Personal Branding Tips for Your Job Search

Strategic personal branding can help you find a job.  It can help you become visible both online and offline, and make so potential employers actually go out of their way to approach you because they are so intrigued by your reputation and what you stand for.

Personal branding is an investment that costs time, but it is well worth it.

Here is how you can make personal branding work for you in your job search.

1. Change your way of thinking and acting.

You are not a passive victim in the job search process. Don’t write and rewrite your CV and then wait, hoping that someone might get back to you. 

Focusing just on your CV is an inefficient and outdated approach. Experiment with new, unconventional job-search strategies – strategies that allow people to find you. Create great, value-adding content on social media, attend industry-related seminars or networking zooms and demonstrate your commitment to being at the forefront of your industry.  

You must do things to be seen, to prove your expertise, and to stand out – both online and offline.

2. Determine how you want to position yourself.

Do some research. Ask your friends and former colleagues what makes you stand out in comparison to a potential applicant with a similar educational background and skill set. This exercise is a game-changer.

Lastly, don’t make the mistake of saying that you want “a job” or that you are looking for “any job.” That will not help anybody. In a “perfect” world, where would you work? What would you do on a daily basis, and why would you do that? Do you want to work with people, or do you prefer analyzing data?

Get clear on who you are and what you want. It will be so much easier for yourself and for others when you know what you are good at and where you want to work.

3. Polish your online presence.

In today’s world, your online presence matters. A lot. People Google you, no matter if you meet them for coffee for the first time or if you are applying for a job at their company. Put yourself in the shoes of a potential employer: Your reputation would have a direct effect on their reputation, right? So, make sure that your online presence says what you want it to do.

Furthermore, updating your profile on The Collective Rising and on  LinkedIn profile is an absolute must.

4. Network strategically.

You radically increase your chances of hearing about a  job opportunity the more expansive your social network is, which means that you need to invest in your relationships and social ties and in people. Help others. Give them your full attention. Maintain your relationships, and regularly find ways to expand your social network, perhaps by attending digital (or IRL) networking events.

If people really like you – if you can impress them with your education, skills, expertise, and experience  – they will be eager to help you, and perhaps even be willing to create a job that doesn’t yet exist for you. 

Keep on investing in yourself. Keep on reading books that expand your mind and commit to being better than you were yesterday.

The old ways of searching and applying for a job don’t work anymore in today’s digitally charged climate.

Strategic personal branding will help you stand out creatively in an ocean full of people that are doing what everyone else does when searching for a job.