Brand Yourself

In a saturated job market with millions of new job seekers entering the pool every year, potential employers are looking beyond just qualifications and experience. They are looking for the X-factor. This is why it is essential for young professionals to brand themselves at the start of their career. Perhaps no one knows the importance of branding as astutely as Sandip Pable, Co-founder at Rewanta Fashions, who after nearly two decades of experience as an HR leader, took the entrepreneurial plunge. At an event while addressing management students, Sandip spoke at length about the need to differentiate yourself from the herd. After the riveting session, Corporate Citizen sat down with Sandip for a heartfelt discussion about his career journey, what he looks for when he interviews a candidate, and his philosophy of life

Sandip Pable

Corporate Citizen: Tell us about your career journey.

Sandip Pable: I have around 18 years of corporate experience. By training and profession, I am an HR. I had an opportunity to work with several blue chip corporates like TCS and Deloitte. I had the opportunity to work towards driving the talent agenda of these organisations. I have a plethora of challenges in my career, from a small organisation which wants to grow into a market leader, to a matured organisation who wants to set up processes and develop local leadership in India.

CC: Tell us about your current role.

I have started my own entrepreneurial journey. We had a few ideas which we experimented with and now we are ready to take them to market. At Rewanta, we have a concept of Roti Kapda Makaan. We are into food technology. We are into fashion as we are into the consulting space. We have three different outfits which serve to various needs of society. We are into the lifestyle space where we bring in the international experience of cuisines.

CC: With increased automation and the mass layoffs that are happening across sectors, do you see this trend of job cuts continuing?

Technology will bring in the disruption. This has happened as a by-product of industrialisation. But it also created opportunities. Technology will require a certain amount of skilling and reskilling. We will probably have a lot of new skills which will emerge and people will have to be trained for those. My take is that technology will create more and more opportunities as it evolves. Today, we have digital marketing, a field which didn’t exist earlier but it has emerged as a result of the evolution of technology and greater internet penetration. The concept of something getting wiped out is something you won’t see in practicaly, except, perhaps in certain areas where people are not ready to change, or willing to skill themselves with the changing requirements of their jobs.

CC: You are an entrepreneur now. What are the challenges you faced, & on a broader note, what challenges are people in India who want to start their own business likely to face?

Until the time you are working in an industry, you are in a domain. I was in Human Resources, so I was only focusing on attracting talent and training them and building a pipeline for leadership. Now, being an entrepreneur, I have to look at finance, operations and marketing. I need to find a customer, I need to sell him my product, and I need to ensure that as a startup, I am able to attract, retain and motivate talent. The entire piece has multiple arenas which I have to address.

CC: Do you think the current educational system in India is equipping students adequately for the needs of the industry or do you think there is still a gap that needs to be bridged?

I believe that more and more industry interface is required. Industry programmes that are offered are usually a two-month summer internship. I think if we are able to give students even more exposure in real-life scenarios then they will be even better equipped to meet the requirements of the industry.

"If we are able to give students even more exposure in real-life scenarios then they will be even better equipped to meet the requirements of the industry"

At the Airforce Station, Leh

CC: What according to you is the most important competency in potential employees?

There are two qualities I lookout for the most. One is ambition and the other is grit. I want to know how desperately you want to succeed in life. You must also have to know your theoretical concepts, but I would generally want the candidate to demonstrate what his picture for life is. I want to know what it is that you ultimately want to achieve. You may not have clarity about how to achieve it, but you must at least have a concept in your mind of what you want. I want to see if you have fire in your belly and whether you are ready to work hard to get where you want. Of course, integrity, communication skills, your ability to sell, your technical skills, and your organisational skills are also important.

I once hired a girl who was from a small town in Kolkata. She had done her post-graduation in HR. She had been working in Kolkata for some time and then she came to Pune. Her parents were back in her village. I hired her because he assertively told me that she wanted to make a career in HR, and she was ready to stay away from her family to achieve it. She had worked in different places in small jobs and she was looking for a role in a bigger company. She said she was focussed and ready to work hard. That’s the reason I hired her, and today, that same girl is leading taxation practice for HR at PwC. It is her attitude that made a difference. That commitment to self needs to be demonstrated. Authenticity in a candidate is very important. You cannot be fake. The interviewer will see through it. When you talk to people and the way you behave with them will show your character. People will be able to judge you on that. More than building skills, one must build character that will take you a long way. You can learn powerpoint and spreadsheets, but no one will teach you resilience that is so essential to succeed.

CC: Do you believe in taking work home or do you feel there should be a demarcation between work and personal life?

With improvements in technology, the line between work and home is blurring. Work is there 24/7. It is a mind-space. Whether you are physically in the office or not doesn’t matter anymore. With smartphones and access to fast internet, these lines do not exist anymore. This has helped organisations and individuals to achieve more. At the same time, professionals are feeling stressed because they are not able to disconnect from work. With technology, who, where and how the work is getting done doesn’t really matter.

CC: As a leader, how do you motivate your employees?

What matters most is communication, communication and more communication. When there are challenging situations, you communicate your concerns. The question leaders must ask themselves is whether you are able to share the larger picture with your team, and do they see their role contributing to the larger picture of the organisation. This is critical. In addition, sharing the market realities is also important. At the end of the day, everyone must be working towards just one goal, which is satisfying the customer. Whether we are able to achieve that and what is each employee’s role in achieving employee delight must be examined. While this sounds straightforward, it is much easier said than done.

CC: What is your idea of relaxation?

I am into adventure sports. I run marathons. Whenever I get the time, I go back to the mountains. I am a flyer. I love paragliding. These are sports that require me to be in a good shape. These are my ways of relaxation. But running marathons has got me very disciplined. So I am up by five in the morning, and I go to bed at 10:30. I have to train four days a week at least. There is a group called Striders who I train with.

CC: What is your philosophy of life?

My philosophy of life is YOLO You Only Live Once. You never know what will happen tomorrow, so you should make the most of today. Don’t procastinate on your goals.

SESSION

"With improvements in technology, the line between work and home is blurring. Work is there 24/7. It is a mind-space. Whether you are physically in the office or not doesn’t matter anymore"

When you look at powerful brands like Head and Shoulders or M&M, what comes to mind? Head and Shoulders brings an image of dandruff free hair and M&M reminds you immediately of chocolates. It’s clear that these brands have identified their niche and are successfully communicating their message to their target audience. A brand is what a brand does, and just as companies brand their product, we as individuals must also brand ourselves. If we brand ourselves, we can bridge the gap between what we offer and what the industry demands, so that we can have better ‘pick me up’ value from the shelf.

Define your brand

Personal branding is a process where people and their careers are marked as brands. The concept suggests that success comes from self-packaging. As an individual, when I am talking about myself, I am the CEO of my own brand. I am the CEO of Me, INC. How I present myself and offer my services to my clients is what matters. We have a large amount of control and influence over how we are going to present ourselves to the world. What is the function of a toothpaste? It is to clean your teeth. So why do we pick up one brand of toothpaste over another? It is a choice we make as individuals.

There are lakhs and lakhs of students who are entering into the employment market every year. Among these students, a potential employer will only choose those students who have created a brand for themselves. To evaluate your own brand, you must ask yourself some questions. Do you have a positive awareness about yourself? Do your associates trust you? When someone calls you for an interview and asks you what your brand is, you need to have an answer. There are a few techniques which can help you understand what your brand is. You can rate yourself on several parameters such as intelligence, energy, enthusiasm, persistence, etc. You can define what you stand for by examining your values. If you have worked for a social task, or you helped someone during a difficult time, that is a great quality you possess. If you have been on a summer internship, you must evaluate whether you did your work with complete integrity.

"Whatever the adversity, if you decide you want to achieve something, if you are persistent, resilient, and passionate, you will get to the finish line"

Define your value proposition

How do people feel when they are with you? Do they feel inspired, motivated or positive? You should always make a statement of how people feel when they are with you. This highlights your leadership ability and influencing power, and goes a long way in establishing your brand.

The elevator pitch

Imagine you are on your way to an interview. You are late and are running towards the elevator. Suddenly, you see that the CEO of the company you are interviewing for is in the lift. He gestures for you to come in. Once the elevator door closes, he asks you, what do you do? This is the elevator pitch. In those 30 seconds, you can make an indelible impression. Are you ready to sell your brand in those 30 seconds? You must be ready at all times with this answer. If I were to talk about my elevator pitch, I would say that I help organisations to be successful in the marketplace. Some other person may say that they identify the needs of companies and help deliver products that meet these needs. The CEO would then ask how do you do this? My answer would be, “Let’s meet up for a coffee and I’ll tell you how”. In just this one meeting, you have already generated an interest in the individual’s mind.

Define your attitude

Once you identify what it is you do better than others and what differentiates you from others, the next crucial factor is your attitude. How strongly do you want to succeed? Do you have the drive to achieve your dreams? Once you understand your brand, what matters is how desperately you want to succeed in life. We need to know our passion and strength. Whatever the adversity, if you decide you want to achieve something, if you are persistent, resilient, and passionate, you will get to the finish line.