We all know that job searching is harder than ever before especially if you don’t know how to stand out from your competition. Those who understand the importance of personal branding know that it’s the best way to beat their competition. Employers and recruiters receive overwhelming numbers of applications. (click here to read my previous article to view the figures) So, that leaves the question, how will you grab recruiters attention to make it to the shortlist?
The most logical way forward is to review your personal brand and do some self-marketing. Personal Brand is very much a buzzword of the minute….
“Personal branding is the practice of marketing people and their careers as brands. It is an ongoing process of developing and maintaining a reputation and impression of an individual, group, or organization” – Wikipedia
Where do you start?
My advice is to start with what you can control, your CV, LinkedIn, Portfolio, Introduction emails/letters and think about the general perception your marketing materials give the outside world.
If you can’t get excited about your job then you do have to be honest with yourself and question if you’re in the right job at all. The applicants who are picked for interviews are the people who can clearly articulate their passion and drive rather than making the statement “I have passion and drive for the industry”.
Personal Branding Tips:
- Create your brand identity – what’s your appeal? Showcase your specialisation
- Define your unique value proposition – How do your skills meet the requirement? What’s your competitive differentiation?
- Create an Online Presence – When you’ve outlined 1 and 2, 3 becomes a little easier. Get yourself out there
- Network with like minded people – Offer valuable content to your network and ensure you are active on social media. By active I don’t mean post inspirational quotes, offer information of some value
- Audit your online presence – Keep an eye on the performance of your posts. Search your name on google to see what comes up
The best start you can give yourself in 2020 is to invest in yourself whether you’re looking for work or not. It takes time to build a name and reputation for yourself. It doesn’t happen overnight but if you give yourself a head start, you’ll be able to build a great network for yourself and with no question you will find that more companies contact you directly rather that you chasing hundreds of job applications
For personal brand courses and coaching visit https://aerecruitment.ae/coaching/
