Building Your Personal Brand in a Job Search
Companies spend millions of dollars a year branding their company and their products. They do this, because it works. A good branding strategy can shape the way people relate to the product. During your job search, you are the product. If well-planned, you can shape the way the industry and potential employers see you.
Regardless of your political position, you can see the success of self branding in Barrack Obama’s Presidential Election. In 2008, Obama was an inexperienced, Junior Senator from the Mid-West. In his three short years in politics, he had accomplished very little. Further, he was competing against individuals with more experience and more accomplishments. Yet, he was “hired” by the American people for the biggest job in the country. This process is recognized as the most intense interview process in the world.
One of the primary reasons President Obama won the election was his personal branding strategy. Obama evaluated his market to identify the core value that was most desired by the American people. After choosing his core value, he incorporated it into every “resume”, every “interview”, and every interaction with the market. Focusing on this core value is seen as the biggest reason for his success.
In the case of President Obama’s Job, his core value was “Change”. Change is not likely to be the biggest value you can bring to your industry, but the approach is one that can be very effective for you during your job search. To use the personal branding approach, you must first evaluate and understand your core value and the needs of your industry. Once you understand the industry need and your values, embrace the values that make you unique. Then promote those values in everything you do and say. Build that value into your resume and online presence. If you can, write about those values in a blog or articles. Teach those values to others in the industry. Ultimately, make that set of core values the center of your job search.
If you choose a brand that truly fits your core values and the needs of the industry, you will be able to easily promote and establish those values. Once established, these values will lead to a job that fits your strengths and allows you to do a job that makes you happy.
This is also one of the fastest ways to become a niche expert within your industry!
Related posts:
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ...
I’ve been reading along for a while now. I just wanted to drop you a comment to say keep up the good work.
I discovered your homepage by coincidence.
Very interesting posts and well written.
I will put your site on my blogroll.
interesting website. good content!
Chuck
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Brian Gibson. Brian Gibson said: Building Your Personal Brand in a Job Search – Job Tips, Job News …: Then promote those values in everything .. http://bit.ly/2cRYUp [...]
This is a great post, and I particularly like its emphasis on building on a set core values that are close to our heart and who really describe what we are about.
This is true, in today’s job market experts estimate 6 people competing for each job. You have to stand out and your personal brand is critical.
Could not agree more. Being true to one’s passions, strengths, core personality and interests is central to establishing authenticity and building out more social media engagement. We have a module called Dig Deep in our Personal Branding program at www.whyhire.me. You would not believe the reaction we get from post-secondary graduates students. Some of them have refocused their direction…all because we asked a few questions and suggested some self-reflection.
Leave your response!