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What is YOUR Personal Brand?
By Angela Miller, Guest Blogger
Google yourself. That’s it. Recruiters and Hiring Managers are Googling you, so you might as well take control of your brand and make a conscious effort to manage the way you are being viewed by potential employers or business connections online. There are 4 main points one must consider when developing and managing your personal brand: 1) Consistency 2) Relevance 3) Passion 4) Confidence Consistency From your resume, to your LinkedIn profile, your Twitter page, etc – the content should be seamless and coherent. You can include different information about yourself on each (example: LinkedIn should be an abbreviated version of your resume, and Twitter should just say how many years experience you have and in which industry) but dates and the overall theme must be consistent. Who are you? What do you do? What have you been able to accomplish thus far in your career? It all needs to lead me (the person with the job opening) to a clear understanding of what you will bring to the table in the future of your career. Relevance Your content needs to be relevant to your career path. If you are a Finance Manager who loves dogs and Tweet about your Yorkie everyday– do me a favor, and protect those Tweets (privacy setting) when you are on the job hunt. Start a Twitter page about Finance, current events and corporate finance strategy as well. If you are applying to a variety of different job titles you need to make your LinkedIn profile and Twitter page more generic. Last week, I received a resume from a women applying for a Sales position within my company. An outside sales, new business development position – which in my company requires someone with experience in high level, very consultative sales and extensive knowledge of the web industry. I immediately (as always) found her on LinkedIn to see if she was really committed to a Sales career. I do this because sales is a very difficult (although financially rewarding) job, and those who have endured a long, successful career closing deals are very attractive because of their commitment to the job. Those who want to “try out” a sales career at my company – I am not interested. I’m not willing to put my department managers through two months of training only to turn this person over in 6 months because the job is too hard. So..I digress. Her LinkedIn profile revealed that she was not in sales. While she submitted a resume to me that seemed to point out every sales-like duty in her past positions, this woman was not a Business Development guru. She was a Project Manager – an expert in operations and delivery. That’s awesome – but why did she apply to my Biz Dev job? Needless to say, I didn’t call her for an interview. Passion You must convey passion for your industry, business sector and job. Try to position yourself, as a Thought Leader in the marketplace. Companies are running lean and mean nowadays, which means that the open positions are for “A” players – no more status quo, collecting a pay check or waiting to retire offers. Ask yourself, “Am I passionate about what I do; about what I’ve done?” Do you keep up with current events and industry trends in your field to keep ahead of the curve in your job and for your company? Re-tweet articles and blog posts about relevant topics and trends in your field, and then provide insightful commentary about how that may affect companies, or the economy. Contribute to discussions on LinkedIn. To do this, join relevant industry or professional groups and then submit articles, or questions to elicit discussions among others who are valuable connections. Confidence Avoid appearing desperate for a job online. Don’t quote your resume or recommendations from past colleagues on every page of your social media. Your Twitter/LinkedIn summary should NOT present you as “on the job market – seeking new opportunities” – it should present you as a thought leader in your industry or field who has had a successful career and who is confident in what they bring to the table. Some people advertise themselves as “Looking for an opportunity” in their headline on LinkedIn or Twitter and fill all of their contacts with job search advice, recruiters and staffing agencies. Avoid this as your primary strategy (I mean, you should definitely check out my blog as well as others HR geeks giving you intel on how to score the job of your dreams.) Mix in relevant contacts to your career and your industry first and foremost. You should be connecting with those in your field who are just as plugged in as you. Your past colleagues who have seen what you can do; alumni from the college you attended where you were top of your class; and other heavy hitters in your field are those who you should be reaching out to if you are on the job market – either actively or passively. Build your online brand by connecting with professionals who potentially would be impressed by your content and therefore present value to your job search (i.e. by referring you or seeking you out for expertise.) Staffing agencies and recruiters don’t do you much good as a part of your network …really. And the secret’s out – recruiters try to avoid the unemployed. The job market is saturated and as a result of that volume, recruiters are now shying away from the unemployed and seeking individuals that were “good enough” to keep their jobs during hard times. What this means to the “A” players reading this that were unfortunate enough to get laid off: consult during your time off, start a blog about your field, get your MBA (but don’t expect a 20% salary increase once you get it), attend conferences for professionals in your field, network constantly, get short term advisory gigs – in general, stay busy and document your activities online. Recruiters, Hiring Mangers, and Head Hunters want to know that you are motivated, committed to your trade/career and passionate enough to stay current. Taking control of your personal brand online is a necessary step in a successful job search strategy. In today's competitive and fluctuating job market, those job seekers without a professional online brand are at a significant disadvantage and will simply be passed over for the top spots. Don’t let yourself be counted out by default because your public My Space page has pictures of you from a wild night in Vegas at your sister’s Bachelorette party. Instead, use these new mediums to your advantage and to get one step ahead of the corporate recruiter that is looking you up right now. About the Author To read more about my thoughts on successful strategies, check out my blog. Is this helpful? Please let us know in the comments your thoughts on this as well as other ways we can help you with your career and training. blog comments powered by Disqus |
