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Why a Personal Brand Isn’t Just a “Nice-to-have”

Don’t have a brand? Think again!

Everyone has a brand. The only real question is what they are doing to cultivate it? Just because you do not have your logo or have your own company, doesn’t mean you do not have a personal brand.

However, what is a personal brand and why should you care about it?

Some define a personal brand as the set of characteristics and values that immediately come to mind when people see or hear about you. However, if you stop there, what you have described is more a reputation and not a brand. An effective personal branding does not just describe your characteristics and values. It ALSO defines the promises you make to employers and the value you bring to their organization.

The reality of employment today is that recruiters and hiring managers are turning to the internet to look for and find out information on the people they might employ.

According to data reported by CareerEnlightment.com, even five years ago, 94% of recruiters and some hiring managers were turning to social media as a new source for qualified candidates.

Let’s face it, the queues of people lined up to get in the traditional doors of opportunity are worse than the lines at Ben & Jerry’s on Free Cone Day! Your chances of being a successful applicant through these methods are slim.

Furthermore, for hiring managers, they are labor intensive as for each job posting they put out they contend with hundreds of résumés.

Job seekers and hiring managers would far rather “bump into” each other on the internet via their networks than sifting through hundreds of people they do not know.

 

 

But, I’m not even on Social Media!

Even if you have made a personal decision to stay off social media and don’t post information on the internet, monitoring and maintaining your online presence is essential.

Your brand lives both online and offline. Just because you don’t interact with social media does not mean you do not have a brand. Social media is only one source for people to find and discover more about your brand, but it also exists in the employment reviews and personal experiences of those who know you and work with you.

For those who chose to engage in the online world, digital networking is playing an ever-increasing role in identifying and creating new opportunities. Those who think their CV, a newspaper and maybe a few company job posts via gumtree, career boards or company websites are the best or only tools available for career management are selling themselves short.

Branding…The bare minimum

The most effective personal brands will align with who you are AND be relevant to your target organization. The trick comes in figuring out how to break it down and concisely explained it across multiple media sources including social media, personal conversations, and your CV.

Since you already have a brand, you don’t need to create one. What you can do is manage your personal brand so that what people see about you is what you WANT them to see.

  • Start by identifying your values. What are the things you stand for, no matter what. What are your pet peeves? The things that irritate you if they aren’t done right? These questions might help you point to what you find important in life and work.
  • Next, identify your strengths. What do you do better than others?
  • Take the time to research the perspectives of others. Ask friends, family members, and employers for feedback on your character, personality, and performance. In fact, Performance Reports can be a valuable source of external information that will help you to identify where you excel and where you don’t
  • Finally, research the needs of your ideal employer or client. Take the time to consider the challenges that they are facing and how your brand would offer them value.

Final Thoughts

Monitor your Online Reputation by frequently Googling Your name

Don’t think that because you haven’t posted anything that there isn’t information about you available on the internet. So, what do you do if something unsavory comes up in your search?

The simple answer is to bury it.

While it is challenging to remove something once it is online, frequent posts about brand-oriented content will help to keep quality information on your brand high in the search engines and minimize anything that might not be so complimentary.

Invest in Building a Quality, Concise Brand

There are several great resources available both online and off. One of the best investments you can make is in your career. The small price you’ll pay compared to your annual salary will pay itself off multiple times over. Consider working with a qualified career coach or certified résumé writer who can help you to identify and articulate your personal brand on paper and via social sites.

Many people feel like they can do this by themselves, but the intensely personal nature of the work can make it difficult to be objective. If you do decide to DIY your career, then at a minimum get the advice and feedback of friends, family, and coworkers who may have unique insights and perspectives on your value that you might not have considered.

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Common Networking Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Networking is rightfully touted as the magic bullet in a job search. Overwhelmingly, when my clients land positions they covet, they first learned of a role through someone they know – often a weak tie rather than someone from a long-term relationship – instead of an online job listing.

Those of us who are introverts (and often extroverts, too) tend to be hesitant about reaching out to people we know and we’re often paralyzed at the idea of expanding our networks to include people we want to connect with but don’t want to impose upon. The good news is there are some useful techniques available to you that are best explained as what to avoid, including:

Steer around trite phrases such as “I’d like to pick your brain.”

Simply ask for help and let your contacts know that you’re in a job search while making it clear that you’re simply asking for their advice.

Don’t ask “what can I do for you in exchange for your help?”

You’re building a relationship, if you introduce the idea that you want a transactional connection with them – one where each of you is mentally keeping a spreadsheet about who has given more – that degrades the genuine connection you’re developing. Definitely, seek ways to support them and offer them intel, access to your connections, and the benefit of your experience and knowledge, but do it organically without the “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” mentality.

Don’t confine your engagement to just one meeting.

Here’s where you DO need a spreadsheet so that you can track the dates and substance of your conversations with specific people. If you’re serious about launching a job search, you’ll begin to lose track of who you talked to when and what you discussed, so take notes. Also, mark your calendar to loop back to people with updates and individualized emails so that you stay on their radar. Remember that brevity goes a long way in these follow-up touch points.

Avoid pinning your hopes on one or two people and/or companies.

Desperation is a natural emotion in a job search. Much is at stake, and, of course, it matters that you land a job quickly. When panic bleeds into these conversations, people instinctively back away out of fear that they won’t be able to deliver what you need. To keep those emotions at bay, it’s important to have many avenues and opportunities so that one doesn’t topple under the weight of expectations that are too strong. Job opportunities fall away for many reasons that have nothing to do with your fit and qualifications, so guard against that agony by pursuing multiple opportunities and connections at the same time.

Trust your gut as you navigate networking conversations, and remember that people want to be helpful. If you structure your conversations in ways that make it easy for people to offer their advice and support, you’ll soon be welcoming offers for positions that you’re targeting.

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How exactly to network without feeling like you’re doing it

Here is a simple approach to turn employment networking into effective bonding:
When you’re networking, request a reference, not employment. 

Whether you’re doing catch-up drinks or grabbing lunch to reconnect, your need is to obtain an ally, not just a tally of job listings. Recruiting a helping hand in your search is the goal.

So don’t ask your college friend if she knows of any jobs for you. How would she?

And don’t ask your boss from two jobs ago if she has the names of any individuals who are currently seeking to hire somebody like you. It puts her on the spot. Uncomfortably.

No, instead, ask for a reference. Mention that you’re planning to be moving positions, or you’re already looking. Let them know the sort of positions you are and aren’t fitted to, and what you’re hoping to attain in your new opportunity.

And then inquire further if – when it gets to that place in your search – would it will be OK to utilize them as a reference.

By not putting them immediately on the spot about specific job openings, you reduce the awkwardness inherent in the networking conversation.

And by letting them realize that you hold them in high enough esteem to potentially utilize them as a guide, you’re actually paying them a compliment.

You’re also making it easier for them to say “yes”, and to feel well about themselves for helping you out with only a little favor.

Most of all, that you have a brand new buddy in your search – one who’s likely to be considering keeping a watch out for new opportunities and an ear open for fresh possibilities for his or her reference-able friend: you.

It’s wins and grins all around.

Now, this doesn’t benefit just any old person you meet on the street. There’s probably a very good match between people you’d decide to have lunch with and those you can ask to become a reference. So my advice should be to adhere to asking those you know well enough.

Being realistic, the widely offered and deeply wrong advice from decades ago that you need to make an effort to extract favors, concessions, names, jobs, and career assistance from people you’ve only met over the telephone is not merely useless, it may be counterproductive to your aims by antagonizing your broader network.

By making your networking about compliments, you will find it pays dividends.

Best of luck in your search this week!

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