You always want to present a positive and engaging personal brand but it’s crucial in the midst of a job search. You’re working hard to find a new position, you know you need to polish your brand, but where to start? Focus on these three areas and you’ll improve your brand across every format.
Building a personal brand is about crafting a unified and resonating message to introduce your skills, your ethics, your values, and your personality to career influencers everywhere. Here are the top three areas on which to focus when you want to present yourself as “the total package” during a job search in person, online, and in your executive resume:
Appearance. You know that being well dressed and well-groomed for an interview or networking event is key, don’t forget to put your professional look online in your profile photo, too. Exhibiting a professional appearance is just as important when presenting yourself in text. Properly formatted resumes, cover letters, and thoughtfully completed profiles also win positive first impressions.
Articulation of your brand statement. What makes you so special that someone should be compelled to choose you? This should be a concise, engaging, and confident statement about the value you bring to any organization. Think elevator pitch or tweet: create a concise statement with maximum impact using a minimum amount of words. Practice your message until you can confidently articulate the statement verbally, and use it online and in all written materials.
Attitude. Employers are allergic to the dark side. No one wants to add anger, bitterness, or depression to the team spirit or company morale. Anger, grief, and fear are normal and appropriate feelings about being disillusioned with your job or out of work. Keep that darker side of job searching out of the public eye and share it with your spouse, friend, therapist, or coach. Remove any online digital dirt. That negativity doesn’t belong on social media, in your resume, or at interviews and networking events. In short, you never want to portray yourself as desperate for a job despite your circumstances.
The goal of personal branding is to present a unified message of how valuable you are. These top three areas of focus for building a personal brand during a job search will help you deliver the best first impression of you. Remember Appearance, Articulation and Attitude: If it’s the best look or the best line that represents you, use it everywhere!
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