“Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called you.”
Tom Peters (A Brand Called You)
In this age of social media addiction, you cannot leave your personal brand to chance. You have to assume responsibility for your life’s narrative. It is your artwork, you must craft and display it with the extreme care. Personal branding is the practice of people presenting themselves and their careers as brands. It is built on the assumption that success comes from self-packaging.
Personal branding is often associated with concepts like online identity management, reputation capital, impression and image management and reputation management. Your personal brand is how you appear to the world. Thus, it serves to reason that a strong brand is preferable to one that is unpolished and uninteresting.
No need to “create” a personal brand. You already have one.
Tom Peters wrote about personal branding over 12 years ago. The world however did not give his prognostications any prominence until web 2.0 evolved to facilitate the social media revolution. Today Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the other social media networks have made it virtually impossible for anyone to avoid creating a personal brand.
Google your name and what do you find. You will notice that these online presence you have consciously or unconsciously created are your most visible personal brand indicators. I know this expose may be daunting but get over it. It’s already out there and you can’t do anything about it. What you can do is take full responsibility for it and manage it.
Personal branding actually informs hiring decisions
The personal branding concept is still a cutting-edge but it is worrying to find that most job seekers are not taking advantage of it. Job seekers have no idea how personal branding can massively impact their job search. Job seekers are totally oblivious of the fact that every serious employer will conduct a background check on applicants before making hiring decisions. It actually influences hiring decision. It may either compel recruiters to consider inviting you for an interview or rubbishing your resume. This is a routine practice in the recruitment industry. Imagine what your prospective employer will find if he googles your name, checks on your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Flickr and other social media pages.
Begin now, the process of cultivating your personal brand.
No one else can claim the exact same brand as you. Dig deep and start cultivating the most compelling brand in our competitive job market. Your brand must portray a vivid indication of the best you have to offer.
A job seekers personal brand must emphasize their values, interest, passion, performance and potential offerings their prospective employer can expect from them. The brand you communicate through your social media presence shows your career promise. When you cultivate a personal brand, your unique promise of value precedes you and has far-reaching effects on your job search.
Article by: HR Writer; First published HERE
