Let's start the new financial year with a refresh of your personal brand. Personal Branding can be summed up as one’s story. A personal brand represents what you stand for, the values you embrace, and the way in which you express those values. It helps you to communicate a unique identity and clear value to potential employers or clients. When job searching, your personal brand plays a big part in signalling to employers whether or not you’ll be the right fit for a role.
Here are six tips to help you create a personal brand to make an impact and boost your career in the process.
1. Reflect on who you are
To build a personal brand that accurately and authentically reflects your personal and professional identity, you first need to know who you are. You can start with creating a list of your personal strengths in areas which you have deep interest or passion for. Some questions you could reflect on are:
In which areas of work do I excel?
What motivates or drives me?
What have others complimented me on?
What am I natural at doing (can do with ease)?
Which roles or tasks energise/ seem to drain my energy?
Which projects or tasks can I spend hours on in flow or without feeling overwhelmed or tired?
Remember too that your personal brand will change as your career grows. The best strategy is to keep checking in and let it evolve over time as you change or pivot in your career.
2. Determine what you want to be known for
Your personal brand is more than a reflection of who you are today; you must also forecast where you want to go and create a roadmap to help you get there. Not only do you need to understand your existing skills and competencies, you also need to look at your strengths as they relate to whichever industry or career you want to break into next. Do some research and map out where you want to go, to uncover the skills and characteristics that make you unique and stand out, as well as the areas where you need to upskill or gain new knowledge in order to advance confidently.
3. Grow your online presence
One of the most important aspects of personal branding is making sure your online presence is engaging to hiring managers, recruiters, co-workers, and others—even if you’re not on the job hunt.
There are so many different social media platforms and tools available today so if you are present on more than one platform, ensure your story is consistent across them. Once you know where your targeted audience “lives” or is most likely to turn up, you can increase your engagement efforts on that platform to generate further interest and grow your online presence there.
4. Research your desired industry and follow the experts
As you start mapping out the careers you want, compile research on experts in those roles. This is especially helpful if you are changing or tweaking your career focus.
When I was transitioning from Finance and Funds Management into the Coaching world, I researched the coaches who had interesting and strong profiles and who I resonated with in their energetic and personal values. You can do the same in your research – look at who the thought leaders are in whatever field you’re interested in, and don’t just “follow” them, you can go online and find out if they have blogs, websites or where they contribute their thinking. Examine what they’re doing and learn from what things are working for them, how they market and brand, how they are presenting topics, how they interact with their community and who their connections are etc.
5. Ask for an informational meeting/ coffee chat
As you start forming a list of industry leaders you admire, consider reaching out to these professionals to ask for an informational meeting or coffee chat/interview. Don’t be afraid to ask anyone you’re interested in learning more from. You can reach out via DM’s on LinkedIn or via a connection who knows the person you would like to learn from.
These informational meetings or coffee chats can be very valuable, not only are you learning about what it takes to break into the profession, but you’re also sharing in the course of this dialogue a little bit about yourself and in fact building your brand.
Some questions that you can prepare in advance to help you obtain new insights about your desired industry include:
How did you get into the industry?
How do you see the industry evolving?
How has the pandemic shifted the industry/ role for you?
What steps would you take if you were to make the transition all over again?
What are the top considerations in taking up a course in XYZ? Are there any course providers, or Universities you would recommend for XYZ course?
How do you stay up-to-date with industry trends?
Are there any professional or trade associations I should join?
6. Build a Personal Website
In the busy digital world and social media scene, it is important to have a “place” which houses essential information about who you are and helps visually to highlight your work as a brand. This could be a personal website which is 100% about you without all the distractions of other profiles, ads and content of the social media applications.
You can create your own website using Wix, Squarespace, WordPress and Workfolio among others. There are also many other easy to use design resources such as Canva and Adobe CCE with their templates to get you started with creating brand-specific content on your website.
Remember that the story you tell, combined with those everyday interactions with your community and connections, ultimately define your personal brand. If you need some assistance with building your personal brand to make an impact in the second half of 2022 I have packages available.
Much Love,
Nat xx
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