Written by: Jeff Altman, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Career branding is becoming increasingly crucial for job prospects in the age of Big Data and AI. Employers look at your cover letter and résumé to see if you're a suitable fit for the position. Career branding demonstrates who you are as a person and what you are renowned for to potential employers. You must know who you are as a person and what your objectives are.
Create Your Own Personal Brand.
A personal brand's strength comes from a combination of abilities and expertise. If you work in a restaurant, for example, you undoubtedly have a natural talent for making people feel at ease. When it comes to building your personal brand, this trait will come in helpful. The power of your personal brand isn't limited to the job; it may have a far-reaching impact.
Establishing a personal brand is critical in today's market. A personal brand will help you define yourself, what you bring to the table, and advance your career. Keep in mind that the most important thing to remember when developing your personal brand is to stay true to yourself and be proud of your unique qualities. You can emphasize all of your achievements, from your education to your experiences, to help others understand who you are and what makes you unique.
A personal brand can assist you to generate business, find or become a mentor, or ensure that you never have to hunt for another employment. Your personal brand can be your secret weapon if you're a new entrepreneur. Spend time developing your personal brand in order to establish a reputation and acquire the confidence of your target audience or tribe. Then, when the appropriate opportunity presents itself, you could land your ideal job or business opportunity.
Career changers might benefit from personal branding since it allows them to express their narrative to employers and advance their careers. Your personal brand statement can double as an elevator pitch, which is useful when meeting with potential employers in a casual atmosphere. You can utilize it to improve your internet visibility and extend your social media presence.
Recognize Your Assets.
When it comes to defining your skills for career branding, self-awareness is crucial. Your brand is built on personal experiences and should be enhanced by new tasks, experiences, difficulties, and triumphs. To enhance your abilities, seek out situations and opportunities for professional development, and try new jobs or roles outside of your comfort zone. Consider taking courses, shadowing coworkers, or assisting people in leadership roles to learn more about the specific talents you can improve through new experiences.
Self-awareness can help you recognize your abilities which can assist you in deciding on a career path and hone your skills. You will gain a better grasp of your abilities if you think about them frequently. You can also track of your progress by reflecting on your strengths on regularly. You might even discover that you've developed new interests and talents that align with them. Once you understand your strengths, you may better position yourself for success and happiness in a variety of disciplines (including your current one).
All of this is great, but you must still learn what businesses want from their employees. Once you have a clear understanding of what your unique advantages are, use this knowledge to rebuild your resume and LinkedIn profile. In the end, your career approach will be based on your strengths. After you've brainstormed your strengths, you'll need to figure out which ones are the most relevant and beneficial for you. Do you, for example, have the ability to effectively communicate with others? If that's the case, you might have a hallmark strength in leadership.
Understanding your strengths can help you in overcome your weaknesses. While it may seem self-evident, the greatest method to minimize your weaknesses is to understand and capitalize on your unique qualities. Knowing your strengths will assist you with adding value to your career and with obtaining the position or career that you want. It can also signal emotional development and self-awareness as well.
On LinkedIn, Affirm Your Personal Brand.
Optimizing your LinkedIn profile is one of the most crucial elements in developing a personal brand. To connect with others, make sure your headline field contains relevant keywords and phrases. This field has a character limit of 220 characters, so make the most of it! Here are a few additional pointers to assist you improve the effectiveness of your LinkedIn profile. After all, you don't want to squander an opportunity to market your personal brand!
Make sure your LinkedIn profile is complete and includes all of your essential talents. LinkedIn jobs will help you locate firms that are looking for candidates that possess the skills and qualities that you represent. Take note of the keywords that were used to define those qualities, as well as the keywords that best describe your personal brand(s). You can list up to 100 skills, but keep in mind to stay on the subject and prioritize the most important three. It's better to include only a few relevant keywords, as too many will appear irrelevant.
Once you've finished your profile, keep it up to date with information about your successes frequently. Join LinkedIn Groups and update your profile content on a regular basis. You can also compose blog pieces and share them on your profile, with your friends, and in groups. You'll be able to get the benefits of blogging while avoiding many of the difficulties. LinkedIn shares articles with Google, making it easier for individuals looking for people with your expertise to find you. You can also seek out recommendations from your network and share thought-provoking articles. Of course, steer clear of offensive or overtly self-promotional content. The tone of your LinkedIn profile should be upbeat and pleasant.
Make sure your profile includes a professional headshot. A high-resolution profile photo will boost the likelihood of your profile being read and visited. Make sure the photo is updated on a regular basis. A blurry photo or group shot will hurt you. If you don't keep your profile up to date, you risk missing out on opportunities to connect with people who need your services.
Try to Promote Yourself in Magazines, Newspaper and High-Quality Websites
For every job hunter, career branding is critical, and getting published in a magazine or newspaper can be an effective way to get your name out there. How do you get your name known? To begin with, there is no one-size-fits-all solution that will work for everyone. It is entirely dependent on the individual. Many people assume that in order to be taken seriously, they must be seen by the entire globe. Others, on the other hand, disagree and believe that they must be known within their specialty.
When it comes to personal branding, even journalists are more open to self-promotion and branding. Maggie Haberman, a veteran New York Times reporter, and Taylor Lorenz, a Washington Post internet culture reporter, recently engaged in a Twitter battle over personal branding. Their personal branding initiatives may be the reason you recognize their names.
Make a Social Media Personal Brand for Yourself.
When it comes to career branding, it's critical to maintain a consistent and favorable social media presence. You're unlikely to get any shares, likes, or comments on your posts if people don't like what they see and, by extension, don’t like you. If you disagree with something, make it obvious without using sarcasm, snark, or rancor. Also, be real and interact with others. You can also enlist the support of a personal branding professional. After all, we're talking about your career here. It's crucial.
Social networking is powerful for establishing your personal brand. To identify information relevant to your niche, use popular hashtags and news aggregator sites. Only post content that is consistent with your brand. You can also provide personal information if it is relevant to your niche and helps you achieve your goals. Just because you have a social media presence doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. You must decide what to do and what not to do, as well as understand how to develop a social media persona that matches your objectives.
While social media is primarily used by people to connect with others, it can also be used to develop a personal brand that is easy to communicate with, whether online or in person. Above all, be genuine and truthful. It's also crucial to remember that branding is a continuous activity rather than a one-time event. You should try to build your personal brand through social media because it can assist you with getting or keeping your career on track.
Maintain consistency in your material across all of your social media platforms. People and social media networks will be searching for consistency, and if you post infrequently, your reputation will suffer. Use branding tools like Canva and SocialPilot to automate the process and post material when it's most relevant to your target audience. These tools let you to create content in one sitting and plan it for optimal viewing hours on many channels. You can also post-film and/or photographs to several channels using them.
Don’t Forget YouTube
Although LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook get all the attention, YouTube is a phenomenal and fun way to build your brand. As someone with more than 7000 videos on the platform related to job search, hiring better, management, leadership and with answers to peoples’ issues in the workplace, many people have contacted me based upon seeing one of my videos on YouTube. You can create a 3-5 minute video answering a question someone has about an area of your expertise, and then schedule it to be shared on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter using SocialPilot. Create the thumbnail for it using Canva. The free version may serve your interests well.
Unless you take the time to build a personal brand, you will remain one among many fighting to get noticed, not just when you job hunt, but throughout your career. Putting in the effort consistently over time will make things easy for you later. Making it easy for yourself now, will make things hard for you later.
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Jeff Altman, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is a career and leadership coach who helps people with their career, including a job search, hiring more effectively, managing and leading, resolving workplace-related issues while being the person they want to be in life. He has written 9 books and guides to job search and hiring, including "The Ultimate Job Interview Framework" and "The Right Answers to Tough Interview Questions." He is the host of No BS Job Search Advice Radio, the 1 podcast in Apple Podcasts for job search with more than 2100 episodes, as well as JobSearchTV.com on YouTube, Amazon, Roku, Apple TV, and 90+ smart sets. Jeff works with clients worldwide and is a popular speaker.
