A Personal Brand to Distinguish You and Your Skillset to Potential Employers

Each time you tune into your favorite TV show or open up a magazine or an online browser you come in contact with the power of branding, which means that your favorite things are never more than a click away. Marketers of these products are constantly looking for new ways to get their brands in front of you, and in a culture of more it’s important to continually remind others what’s good about your product.

While it can be difficult to escape the onslaught of product branding, have you ever stopped to consider how you could use a personal brand to become memorable and distinguish yourself to employers? The concept of personal branding, also known as individual branding, can be a very important way to differentiate yourself when searching for a job.

Interestingly, the idea of a personal brand is not a new concept. A book titled “Think & Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill first mentioned personal branding in 1937. Hill, who interviewed more than 40 millionaires about how to become successful, talked about the importance of managing your reputation by monitoring what you said and did as well as knowing what others were saying about your words and actions.

Today, the same principle remains true, but this time it’s on a much grander scale with opportunities to share your personal brand throughout the world on social sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs. Whether you are active or absent from the arenas of social commentary, both have the ability to define your personal brand. The question is if you are actively showcasing your personal brand by creating quality content that highlights your talents or are you using the area in a detracting manner that portrays you in a negative light or worst of all neglecting to participate at all? Knowing how you and your skills are perceived is the first step in finding opportunities where you can share the unique skill sets and services that will allow you to become an asset to an employer.

Building your Personal Brand Online and Offline

1. Create Google alerts so you know when others are talking about you
2. Build a personal website or blog through WordPress, Wix or Tumblr where search engines can find your online contributions
3. Contribute to other’s blogs by sharing constructive comments
4. Continually update your skills and knowledge and showcase those things through online outlets
5. Network and build connections that allow you to gain knowledge and meet quality influencers

If you’re not sure in which camp you might reside, stop and Google your name. Does what shows up in the search portray you in the best light or are there places you can begin to imprint your personal brand? Consider constructing a personal brand by filling out the Professional Reinvention Self-Assessment from Dorie Clark. Exercises such as these are a way to determine how you want to define who you are to yourself and others. Creating a personal brand is one of the most important steps to widely demonstrate the skills and knowledge you provide in a way that’s truly unique to yourself.

This article is brought to you by Staffing Kansas City, a full-service Kansas City employment agency that provides contract-to-hire, direct hire and temporary employment placement services.