Career Coach – Five Ideas On How To Create a Personal Brand

Need help creating a personal brand?

First off, you need to establish and promote what you stand for. Your personal brand is the unique combination of skills, values, strengths, and experiences that make you. Effective personal branding will differentiate you from other professionals in your field.

People reinvent themselves all the time—to take on a new challenge, shift into more-meaningful work, or deny perceptions that have hindered their career progress. Sometimes the changes are major (a teacher moves into human resources; a venture capitalist becomes a realtor).  Taking control of your personal brand may mean the difference between an unfulfilling job and a rewarding career.

So, why does someone need a “personal brand?

According to Career Builder, more than half of employers won't hire potential candidates without some sort of online presence today.

By developing your personal brand, you will be able to define how people remember you. Some examples:

  • Rick is the an expert in launching new products in the consumer products category
  • Megan is an accomplished turnaround manager who has saved several mid-sized businesses.
  • John is an accomplished Database Administrator who can effectively manage large enterprise software applications.
  • Kim is a skilled Human Resources Manager who has extensive experience in managing labor relations and keeping business union free.

All of the examples are effective and brief summaries of what makes these individuals unique and experts in their given area. The collective opinion at The Frontier Group is that everyone has a personal brand and the key is how to define and communicate it.

Where do you begin? Here are five ideas that can help you get started.

  1. Start with writing down several sample statements on how others would describe you. Write is as detailed as you want because it is easier to edit it down than to build it up.
  2. Think about what it is that you are really good at and would like to continue doing. If new product development is your interest and you have a good background in it then definitely create your brand around how you can help others create great new products.
  3. Consider what is important to others. It may be great that you are an accomplished impressionist painter but this will not help you network your way into being considered for a position as a software developer.
  4. Ask others for their input on how they see you.
  5. Look at other people that you are similar to and see how they describe themselves on LinkedIn. This can provide a great frame of reference.

Creating a personal brand is important. It can help you define yourself better in the workplace while employed and distinguish you from others when you are in transition. Take some time and develop your own brand. It will be time well spent.

If you are looking for support in shaping your career or transitioning to a new job, or if you simply need an amazing resume and LinkedIn profile professional branding assistance, our consultants and technology will help you move forward with clarity, focus and success. To learn more about Don’t Dread Monday Career Coaching Click Here.