Imagine you walk into your local Walmart Supercenter tomorrow afternoon and the greeter is wearing a tuxedo and offers you a glass of wine. As you gaze into the store, you see a large, carpeted shoe department with neatly displayed designer shoes on teak wood display cabinets, rows of chintz upholstered chairs, and salesmen dressed in suits and ties. At this point, no doubt, you think you have entered the Twilight Zone. Most likely, you are also disappointed because you came looking for low prices, not designer apparel.
That is the importance of brand. We associate specific characteristics with a brand and that sets our expectations. There is great comfort in knowing what to expect. The unknown or uncertain is disconcerting and uncomfortable. When a hiring manager is evaluating candidates for a new hire, she will choose the person she believes will meet her expectations for the job. That is where your personal brand comes into play.
It is imperative that you choose your brand because if you don’t, others will choose it for you. You want to ensure that your personal brand is authentically you. For example, if public speaking is your greatest fear and you have no desire to overcome it, don’t try to sell yourself as someone with a strength for oral presentations. However, if there is a job for a project manager and you love to bring in projects on time and under budget, identify the special talent you have for your success and promote that as your brand, which will quickly establish you as a good fit.
What is your current brand? What you are known for? How would your coworkers describe you? For what type of projects, issues, or challenges are you the go-to person? What talents led to your greatest accomplishments? Are you happy with your current brand or would you like to change it to something else? Most important, are you effectively marketing yourself under your chosen brand?
To successfully land your dream job, you will have to convince the employer that you are the right person for the job. You accomplish this by setting expectations with a consistent and recurring representation of your personal brand in your résumé, your cover letter, your interviews, your social media profiles, and with your references. Have you established a consistent theme that makes you an easy match for a hiring manger? If not, I encourage you to identify your personal brand, rewrite your promotional materials, and revise your answers to interview questions. Then, get prepared for a much more successful job search.
Join me for a more in-depth discussion of personal branding on Thursday, March 4, when I will host a FREE Teleseminar, entitled “Get Hired Now! The Power of Personal Branding.” Sign-up at http://tinyurl.com/ygwyx3o
Tags: accomplishments, branding, employers, hiring manager, Job search, Job seekers, resumes, self-knowledge, social media, strengths, value proposition
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I found this information to be very enlightening.
I really never thought about a personal brand since I have been in the pharmaceutical industry for most of my life and completed my PhD at 50 in Medical Anthropology.
As you can well guess, I am unemployed having been laid off from a position in the pharmaceutical industry and can’t find anything.
If you have any suggestions I would love to set up a time to speak with you.
I think one of the issues for me is that I have had a very successful career and I am 61, which I think puts me in a very unusual position.
I think that being unemployed for 1.5 years and my age, previous salary and educational level (I also have a M.S. and MBA) puts me at a disadvantage.
I have really given up hope of finding full time employment.
It is a very strange experience having always had job security and amazing benefits for most of my working life.