Stephanie Keaveney
One of the most delightful parts of working at Talent Market is discovering that nearly every career topic can be explored with either a dating or cocktail-related analogy. And living with a former bartender means much of my time outside of work is spent as a taste tester for new concoctions. So it’s no big surprise that a recent discussion on building your professional brand got me thinking about the overlap with crafting a great cocktail.
Whether you’re growing your network or applying for jobs, a strong professional brand is essential to making lasting connections and standing out in the working world. So grab your shakers and mini umbrellas and let’s explore what we can learn about professional branding from your bar favorites.
Base Spirits – Your Values
Your values are the key ingredient behind your professional brand. They’re what ground you and guide every professional move you make. Just like a cocktail’s base spirits set the flavor, your core values set the tone for everything else. Without knowing your values, your brand will be about as convincing as a lukewarm bottle of O’Doul’s.
Embrace your base: Think about what matters most to you as a professional, what issues you’re most passionate about, and what type of organizational culture you want. When applying for jobs, make sure you’re only applying for jobs that promote the ideals you care about. And be sure to clearly articulate your values-alignment in your cover letter. Finally, don’t forget to dig into organizational culture in your interview. Just like you choose your favorite bar based on the attitude and the atmosphere, you want to find an organization that serves up the right culture.
Signature Ingredient – Your Unique Selling Point
Every amazing cocktail has a signature ingredient. So, ask yourself: what is the special skill or trait that makes you unforgettable? It could be your unmatched creativity with Adobe InDesign, expert-level knowledge of excise tax policy, or extensive experience with civil rights litigation and 1983 claims. Like the Cointreau in a Cosmo, your unique skills are what people will remember you for and what will make them want to hire you.
Highlight your signature splash: Hiring managers won’t know unless you tell them, right? If you are applying for an entry-level writing position and you were the editor of your university’s liberty-leaning newspaper, MENTION THAT! Or, if you’re applying for a data job and you once built an entire Salesforce database from scratch for your favorite cat rescue organization, serve that up with a cherry on top! Include these types of things in your resume/cover letter and you’ll absolutely stand out in a crowded bar!
Garnish – Your Style
Style isn’t just about dressing sharply or having perfectly coiffed hair (though it doesn’t hurt!). It’s how you carry yourself, how you communicate, and the energy you bring to the room. Just like a cocktail’s garnish ties everything together, your style enhances your professional brand. But remember, even the highest-quality Traverse City cocktail cherries can’t cover up the taste of a terrible Old Fashioned – it’s about substance, not just the shine!
Add Your Lime and Sprig of Mint: Dress appropriately for the occasion and be aware that your body language and non-verbal cues have a big impact on first impressions. If you get anxious during interviews or struggle with things like small talk, practice! And don’t forget about your digital presentation – make sure your LinkedIn and public profiles are a good reflection of yourself. Remember: your style should reflect the job you aspire to have, not necessarily the job you have now. (E.g. if you’re an intern and your style screams, “I’m an intern”, then you might be an intern for a long time! And nobody wants to be drinking Natty Light for longer than they have to.)
Mixing it All Together – Your Consistency
Circling back to my role as a cocktail taste tester, I remember one particularly terrible concoction that, in theory, I should have loved because I like all the ingredients individually. But the flavors just didn’t blend together and it fell flat. That’s what happens when your professional brand lacks consistency. You may have strong values, unique skills, and a polished style, but if they don’t work together, your message can come across as muddled.
Balance Your Flavors: Hiring managers are drawn to candidates whose professional journey makes sense. Incoherent choices like frequently changing jobs, applying for roles well outside of your experience level, and claiming expertise in your cover letter with no evidence of that skill on your resume all raise red flags. Make sure your goals and skills are clear to a potential employer and take advantage of your cover letter to explain anything that may leave a hiring manager bleary-eyed.
Barware – Your Audience
Whisky aficionados everywhere will be the first to tell you that even the best single malt scotch can underwhelm if served in a Brandy snifter instead of an appropriate tumbler. Your professional brand is no different. Your audience matters! Whether you’re interviewing for your dream job or networking at an event, it’s all about tailoring your message. Understanding your audience, and what will resonate with them, ensures you’re always serving the right mix in the right glass.
Choose Your Barware: When applying for jobs, tailor your application — especially the cover letter. During the interview, be ready to talk about their work and why it matters to you. And when it comes to networking, read the room. I once knew of a guy who stopped getting invited to allies’ events because he used them as fundraising opportunities for his own organization. No one will toast to that behavior!
Cocktail Price Point – Your Salary Requirements
One of the consequences of having access to my own personal mixologist is that I’m much less willing to pay a fortune for a mid-tier cocktail. If you’re going to charge me $24 for a drink, it better include 16th-century spirits imported from Madagascar and tiny chunks of gold bullion at the bottom of the glass. Similarly, having unrealistic salary expectations for your level of experience and the specific jobs you’re applying for can get you cut off more quickly than the stumbling college kid using his older brother’s ID.
Find Your Price Point: Research what’s typical for the type of role, your experience, and similarly-sized organizations. Take advantage of things like an organization’s Form 990 to make sure you’re not submitting a salary range that’s double what the CEO is currently making.
We hope these tips have helped in both leveling up your professional brand and your home bartending skills. While we don’t recommend pre-gaming your next interview, maybe the next time you’re sipping a cocktail at a networking event, you’ll remember how much it can teach you about building an excellent professional brand.
