4 Key Steps to Building Your Personal Brand for 2014
DECEMBER 9, 2013 | STEVEN SQUIRES
Times have changed. It used to be that you could simply sit down and prepare a resume, write a perfectly crafted cover letter, and gather your references before applying to your dream job. Now there's all this talk of 'personal branding' and, quite frankly, you don't know what to make of it. The truth is that in today's job market, the level of competition for the best positions is rising, and with that the need to differentiate yourself from the average job seeker if you want to have the upper hand in the application and interview process. Personal branding, simply stated, is the idea that everyone has their own professional brand - qualities that are unique to each professional that employers are looking for amid a growing number of highly qualified applicants. In this article, we'll briefly outline three steps you can take in making sure your personal brand is polished up and ready for your modern job search.
Step 1: Identify Role Models
The first step marketing professionals take when beginning a new campaign is a conducting an extensive competitor analysis. This allows them to have an insight as to how their competitors behave that makes them successful in their field. Similarly, your personal brand should look like something you associate with success. Therefore, a great place to start when building your personal brand is to find someone you admire, meet with them, and learn some things about how they got to where they are in their career. Just a little bit of career advice can go a long way, so take the time to figure out the type of brand you want to have by talking with someone who has some experience in your field.
Step 2: Determine Your Overall Message
Another critical component of any branding campaign is to have a clear and concise message packed, ready, and set for delivery. For this step, take some time to think about what you're really good at. Think of skills, qualifications, and talents you can bring to the table that shows you're truly passionate about the work you do and the people you interact with, and use those to come up with your own personal tagline. Don't be afraid to bring in your personality traits as well - these can be powerful in helping a future employer pick you out from the crowd when making that final hiring decision.
Step 3: Leverage Your Online Social Presence
Another great way to build your personal brand in preparation for the new year is to use your personal social networks as platforms to market your talents and abilities. We're not saying you should let the world know all day and every day that you're looking for a job, but we are saying you should been keenly aware of what's on your social media pages. If you know you have some questionable images, language, or other material online, you should remove anything that could potentially come back to haunt you in an interview. A good rule of thumb is to adhere to the adage 'don't put anything online that you wouldn't want your mother to see'. This bit of advice will help you clean up your social presence, strengthen your personal brand, and help you leverage your social media accounts to spread the word about how your talents are among some of the best in your field.
Step 4: Learn to Adapt
Learning to adapt to the changing jobs market is a critical final process in making your personal brand shine in the coming year. When new technologies, methodologies, and best practices arise in the coming months, don't be adverse to learning about them or even going as far as to teaching yourself how to use them in your profession. So often many professionals disqualify themselves in the jobs market through their own reluctance to learn and grow in their field. Avoiding your comfort zone and pushing yourself to be better at what you do will - in the long run - make you much more valuable in the jobs market if and when the time comes for you to find another job.
Overall, building a personal brand doesn't happen over night. You have to be consistent in your approach, while keeping your sights set on the goal of making a name for yourself in your industry and profession. It's going to take time, and there's going to be bumps along the way, but overall building a robust personal brand will help you rise above the competition when it comes to finding your dream job.
Click Here to check out eye care specific job opportunities in your area today!
