Personal Branding
Your résumé will get a 15-30 second look from a hiring manager, if you are lucky. Given that small of a window, it all comes down to what the top one-third of the document has to say. For maximum impact, a well-written, key word rich personal branding summary is the most effective way to market yourself.
It’s as much about style as it is content. You first have to direct the reader to where you want them to go and then provide a concise, hard-hitting description of who you are, what you can do and how that will add value for a perspective employer.
Objectives are passé. A company doesn’t care what you want or what your goals are. They do care about what you can do for them. What problem can you solve? How can you increase sales? What can you do for their bottom line?
Your opening should clearly answer those questions. It should articulate your personal brand, your unique difference and the value you offer. Whether you present a short list of major accomplishments or demonstrated areas of expertise or a combination of both, the important thing to remember is you have to get to bat before you can hit.
Your résumé should be geared to give you that chance. That is its’ sole purpose. You have to leverage your brand and your résumé is just one more way to do it. While self-marketing is difficult even for professional marketers, you have to adopt that mindset. Put yourself in the hiring manager’s place. What will make them call you? Whatever it is -make it compelling, make it interesting, make them want more!
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As we sit here in 2009, the Internet has been in full swing for well over 10 years. Through one boom and bust already, the prevailing thinking is that most everyone is now on board, However, with the advent of Web 2.0 and the introduction of social networking, there are still many people who are playing catch up.
This is particularly true in the area of how to conduct a job search as old paradigms are hard to break. But, just as the fax machine gave way to e-mail, and Twitter is now the latest rage, the days of the paper resume are fading into the sunset. Personal websites, online resumes, and web portfolios, while in their infancy and perhaps thought to be just a fad or more applicable for one generation are here. These tools are waiting for people to utilize, and in my opinion will become the most effective means to apply for a job, manage your career and communicate your personal brand to the world.
In today’s hyper competitive job market, where everyone is vying for attention and trying to stand out, the question is how to best accomplish the task. It is only a matter of time before the shift takes place. Are you ready to get in front of the crowd and catch the wave or will you wait for others to test the water before you dive in?
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- Increases self-awareness. You develop a deeper self-understanding about what constitutes your unique value, which helps optimize your strengths.
- Clarifies your goals. You become focused on what to achieve and what goals you must set to get there.
- Creates visibility and presence. Once you know what is unique and compelling about you, you can use that information to communicate to your target audience.
- Differentiation. You gain the ability to differentiate yourself from everyone else who has your job title or who says they are in the same business as you.
- More control. Your personal brand puts you in control of your career, the projects you work on, and how you want to deliver services.
- Creates wealth. Strong brands charge a premium for their products and services, and differentiated job seekers who know their value can command higher salaries.
- Staying power. Strong brands are successful despite challenges and downturns in the economy because they stand for something unique and are differentiated.
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In their book, Managing Brand You, authors Jerry S. Wilson and Ira Blumenthal offer some excellent personal branding tips built around the idea that says your brand is: PROMISE + EXPERIENCE = RELATIONSHIP. Your brand is your promise to a specific person or group that is based on their actual experience with your brand. Many people try to be all things to all people. When doing this, you may be meeting some of the needs of a lot of people, while not meeting the needs of those who really matter. Ultimately, you want to become a brand that people must have. You want to create such a strong personal brand that others insist on working with you. You become invaluable because of the loyalty you create based on the skills you deliver and the value you provide.
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From Todays Women In Business, an interesting article talked about building your personal brand by commenting on other blog posts. While you can and should leave blog comments that say “thank you” for the resources or ideas shared in a blog post, your own blog comments should enhance your reputation as an expert or trusted advisor in your chosen field. You must give serious consideration to how your comments will portray your brand. Pay attention to these tips for building your online personal brand through blog comments. 1. Consider your motivation - What is your intent? If you can’t add to the dialogue and enhance the debate in a professional and positive manner, don’t comment 2. Think before you write - consider carefully the tone of your comment and what you want to say. Remember whatever you write will elicit a feeling and reaction in who ever reads it - not just the blogger 3. Check your spelling - the care and attention with which you reply to a blog comment and checking the grammar is worth the time and effort. Why negatively impact your personal brand through rushing the comment? 4. Do not self promote - blog comments are not the place to self promote your experience, products or services. If you do, you may find the business blog owner deletes your comment 5. Think quality not quantity - posting a considered and well thought out comment on one or two blogs each week is far more likely to get you noticed and build a positive reputation and brand than posting many blog comments of just a sentence that don’t add to the conversation.
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A Career Journal article in today’s WSJ talks about creating a web presence from scratch. In today’s environment, job seekers must expand the ways in which they search. While it may seem overwhelming and maybe unnecessary for an accomplished professional, setting up and maintaining an online presence is critical to finding the job you want. The article mentions several key points for consideration. First, claim your name on social networking sites before someone else does. Also, purchase the domain for your name. Second, practice prudence. Limit yourself to three social networking sites and definitely include LinkedIn as one of them. Third, choose connections wisely. Your network should be about quality, not quantity. Fourth, be consistent. Update your profile regularly and stay true to your personal brand.
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