What's Your Personal Brand? What Do You Portray to Employers?

Branding is not just for large companies, small businesses must brand themselves to the market place and individuals must brand themselves to the job market. Have you created a brand beyond yourself? What image, attitude, and impression do you want to portray to employers in the market for your services? I am presently marketing my son, at his insistence, to the film industry so I sat and watched Canada's Next Top Model for the first time to get an idea of what that industry looks for. I learned a lot about personal branding and it occurred to me that everyone looking to sell themselves into any job needs a brand, including me.

You know the accountant who's books are a mess, the notary who doesn't have a will, or the mechanic who's car doesn't work.... that's me at the moment, the marketer who doesn't have a brand. Well that's not completely true, I do have an image, everyone does, it's just not a purposeful conscious and planned brand.

I need to figure out what I want to portray to the marketplace, to potential employers, and to new friends. From there I need to work hard at making sure I am that brand. Everything I do needs to go back to that brand.

For example, I want to show that I am professional - so my marketing documents (cover letter and resumes) must be professional. I have to invest time, money and energy into getting the right look and feel into these documents. I also need to look the role, which for me means getting fit and fitting back into my business suits, getting an expensive quality hair cut and taking better care of my skin.

I want to show that I am reliable and responsible - so I have to act reliable and responsible. I have to behave in a reliable and responsible manner at all times. This isn't too hard for me already but it does mean that I have to keep up a daily record of what has been requested of me, what I've promised to get done, and make sure that everything I say I'm going to do is done in a timely manner.

To start your personal branding for your employment search, you need to answer some simple questions:

1. Why should an employer hire you? Your strengths and benefits.
2. How are you different from other applicants? How are you unique?
3. Who is your target employer? Values, Qualities, Names, Products, Industry.

Understand the brand of the employer you are targeting, does it match your brand? If not maybe look for a different company to target.

The most frustrating thing I've experienced in my working history is being in an office environment that doesn't mesh with my personal values. When this happens my focus is removed from my job and into the soap opera of office gossip. When I am working in an environment that is more in line with my own values I am very productive and extremely satisfied with my career choice. When you are looking for a good 'fit,' knowing who you are and what you want is more important then just getting a job. Looking for a career position is a lot like looking for a mate, if the values and goals aren't the same then divorce is inevitable.