April 8th, 2009
Branding Yourself for Job Hunting Success
I am preparing for a teleclass that I will be giving at noon today for the Downtown Women’s Club on personal branding as it relates to looking for a job. None of what I plan to say is brilliant, but all of it bears repeating.
Branding yourself is critical when looking for a job –whether you are just out of college, in mid-career, or transitioning later in life. I find in my consulting practice that most people spend way too time on their resumes and almost no time at all thinking about how they want to be perceived. How you are perceived is everything in this game; it’s the “what can you do for me” question that all potential employers are asking.
It’s your job to tell them!
Another way to ask this question is: what problem am I the answer to?
It is a pro-active, rather than a passive, approach. It does the hard work of synthesizing all of your experience for the person sitting on the other side of the desk. In doing this, you appear confident and independent, two important qualities in any new hire.
So, how do you begin to formulate your personal brand? Start by asking yourself: (1) what makes me different from everyone else competing for this job? (2) How do you want potential employers to perceive you?
Armed with those answers, review your resume and make sure that it supports your brand. Now is not the time for modesty.
Hey Lyn:
This is great advice and I find it very, very true in the case of professionals, especially women, who want to do some adjunct teaching in their local colleges and universities. It use to be a great adjunct professor had great professional qualifications and experience. What I have now found, at least in Southern California, is a MBA or some type of Masters degree. How many outstanding women entrepreneurs do we know with MBA’s? I guarantee not many. We are too busy creating and building successful businesses. What you advocate is exactly what I am doing if I want to even get my foot into the door to teach in the University of California extended education adult classes (translates to night classes for adults changing careers.) I definitely have more experience and expertise than a business management consultant who left corporate America to become a management consultant. Stay tuned to hear what happens.
You are the best of them all Lyn!!!