Personal branding is pretty much how you market both yourself and your career online and offline to possible employers. Essentially you are the product, and your brand is the way that you are seen and perceived in a business sense. Apparently over 62% of hiring managers use Google to find out additional information about candidates. So as you can imagine personal branding is becoming more and more important. So how can you start building your brand? Here we outline the building blocks in developing your brand, and how it can assist you in your job search.
Ask Questions Before You Begin
Ask yourself questions, what is it that you are passionate about? Is there a specific message or theme you want to convey or do you feel you have a purpose to your brand? Think about the value in what you are putting online that shows more than just what you do. This will definitely help people to identify you and what you are about. Take advantage of the strengths or skills that you have to enhance the value of your brand.
Write a Blog or Personal Website
Writing a blog or having a personal site can also be a great way to highlight your interests and skills. It can also show that you are putting a substantial effort into your career and your passion. As you know a job application or CV may be limited, but your personal website or blog allows you freedom to show who you are. You can showcase articles, photos, or can act as a portfolio of your work.
Keep Connecting With Others
Connect with a group of influencers and build relationships that are positive. This can be done by commenting on and sharing articles others have written. Ensure you stay in touch with your connections, and connect them together as well. The bigger your network, the more resources you have to help you to expand your knowledge.
Maintain Your Online Presence
Ensure you use a similar or the same type of personal appearance across your social media platforms and networks. You should be easily identified (this should also be the case in your interview). You don’t have to be online everyday but it helps to post, like, share and comment on content regularly to build an online presence. This also shows that you are passionate about not only your own content but others as well.
Use Social Media
Make use of the variety of platforms available. Social media makes it easy to build on your brand and reach out to others in similar online communities. Social Media such as Twitter, Instagram or YouTube can give you options for a variety of different communication methods.
It also makes it easier for hiring managers to search for you using tools such as Facebook and LinkedIn. It would definitely be worth keeping your Facebook private by changing the settings if you feel that there is inappropriate content, as many employers can be put off by statuses and photos on your page.
Personal branding can be a useful tool to help you as a job seeker identify what it is that you are passionate about, but it is also a wonderful way to speak up about your accomplishments and show your personality to potential hiring managers.
Remember however that consistency is key; this should be established in your photos, writing, and content. Making full use of your online presence will lead recruiters to not only finding you but wanting to interview you, where you can then put in to use what you have portrayed throughout your personal brand.
Good luck!!
