"Personal branding is NOT the same as being the center of attention or creating
a cult of your own personality: http://bit.ly/cqkhrz"
Three guesses what came to my mind when I read this. A hint - it's a song (hence the "struck a cord reference above).
Everyone told me when I turned 40 some "thing" will happen. For some it's a new found confidence or maturity for others it's self doubt or a mid-life crisis. I'm not sure what category you'd file my "thing" under, but when I turned 40 in April I started to think about my personal brand. Even though the concept of personal brand has been around longer than I thought, "back in my day" this thing we know as "personal brand" today was not even a term. We had our resumes and if we were lucky we had a personal reference who helped us get a job. And then social networking exploded and it collided with social media marketing and before we knew it "personal brand" was mainstream.
Do you have a personal brand? I am associated with a brand (a.k.a. @SodexoCareers) but do I have a personal brand? Probably, but I'm not sure I've defined it yet. In the article on Careerealism Joshua Waldman writes, "People who deny they have a personal brand simply end up with a very bad one. But people who proactively manage it are ahead of the game." OK, I get it. It's time to define and manage my personal brand and take it to the next level.
I want to be "uniquely distinguishable." And so should you.
Why? So when you apply for a job and get that first interview the recruiter will know why you are special. If the recruiter has to ask you why you are special then maybe you aren't making the impression you think you are making. By the way, your recruiter is your lifeline to the company during the hiring process and first impressions definitely count. Our recruiters see hundreds of resumes and interview almost as many people every month. Many of our candidates are as qualified as you think you are. Your personal brand is what will genuinely differentiate you in this crowd.
Genuinely differentiate you. You can't make up a personal brand because it sounds good. We all know someone who looks better on paper than in real life. They may even make a good first impression but eventually they are going to tell you that one and one makes three and eventually you will be scratching your heads wondering what it was that you saw in them that was so special.
Personal branding is not only important for getting the job it's also important for your career growth. The good news for me is 40 years old is not as old as I think it is and I have another 20-30 years to manage my personal brand. Wait another 20-30 years? Is that good news or bad news? I love my job but realistically I can't stay in this job for the next 20-30 years. I've been with Sodexo for two and half years and I've been promoted twice. They believe in career growth. Career growth for people who care about their career. Which is why professional networking, interviewing skills, and resume writing are part of our career growth plans. A well defined personal brand just makes career growth easier.
In other words Sodexo provides the tools to define your personal brand and identify the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that will help you (me) take your (my) career to the next level when the time is right.
So back to the song that immediately came to mind when I read the tweet from @Careerealism. Anyone want to take a guess on the song?
1 comments:
Good post regarding person branding! I think Gary Vaynerchuck is the best at convincing people that you have to separate yourself from others through personal branding!
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