Points of familiarity

Whether you’re selling yourself (resume-building, job hunting, dating) or selling ice to Eskimos – one rule of thumb is to know that the buyer is not buying a product or a service. They’re buying you. And in order to buy you they have to like you.

So a good rule is to recognize and use something I call POFs, Points of Familiarity, to qualify and differentiate yourself.

Think about it – within moments of meeting anyone for the first time – you seek out any synergies with which you can “identify” with the other person:

“I love chocolate, too!”
“I must have vacationed right next door!”
“Yes, isn’t Paul such a nice guy?”
“I agree, the Red Sox rock.”

This creates the first sense of the things you each have in common and is the first step in building trust. Keeping this is mind, think about what might be your most “matchable” POFs. Perhaps your POFs are your home town, home state, restaurants, music, sports teams, or some cool brands.

This is also the case in business.

How might this apply to a resume? Well, what is a resume? A resume is a tool to get a job but ultimately the goal of a resume is just to get you an interview. A resume, therefore, should just be a “tease” as opposed to a full Curriculum Vitae (CV). You want to entice the reader just enough that they want to meet you. Therefore, keep it to one page and highlight the POFs (and anything particularly impressive): brands you’ve worked on, $ you’ve managed or raised, % of business you’ve grown, places you’ve traveled, celebrities you’ve kissed. In the 30, 20 or 15seconds that your resume will be reviewed, what are the top-5 things that will make you stand out?

How might this apply to job hunting? Well, the best way to find your dream job is to use your social string of POFs: it’s all about who you know. Ask your friends whom they know in the industry or at the company for whom you want to work. If your resume is sent to someone through any POF channel, it automatically makes it to the top of the consideration pile.

Same goes for the interview. Research the person, or ask more personal questions at the beginning of your time with them.

“How long have you worked here?”
“Tell me about your commute.”
“How do you find work-life balance?”

Dig down and try to find some synergies and break your gatekeeper or interviewer out of the “it all business” mode. Because they have to like you to hire you.

And of course, the same goes for selling a product, service or company. The one who they like the most wins. So for that, you’d better make yourself very interesting, or else find a lot of things in common.