Even
Oscar Wilde knew that so many decades ago.
And I
have never been more aware of this than last week when I pressed the ‘send’-button
of the first blog. It ranks under top
most scary moments of my professional life. The horror of having a typo
somewhere in the text…or links redirecting to another site…
Imagine
the relief when I saw that many of you opened the newsletter, clicked to the
website or sent me encouraging notes! Warm-hearted thanks!
It got me
thinking of first impressions and their importance.
Traditionally
first impressions are based on face2face encounters. From the way you walk in
the door to the way you are dressed to the firmness of your handshake (no,
crunching my hand is not considered acceptable), it all adds to the picture you
present even before saying a word.
In this
day and age though, you started painting that picture much earlier.
Only last
week a candidate asked me whether I googled him prior to our call. Apparently he
writes articles expressing his point of view on business.
Would I
go as far as to google every candidate that I approach…not really. But the way
you present yourself on LinkedIn does have an impact on my decision to contact
you.
First
trigger is of course the picture. It
remains a mystery as to why people choose to put holiday snapshots, wedding
pictures or cuddly kids photos as a profile picture on what is considered a
professional oriented site.
And then
comes the summary. Automatically I am triggered by the way you present yourself
in these few lines. It gives me a view
on what you value most in your career.
Both of
these elements give me a first glance of who you are. I may have never met you
but I will have already pictured you in my mind. This image can still alter
when I meet you. Actual conversation and body language are still far more
powerful tools to assess people’s personality, their drives and ambitions.
However, research shows that we jump to a series of conclusions in just two seconds.
The powerful conclusions formed within those few seconds will continue to color
our beliefs and influence our decisions.
So, if
you want to know what image I have of you and whether it is ‘picture perfect’,
don’t hesitate to contact me and we will go through it together. Or if you want
to comment on the way I picture myself on-line, let me know!
I look
forward to hearing from you,
Isabel
Through a personalized and
tailor-made approach, Ingenium Executive Search aspires to assist you in
attracting the right talent that matches the DNA of your company
Follow me on Twitter
@IngeniumSearch
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