Personal Branding

The strength of personal branding.

By Soozy G. Miller, CPRW, CDCC, CDP

Do you know what this term means? A lot of resume writers and career coaches use this phrase, and I’m not sure that people actually know what it is.

Personal branding is a way of differentiating yourself from everyone else who does what you do. In personal branding, you think of yourself as a company so you can figure out what makes you memorable and unique and who would want to buy (pay) you what you think you deserve to be paid.

Personal brand is a fancy way of saying reputation. Your reputation is built on your values, contributions, and impact. Why do you do what you do? How do/did you make the company better? That is your reputation. That is your personal brand. When you can speak to your unique value-add and impact, the hiring process will be easier and you will land a better position sooner.

When you apply for a job, everyone else who is applying to the same job is your competition. Your competition has (more or less) the same skills and experience that you do. Therefore, you can’t use your skills and experience to prove why you’re the best person. Why would a company notice you if you’re candidate #48 and the 47 candidates that they spoke to before you and the 150 candidates that they will speak to after you have the same skills and experience as you? You will be forgotten very easily with skills and experience. To be memorable throughout the hiring process and land the job, you have to be able to demonstrate results. You have to be aware of your brand. Your impact. Your reputation.

Coca-Cola has branding. Nike has branding. Apple has branding. You know what these companies stand for and you know what you will get from them when you buy from them. You get a gut feeling when the name is spoken. You know how they make your life better, if only for a moment.

But you, as the leader or employee within a company, are not necessarily recognizable when you leave your office. Nobody outside the office knows your leadership value or how awesome you are. Neither do other employees. People outside your team or outside your company don’t see you and say, “I want to work with him/her.” This is because you don’t have a reputation/personal brand with them.

If you’re interested in moving on to another position, or moving up, you might want to be clear on your reputation, which is built on impact and value-add.

So what’s your personal brand?

****

Better job. More pay. More control.

For a free resume review, please contact us at Control Your Career!