As the concept of personal branding steadily evolves, one can see it infiltrating into all spheres of life, right from business to the world of career development, employment, and job-hunting. Attribute it to sheer lack of knowledge, reluctance to accept its relevance or any other reason best known to them; many are intimidated by branding. As a consumer, you may have realized that branding is an integral part of our lives. From your favorite shopping center to print and electronic media, companies and their branding messages follow you everywhere.
With a consistent evolution of the concept of job-hunting, branding continues to assume greater significance. Employers are attracting passive job seekers. For starters, passive job seekers are individuals who already have a job at hand but yearning to pursue a different career. The employers are engaging their resources in conducting background verifications and determining core competencies based on the footprints you leave online.
Career brand defined
Concisely, your career brand is a blend of what others perceive about you and how you perceive yourself. You can exercise fair bit of control on the former while later is completely under your control. Your career brand is the message you convey about who you are and how your employer can benefit from your presence in their setup.
Your career brand entails your academic credentials, technical expertise, accomplishments, skills, strengths, values you stand for or anything that make you stand out from your co-workers, colleagues, and competing job-seekers.
Genuineness of your personal brand proves to the difference between success and failure. Remember, your career brand will remain devoid of essence unless your acts comply with it. In an event, you fail to do so, your career prospects will plummet leaving you languishing in the same state.
How Can You Shape, Manage Your Career Brand?
Creating and managing your brand is and should be a priority for you. Adopt a methodic approach towards shaping and managing your brand. Initiate the process by contemplating ways to develop a sense of your current brand. Like in other pursuits, here too internet can come to your rescue. Conduct a thorough search on internet by using your full name with variations, nicknames, if necessary. Access social media platforms and analyze your profile including pictures, comments you received of late and content posted. Checking forums where you make regular contributions will also help your cause.
Following this, you should sieve through your realizations and ponder over strategies to modify, delete, and improve your online profiles. Need for complete transformation of your online profiles cannot be overruled. Considering the escalating competition, you cannot be callous about career branding.
To ensure a comprehensive reach, ascertain areas where you are lagging behind. Suppose, if you do not have a LinkedIn profile, create it at the earnest. Ask your peers and family members for the all important endorsements and recommendations. Joining professional groups is always a good idea, but it will deliver desired results only if you are an contribute actively.
Why Should You Care About Your Career Brand?
Establishing and promoting a positive career brand personally and digitally will take you places. It will not only pave a way for a convenient and successful job hunt but also help you in scaling the corporate ladder.
AS mentioned earlier, your career brand delivers a positive massage regarding your real self and your capabilities, much to the respite of overworked hiring managers looking to make a smart decision. It pays to keep your brand current, so it is advisable to revise it periodically and update your supporting materials such as resume, social networking profiles and website/blog too.
As a job seeker, you require a robust career brand to get better of the competition. However, as you go ahead with your brand, ensure to keep it genuine, focused, and compelling.