How I Got My Groove (Job) Back: 5 Steps to Build a Personal Brand to Land a Job You’ll Love
“Your brand is a gateway to your true work. You know you are here to do something – to create something or help others in some way. The question is, how can you set up your life and work so that you can do it? The answer lies in your brand. When you create a compelling brand you attract people who want the promise of your brand – which you deliver.”
– Dave Buck
Landing a job offer doesn’t always come down to your skills and experience. This can be frustrating and discouraging to a person in today’s job market. My journey over the last several months in the job market taught me the importance of personal branding. Companies are hiring specialists to solve specific problems which meant I needed to be clear about who I was and what I had to offer. Through personal branding, I learned to leverage my experiences and package my expertise. Below are the 5 steps I took to brand myself and land my new job:
1. Define Who You Are
Defining myself was not easy, it made me feel boxed in and limited.
Defining who you are and what you do is the foundation of personal branding. Without knowing these two things, you will market an inauthentic you.
Defining yourself starts with knowing what your passions, values, and strengths are. It is important because it allows you to show potential employers who you are and what you can bring to the table as an employee. Defining yourself will showcase your skills and qualities that make you important and unique.
The job market is competitive and the more you can define yourself the better edge you will have on your competition. If you find yourself having trouble identifying your strengths you can take several self-assessments to assist you. I used the Gallup’s StrengthsFinder assessment to provide me a foundation to build on.
2. Develop Your Personal Image and Persona
Once you know what your values, passions, and strengths, are you can begin to build your image. Your image consists of visual and non visual elements that must align with who you say you are and what you do. A few things to keep in mind when developing your image are:
Take professional headshots and use them on Linkedin and all of your social media sites. No more selfies, (especially car selfies), or cropped group shots. If you are positioning yourself as a professional then take the time and invest in a professional headshot.
Dress the part! Invest in a few items of clothing ( blazer, bespoke suit, or dress) that represent your style and brand attributes.
Create a brand personality (persona) that will evoke certain emotions in people and potential employers. What are the personality features that attract people to you? Do you have a sense of humor? Do people like working with you? Do people look to you to lead? The personification of a brand that evokes certain emotions in people and potential employees is what builds brand equity. Please remember that your persona must be authentic or else your credibility will be damaged.
3.Create Your Online Presence.
To have a strong personal brand, you will need a personal website and social media platforms to communicate your brand. First, you must secure domains, social usernames, etc. that are the best fit for your brand. I recommend choosing your name as your domain name for your website before someone else does.
Next, create a website that showcases who you and what you do. There are several easy to use website companies like Squarespace to help you get started.
Lastly, you will need social media accounts that represent your brand and allows you to communicate your value and share your voice. There are several social platforms to choose from ( Facebook, Instagram, You Tube, Twitter.)
You may use them all but the most important platform to build your personal brand is LinkedIn. After employers Google you, the next place they search for you is LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a professional network. our LinkedIn profile is your online snapshot of your career. Your profile is what sells you, it’s similar to an online resume.
4. Start Creating Content
In my last blog, “Content is Queen”, I discuss how important creating content is in building an authentic personal brand. You do not need to be a subject matter expert at first, you can build your knowledge over time. The most important thing is to authentic to who and where you are right now. There is no shame in starting small and building your knowledge over time.
As with social media there are many forms of content to choose from to create. I chose blogging.
No matter what form of content you choose, be sure the content is providing value to your audience. This will build your credibility with your audience and potential employers.
5. Build Your Network
Building your personal brand through networking creates important connections that can help you gain traction and credibility within your industry. The knowledge and opportunities presented by more established professionals in your industry provide you an opportunity to become visible and accessible.
Some of you may remember at the beginning of the year I made a video on LinkedIn which was posted by Nick Nelson, CEO of Brandpreneur. Nick leveraged his enormous network on LinkedIn to help me get noticed which allowed me to make valuable connections and grow my network.
Building a personal brand takes time and effort, but it’s worth it. Through personal branding, I learned how to actively design my brand which helped me successfully manage my latest career transition and land the job I love!
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