CVs

Personal Branding: Moving beyond a CV

I have witnessed a dramatic increase in the use of the term “Personal Branding” in Ireland over the last 12 months.

I have witnessed a dramatic increase in the use of the term “Personal Branding” in Ireland over the last 12 months. Tom Peters first coined this term in an article back in 1997 and increasingly professionals are sitting up and taking notice. The principles behind personal branding are by no means new and I have been applying them for the last decade before I knew the fancy name. In short personal branding is about self marketing and I preach the importance of this to jobseekers everyday. More and more professionals are bringing business principles into the career arena with great success. The days of a jobseeker entering the job market armed with just a CV have passed.

What is Personal Branding?

Wiki defines Personal branding as – “the process whereby people and their careers are marked as brands. It has been noted that while previous self-help management techniques were about self-improvement, the personal branding concept suggests instead that success comes from self-packaging. Further defined as the creation of an asset that pertains to a particular person or individual; this includes but is not limited to the body, clothing, appearance and knowledge contained within, leading to an indelible impression that is uniquely distinguishable”. So Personal Branding is about how we market ourselves”.

Is Personal Branding important?

A short answer - YES!! There is a misconception that personal branding or self-marketing is for self-employed or senior executives. Everyone can develop a personal brand and benefit from personal branding principles. When executed correctly any efforts towards this can only enhance your reputation and add benefit to career aspirations.

Some of the benefits of personal branding include:

• Understand yourself – The process of defining your brand creates the foundation for any successful career. Personal Branding is about self-discover. If you don’t know where you are going then any road will take you there.
• Increase visibility – Visibility is essential for any business to survive but equally for jobseekers to survive in an increasingly challenging job market. Creating a Personal Brand will elevate you to the status of “go-to” person and highlight you as an expert in your field. There are many professionals never short of work options or job offers because they have effectively mastered the art of self marketing. Work hunts them and they don’t have to hunt work.
• Differentiates from competition – We all understand the importance of standing out in the crowd in a tough job market. Creating a personal brand will give you a competitive edge it will also change how perspective employers view you.

Developing & Communicating your Personal Brand

The first step is to identify and define your brand and how you differ from other brands. Quite often this will involve something that you are passionate about or an expert in. It is then important to set out a marketing plan to road map how you plan to develop your brand. Then there is the all important action!! Action your plan, communicate your brand and develop your real world and online presence. You have to make yourself visible!!

Useful Tools to help develop and communicate your brand

• Personal Website or Blog – The cost of developing a website or blog is no longer that expensive. If you enjoy writing I suggest a Blog but if not then go for a Personal Website. Ideally build this of your own name domain www.yourname.ie.
• Linkedin – A free resource. Develop a strong profile and make yourself visible. Join relevant network groups and engage through answering and asking questions. Develop your network. Other related Social Networking tools include Facebook and Twitter. All these tools combined are effective tools for increasing visibility and presence.
• Networking/WOM – Networking plays a valuable role both online and offline. Networking inside your company can be as valuable as networking outside. Remember if you deliver results people will talk and word of mouth (WOM) can spread your brand.
• PR Activity – Generating PR within printed media and radio, write articles for online sites or popular blogs. Review the papers and you will notice as many employees doing this as business owners/self employed individuals.
• Traditional Tools – You can’t forget CV and Cover Letter. When executed effectively they still prove essential marketing tools. It is difficult to predict the future of the CV but relying on this tool alone will mean that you are dropping behind competition.

Conclusion

The world of work and careers is changing at a fast pace. Current today may be dated in 12 months. Developing and nurturing your personal brand may sound fanciful but when executed effectively the results are impressive. Personal Branding is like everything else in that you get out what you invest. Building your brand takes time and energy but I maintain that doing a little is better that nothing.

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Paul Mullan is a Director of Outplacement & Career Coaching firm Measurability. Measurability helps jobseekers achieve career goals through CV writing, Interview Preparation, Creative Job Search Strategies and Online/Offline Marketing (AKA Personal Branding).