.  All it took was an hour to see that I bring a lot to the table.  Skip the interview, and bring me in to do some work for an hour.  If that works out, make an offer!  Ironically, this would take a lot less time than the usual interview process!

On a job search note, I did wear a tie today, and I had my business card out on the table prior to the feedback.  I was there to do my job, but also to make a good impression.  It does not hurt to advertise, and it does not hurt to look like a professional, even when you don’t have to.  You never know!  Do I realistically expect a call from this company in the future based on my performance?  No.  But did I make a great impression on a few people there?  Yes.  Baby steps…treat everyone you meet like a potential employer.  Hmmm, that might be a good idea in general, right?

Oh, in case you were wondering, Guy Smiley had hardly worked since 1990, poor guy.  But if he keeps on smiling, he’ll be hosting Letter pageants again soon!  Keep smiling big guy!

I must have struck a chord last week, because my blog had more comments than ever before. I appreciate all of the feedback, mentorship certainly hit home for a lot of people.

In job search news, I had an interview today for a very interesting job. I don’t want to share too much information at this point, but suffice it to say that it is much more interesting than it first appeared, and I really feel like I made a good impression on the interviewer.  As my fellow job seekers know, this is a clear sign that it went horribly wrong!

More importantly, this interview finally gave me an opportunity to plunge headlong into the wonderful world of thank you notes.  Prior to today, I have been emailing thank you notes to people with whom I have interviewed. In this day and age, it seems like a no-brainer. That said, I’ve had a nagging feeling that I was walking the thin line between convenience and laziness.

Does using a universally accepted method of communication indicate laziness? If you want to contact me during the day, I would suggest the most efficient way would be via text, or email. Since I’m not going to text a thank you note, it has to be email. However, email is very easy. Heck, I’m sure that’s why it’s so popular, along with the fact that it is basically free. I feel like I need to do something more. I can’t afford to send a gift card to every interviewer along the way, but I can afford to send a personal, hand-written thank you note.

Let’s think about the purposes of the occasionally maligned thank you note:

• To express genuine thanks for the person’s time. And additionally, though not written, thanks for actually pulling your resume out of the pile of hundreds!
• To remind the interviewer of why you are the best candidate for the job
• To show you are interested in the position
• To show that you understand the laws of courtesy in the interview process

My new approach now goes like this:

1. Thank you via email, same day. In this note, I express my thanks for the time, reiterate my interest in the position, and refer to anything I might want to highlight from our conversation. Maybe apologize for an F-bomb as necessary*
2. Hand-written card sent within 24 hours, but preferably the same day

Good intentions are all well and good (hence the name), but here’s where we hit a potential roadblock. My handwriting is atrocious. Well, not unreadable, but certainly not evidence of my ample time spent in finishing school. I am embarrassed that it is so poor, but I am hoping the obvious effort and care put into a hand-written note will carry more weight then the quality of my penmanship. I can’t even call it penmanship, for that is too flowery a word for my Times New Chicken Scratch.

I am a programmer. I spend most of my time on a computer. I have written hundreds of pages of documentation in my life, but I don’t think I have hand-written a letter since 1994. Need I be so ashamed that my grasp of the “written” word has drifted so far from what would once have been considered acceptable? Don’t even get me started on cursive; it might as well be Latin for its application to my daily life.

Am I right to think that a handwritten card trumps the fact that it appears to have been issued from the desk of a five year old? Have you run into this same dilemma? Do you now see why I don’t send hand-written cards around the holidays?

* F-bomb did not actually happen. However, if this ever happened, I don’t think I would mention a slip like that in a thank you letter. Better to let such things fade into oblivion!

Tough font!

I’ve been thinking about mentorship lately due to my schedule of meetings last week. I had lunch with my last manager last week. He was the guy who had to hand me my “blue folder” when my position was eliminated this winter. Poor guy, he got his own folder three months later. We had only worked together for just over a year, and I admit our relationship is still developing. Working out of separate offices didn’t help, and we hardly worked together on the same projects. Due to all these circumstances, he never really became a mentor in the true sense of the word. As I get to know him better, I realize we have a lot in common, so I’m glad we remain in touch.

The next day, I had lunch with another of my former managers. He is a good guy, and someone I get along well with. Again though, our relationship was not one of mentorship. In this case, I had already learned most of the technical aspects of my job prior to reporting to him, and already had the reputation as “the go-to guy” for all things tech. In general, I would say we have different strengths, and both worked to use those to move the group forward together.

We all have a lot of managers in our lives, but not a lot of mentors. Mentors don’t need to be managers, but could be anyone in your life who influences you in a positive way. Nearly all of my managers have been valuable, or even friends, but not all are mentors for whatever reason. Professionally, I have had three primary mentors in my life. I thrive with mentorship, and would like to figure out why they were good mentors compared to other managers I have had over the years.

Paul B was my first mentor. Paul moved in next to my parents’ house when I was about 10 or so. He didn’t really move in, as much as he bought the land, and proceeded to build the house himself. My family is great, but we don’t have a history of building things. This alone was impressive to me. Anyway, time moved along, and Paul hired me to work part time in his office when I was about 14. He ran a steel fabrication company across town, about a 20 minute bike ride for me. I would work mornings from 9:00-12 or so, opening mail, answering the phone, etc. I worked this job for about four summers, eventually working full days, and expanding my responsibilities. I was copying blueprints, delivering steel around the state, one time supervising some onsite work. Ok, I may have been supervising because the other guy lost his license in a DUI, but we take our promotions where they come! Anyway, Paul was a great businessman to watch. From my desk in our one room office, I heard every call, every deal, and an occasional curse while looking over plans. He dealt fairly and sternly with his employees, and clients. I guess Paul was the first person to give me a chance to do things I’d never tried. If I typed up a letter and it had a typo, he would have me retype that letter. It might take me all morning, which was costing him money, but he was willing to let me learn on the job. I made other mistakes, and he might reprimand, but he always gave me a second chance.

My next mentor was one of the great leaders in my career, Geno from my first professional role post-college. Geno had what great leaders should have: Powerful voice, great suits and ties, and he was tall. Geno hired me on to my first job after college, and he was a master motivator. He was a dynamic leader, and knew the value of his people. He was only my direct manager for part of my time there, but before that he had identified me as the guy to take over a lot of his tasks. He was the “tech” guy on the team. He took the client questions about our software. He dealt with the largest clients, he dealt with the trickiest data, he went to the client when necessary. And he chose me to be his protégé. I took to the tech side very easily, going on to be an Operations Manager myself (his former role), and eventually founding the help desk for our company. Geno made this happen by making me feel important, and truly believing in me, and being a natural leader. I made this happen by being smart, a quick learner, and willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done right.

Most recently, I had a solid mentor early in my development career in Bob. Bob and I butted heads as often as not, but he was the technical guy in the group. Although not a natural leader in the frame of Geno, Bob was the perfect person to help me take that next step from software support to software programming. Again, I was groomed to take over for the top tech guy, and I did. Bob showed me the ropes, answered my questions, and taught me the right way to do things. Again, we never really did things exactly the same way, but we both believed in doing things right.

It’s been fun recalling these memories, now I just need to determine what made them valuable to me. Paul gave me chances to try things I’d never done, and he gave me responsibility with the possibility of failure. Geno believed in me, and taught me that great leadership goes a long way. He also taught me about respect. Bob taught me how to program. In the end, I took over the jobs of two of these three mentors. They all had this in common: They saw my potential, and gave me a chance to shine in their organizations. In exchange, I achieved that potential each and every time. I also learned how to be a mentor, which is just as important. These are the relationships that breed success, and that breed loyalty. I hope I can find another one of these guys in my next role.

Have you had mentorship in your career? Is it something you look for in a company? I do. I haven’t seen Paul for years now, I’m going to arrange to meet him soon and say thanks in person.

I have a great opportunity coming up.  I have volunteered to speak about personal branding for one of the networking groups I meet with every week or two.  I have been researching and applying personal branding to my own job search for over a year now, and feel pretty passionate about its effectiveness, although I don’t really have too much solid feedback yet.  There is a lot to personal branding, but the basics involve coming up with a unique value proposition that people can equate to you.  In addition, it’s all about a consistent message associated with your name.  Basically, think of yourself as a brand.  I say Geico, you think gecko, and “so easy a caveman can do it”.  I say Nike, you can see the “Swoosh” symbol, maybe Tiger Woods, maybe Michael Jordan, maybe excellence because of those associations.  Branding is marketing, and all job searchers need to become marketers nowadays.

In some ways, this is an extremely difficult task, and in others, it’s quite simple.  It’s certainly the type of thing that you can ease into.  Here’s tip #1:  Use the same name whenever you need to refer to yourself.  Resume, business card, LinkedIn, Facebook.  Don’t be “Bill” in one place, and “William” in another.  People will fail to connect because you can’t be found easily.

So how does this affect me today?  Well, here in the northeast, we recently came off a beautiful weekend of temperatures in the 80s and 90s.  This usually starts me thinking about shaving my beard for the summer.  I have been a seasonal beardie for about four or five years, usually dropping the beard in May, and bringing it back in December.  I spend a lot of time outside in the winter skiing or snowshoeing, and it makes a big difference.  Usually, this is not a really important decision.  I might shave on a Friday, so I have the weekend to get a little color on my face and not seem so pale.  It’s rarely very long or unkempt, so the change is relatively minor in some ways.  However, how does this affect my personal brand?

I have met a lot of new people in the past six months.  And if they were to describe me, they might mention that I have a beard.  In fact, it might be one of the few differentiating factors in my appearance that they would use.  (Hopefully “balding” would not be a factor.)  I have been on TV twice in the past six weeks or so…with a beard.  My business cards have my picture on them…with a beard.

I think you get the point.  This is not just a personal hygiene issue; this is a branding issue.

Case in point:  I went to a networking meeting last week.  No less than three people in the room, out of 20, commented on the fact that I wasn’t wearing a tie.  As it turns out, I had successfully branded myself as a guy who wears a tie to networking meetings, even though it isn’t necessary.  I just figured I’m better off overdressed, than underdressed.  At least one of those guys I didn’t recognize at all, but he recognized me.  In some way, that is good.  At least I’m not the guy who wore shorts and crocs to the meeting, right?  Who looks more professional?  Again, it became part of my personal brand.  Too bad though, as I don’t own that many ties!

Thankfully, we’ve hit a spell of cooler weather, so my decision is put off for a few days at least.  However, soon enough, I’ll have hit the point of no return.  Once the weather is warm, and I have started to get some sun on my face, I may not be able to shave at all without going through a brief period of having a two-toned face.

I have quite a few business cards with my picture left over.  Do I save them for December?  The whole point of having your picture on your card is to make it easy for people to remember you.  Does it make any sense if you have to say, “Yeah, I shaved” every time you hand one out?  Will they make a note on the back?  “Looks like this guy, but with no beard.”  Not likely.  In fact, I’ll seem stupid for handing out a card with a picture that doesn’t really look like me at all.

Maybe I’m making a mountain out of a molehill here.  Ironically enough, I have always felt like I should shave for an interview anyway.  For some reason, it seems more professional.  My career consultant says it doesn’t matter, but who knows?  Does it make me look older?  Like I’m hiding something?  Like a guy who is balding and trying to make up for it?  These are the things I’m facing.

So many decisions to make.  I guess I’ll go brush my teeth, at least that’s an easy decision.

Just the beard...