Building your personal brand can show potential employers that there is more to you than just your qualifications and your work experience. Having a resume, cover letter and a dynamic LinkedIn profile is not enough. It gives you the opportunity to ensure that people see you the way you want them to, and not in a random or arbitrary way that could potentially damage your image.
Your personal branding is about identifying, positioning, and promoting yourself in the business world. It encompasses what you stand for, what your core values are, what you’ve accomplished, your skills and capabilities, your interests, and what you’re capable of achieving – all those things that makes you memorable and sets you apart from your competitors and why a recruiter or potential employer should be interested in you. in a nutshell, ‘what is your unique selling proposition’, your USP as it’s often called.
Jianwei, a recent migrant, needed some help with trying to get some visibility. He spent considerable time and money to get his resume and LinkedIn profile written for him yet he could not find a job placement.
I read his LinkedIn profile and his resume, and it was mostly focused on his qualifications and some work experience he had overseas. There was not much there, that would sway a recruiter to have a deeper look at him, no matter how highly qualified he was. There was no mention of his core values, his passion or interests or what he’s aspiring to achieve in life. He felt deflated and all sorts of fear was going through his mind, including the fear of acceptance as a migrant.
I explained to Jianwei that his core values are the emotional currency of his life. They will help him to establish his credibility beyond where he came from, or what language he spoke, or what ethnicity he belongs to. His core values will give him a sense of purpose and direction for building his personal brand. They act as his guideposts, assisting him in evaluating life choices. It is the foundation for all his communication strategies. This advise applies to all jobseekers and others, aspiring to build a strong, reputable personal brand. Be authentic. Be ‘You’!
Having a consistent personal brand, let’s recruiters, potential employers and others, know that you are goal-oriented, have clarity, purpose, and a focused strategy to achieve your goals. It also serves as a marketing tool, your personal billboard if you like. Your personal branding will change and evolve over time, as you add new skills, experiences and share new perspectives on life that align to your core values. It is, in effect, ‘about you’.
Building your personal brand is a conscious and intentional effort. It serves to build trusting relationships, by influencing the public’s perception of you, by positioning yourself as an authority in your field of expertise, elevating your credibility, and differentiating yourself from your competition, ultimately advancing your career and increasing your circle of influence.
I coached Jianwei over eight sessions which included sessions on motivation and understanding his self-concept. A month later, Jianwei landed his first job and is steadily building a powerful network of people and becoming the go-to person for all matters in his area of IT specialisation.
Some important key steps to create your personal brand
- Appearance
You are judged by the way you look, your body-language and your demeanour. Pay attention to these finer details. First impressions can be lasting impressions. So, if you’re dressed sloppy or ultra-casual, that will be perceived as your personal brand. Dress for success and what the job role is about. If you are applying for forklift driver job, you wouldn’t be going in a suit to work.
- Decide on your area of expertise and what you want to be known for
Jianwei specialised in building AI technology trading platforms. That was his area of expertise, his niche, and everything he did was about showing that he was the expert, he was the go-to person. Like Jianwei, identify your strengths and passion and what is it that you want to be known for.
- Clearly craft your brand vision
Your brand vision is the future ideal version of how you see yourself and what you aspire to achieve. You write it in the present tense as if you have already achieved it. It has to align to your core values, including integrity.
- Be authentic
Personal branding is a process. It takes time, effort, and perseverance to dive deep, understand and identify the ‘real you’. Diving deep into your values, strengths, personality traits, and your story and then putting your true self out there, in a consistent manner, so that you are recognised, remembered, and consciously building trust.
- Deliver a consistent message
A strong personal brand has three characteristics: clarity, Consistency, Constancy. A strong personal brand is clear about who you are, and who you’re not. Achieving clarity is the hard part, especially early in the piece as you are still trying to decide what you stand for, especially early in your career. Clarity comes from understanding and embodying your unique value proposition.
When you are clear about your message, you want to deliver your message consistently, no matter what communication medium you use.
In building your personal brand, you need to ensure that you stay visible regularly. You cannot disappear for months and expect people to remember you. This is not being constant.
- Create your social media brand presence
Once you’ve identified your area of expertise and your target audience, you need to create a social media presence. Publish quality online content in your area of expertise. Establishing a social media presence serves as a way to communicate, connect with and meet new people, build trusting relationships. You connect with people on a personal level in an environment in which common interests are shared.
- Integrity matters
Being honest and transparent in everything you say and do, even when its easier not to, helps you to build a trustworthy and credible personal brand. When you say what others want to hear, the truth catches up with you and everything you are trying to achieve will crumble faster than you thought possible.
- Make friends and network
Making friends and networking brings you in direct contact with other influencers, experts and potential employers in a face-to-face setting. This will add value to your online presence because if nobody in your field recognises you or knows about you, your online content won’t carry as much weight. Join LinkedIn groups that focus on jobseekers, connect with key people in organisations you would like to work in. the power of networking and building connections should never be underestimated. By establishing contact and connections and introducing yourself to others, helps you to build your reputation in person and currently, virtually because of the pandemic.
