The zombie career experience nightmare: zombie employees turning into zombie candidates returning to be zombie employees.
Brand Talent is about saving you from becoming a zombie. But how do you know if you have already turned into one?
You get up every morning dreading work. You feel like the walking dead.
Then you lose that job you hate so much. You are mad, but you get over it once you realize that you don’t have a lot of cash in the bank. You hustle to get your resume together. You start reaching out to your network, cursing yourself for letting so many friendships lapse as you kept your head down and turned the crank in your old job.
You score a few interviews for jobs that you don’t want, but you need the money so you fake your best sales face. You are a zombie candidate stalking your next employer.
Finally, an offer comes through. A voice in the back of your head says “NOT AGAIN!” but that voice is drowned in the gratitude of not having your car repossessed. One week into the new job you realize you are going to hate this job as much as you hated the last one. The zombie cycle repeats itself.
You don’t want the solution to today’s problem to turn into just another nightmare. You are better than that.
Being a zombie puts you in the career crosshairs. Zombies simply can’t compete against people with passion. Anything a zombie can do can be done by a hungry worker in a low cost location. You can’t outsource people who create value, but you can’t create value if you hate your work.
If you want recruiters calling you (instead of the other way around), if you want to be brand talent, you need to make your first priority figuring out how to get paid as much as possible for doing something you love. You need to profit from your purpose.
I ask every person I interview the following question: “What would you do it you won the lottery?” Some people light up and tell me stories about their dreams. I have seen it happen hundreds of times, and it is always the best part of my day. You can see the real person peeking out from behind the zombie mask. I can’t help myself: I want that person to experience their dream.
Of course that doesn’t always mean I have the right job for them. But I never forget them. Whether they know it or not, their sincere passion has created a brand with me. Their unique, individual brand. They have started on the path to being Brand Talent.
