Director of First Impressions

Posted by William Arruda

As part of our visibility plan for Career Distinction, I appeared on NECN (New England Cable News) on the show Wired. When I arrived at the studio, I was greeted by Patrick Galvin – NECN’s most compelling brand ambassador. His official title – Director of First Impressions. Clearly NECN understands the importance of first impressions. Patrick greeted me with a warm welcome and shared with me the history and accomplishments of NECN. It said a lot about his personal brand and the brand of NECN. By the time I arrived in the studio for my interview with Leslie Gaydos and Jim Braude, I had already been turned into a raving fan. First impressions are powerful.

Patrick is a valuable asset to NECN and he is building a powerful brand or his own.

Do you always strive to make a positive, on-brand first impression?

Comments

[Dan Schawbel]

On-brand first impressions are critical to being distinct and memorable as you just pointed out. You only have one chance at that first impression.

[Tara Kachaturoff]

Several years ago, I was sitting around trying to think of a new and fun course to teach. I was reading something and then came up with an idea to teach a class called Fabulous First Impressions.

It has turned out to be one of my best attended seminars and a great time for all of the participants -- and me, too! There is a lot of interest in this topic -- my attendees come from all walks of life, representing all types of careers. I even had a high school student attend once which really impressed me. That showed a lot of foresight -- to be thinking about something like this even at a young age.

With the changing work environment, it's so important to pay attention to even the smallest of detail especially when we have but a few seconds to make that first impression.

Patrick Galvin, Director of First Impressions, has one very cool job title. And congratulations, William, on your television appearance on Wired.

[Maria Elena Duron]

William,

Congrats on your appearance on Wired! You are equally a great brand ambassador for Career Distinction or is it the other way around?

Either way, I really appreciate you bringing to light this cool job - Director of First Impressions. It is so very true that first impressions are lasting. In fact, to change a first impression can be a huge time management issue for anyone - individual or organization. I read a study once that states that it takes 56 other contact times to change a first impression.

Why would anyone put obstacles in their own way by not being "on brand" with their first impression?

Kudos to NECN for realizing how important it is to manage those first impressions. Bottomline - perception is reality.

Great post,as always, William!

Coach Maria Elena Duron

[Tinu]

Congratulations on your show appearance. To your question, "Do you always strive to make a positive, on-brand first impression?" Yes, and I try to be consistent with my wacky, accessible tone.

I'm about to order you book and at the top of next week, write a few blog posts about your blog - so few people realize how important it is to have a consistent, brand-able identity across not just search results, but social networks, on their web sites and offline. Lately, I've been changing our blog, though not our colors, so we can consistently *say* something with our site without speaking.

Anyway, the blog is quite interesting and I've just subscribed to your feed in itunes.

[Francois]

Congrats. For the job seekers there are lots of opportunities waiting at http://www.career-descriptions.co.uk/