Posted under Branding, Career Management on September 15th, 2008
In these days of rapid fluctuations in job status, you’ve probably already heard that having your professional brand is considered a valuable career management tool. But once you’ve got it - identified those skills, strengths and accomplishments that combine to form your unique value - how do you best put it to use? Here are 3 tips:
1. Get thoroughly comfortable with your unique value. Believe it! Review situations where it was “at work” and identify how. Put it in story form that you could tell to others, including the impact it had.
2. Consciously build a reputation built around your unique value. Your brand doesn’t have to be flashy to be memorable. Look for a problem, or “felt need”, to offer it as solution, and do it in as many different settings and as many different ways as possible. Becoming a repeat solution-provider, or resource, in people’s minds is a powerful way of building your reputation. And when appreciation is being offered is an ideal time to impress your brand - the succinct statement of your unique value - in people’s minds.
3. Don’t wait until you’re job-searching to put your brand to work. Continue to refine it on a regular basis, updating it with new accomplishments and aligning it with new trends or challenges in your field.
And if you’re convinced - as I hope you are - that branding is a valuable part of your career management repetoire, take a look at Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand, by Wm. Arruda and K. Dixson and recently released.
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Margaret Meloni on 16 Sep 2008 at 12:53 pm #
Yes, you absolutely need to build your brand before you decide to look for your next job. And once you decide who you want to be, then you need to make sure you are acting the part. Perhaps acting is not the best choice of words, because what I really mean is that you naturally behave in a way that maps to your brand. So that people absolutely get you and so that they would describe you in the words you wish to hear.