Your First Day of Work

Your first day of work for your next employer is your last day of work for your former employer.

Everything you do from the point of separation forward becomes an example of your work product to your next employer. You HAVE to get this.

I was recently contacted by someone I did not know via LinkedIn.com. I visited the gentleman’s profile, and found four typos in the first 10 lines. There were other challenges with his profile, so I did what I generally do in this situation; I wrote back asking if he was open to a couple of suggestions. He was.

I first verified that English was his first language, and took time with my response, pointed out the typos, explained the theory behind my primary suggestions, and kept it short and to the point. I also spell-checked my response.

The gentleman wrote me back and sounded enthusiastic regarding the changes he made based upon my suggestions, so I re-visited. The four typos were corrected; however, there were now 3 new ones. That’s where I stopped.

And that’s a shame.

How can anyone possibly recommend you to their network if the first example of a work product you present is half-hearted?

This applies to everything you do – from telephone conversations to your web presence to your demeanor on the golf course or at the supermarket; you are your Brand! Preserve it, build it, and make it better.

And for goodness sake, copy any text into Word or whatever program you use and spell-check it, and then have someone objective review it.

Please.

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