Personal branding, the identification of sellable traits and experience, is core to the individual in job transition success. Effort in the job search needs to be optimized through focus on qualified positions and opportunities of interest. Authors such as Arruda and Dixson in their book Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand , focus on the importance of building personal brand.
Personal Branding, Career Seeker Tool
Building a comprehensive marketing and branding plan, the career seeker identifies meaningful keywords, labels or tags that define the critical characteristics of jobs and goals to be evaluated. Utilize 1 to 2 word labels focused on the career target: mentor, decision maker, facilitator. These keywords need to speak to the essence of the job seeker and the core requirements of the position sought.
Delineate the 3 or 4 brand goals focusing on meaningful objectives for the future role. A tightly written series of goals focuses the job search, narrows target organizations, provides key characteristics and identifies needs the new position should fill.
Building Professional Statement – Personal Brand Positioning
Create tightly written paragraphs focused on deliverable strengths for the new organization based on past success or education.
Elaborate using 3 to 4 action oriented statement sentences expounding on skills and key success characteristics. This paragraph forms the foundation of the job seeker’s marketing tools:
- 30 second elevator talk
- resumes
- cover letters
- social networking profiles
Develop a success oriented positioning statement focused on key successes, assignments, and knowledge. The position statement must be factual, true, written in clear plain spoken language and expound on critical successes.
Write several fact and data based success stories taking into consideration the situation, scope, prior conditions, action plan, issues addressed, and results. These tightly focused paragraphs provide support to the positioning statement and provide material for custom targeted resumes and cover letters.
Transferable Job Skills – Identify Keywords for Positions Targeted
Research and identify transferable skills possessed by the seeker. Make a list of key skills – as an example:
- analyze situations rapidly
- decisive
- drives out of the box thinking
- effective moderator and mediator
- enterprising & dynamic
- handles rapid change quickly
- hands on & shirt sleeve
- high energy & enthusiastic
Research and identify key words for positions sought that the career seeker possesses. Make a list for each type of position, for example: ERP SAP system; six sigma certified; registered; masters; board certified.
Identify keywords and transferable skills that form the key content for the job seekers marketing materials. These need to be accurate and truthful representations of the job seekers experience and skills. Targeted cover letters and application specific resumes provide the flexibility to utilize this content.
Job Seekers Target Market – Key Parameters
Identify target markets by geographic parameters such as targeted city, state, region or national depending on job seekers interests. If the job seeker has different target markets dependent on job title identify the geography by job title listed in the individual branding statement. These industries will be essential to on line searches and job notifications for posted positions.
Research types of industries targeted by the seeker providing focus to the job seekers campaign. These industries allow research focused on identified target companies. Dow Jones and other government methodologies, such as SIC Code should be used to facilitate the collection and usefulness of the research.
Determine the parameters of size and culture of the organization. Public or private companies provide different cultures and opportunities depending on the position desired. The size of the organization may be directly related to preference items such as career mobility, cultural diversity, geographic relocation, breadth of responsibility, and building of skill development.
Select optimum organization's culture regarding the proper employer/employee fit. The culture is often manifested in the management style of the hiring supervisor: participative, collaborative, structured, results oriented, creative, high integrity, or team oriented.
Personal Branding Impact the Job Search Success
Create a personal brand consist with job skills, effective resume writing, and e networking tools. Create accountability in the career search via measuring activity and initiatives against the personal marketing plan.
David Zietlow - Dave Zietlow is an experienced senior executive with global general management success in multi site environments. He invigorated ...
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