P is for…Personal Brand

“Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room”

When creating your personal brand ask yourself “What does my name say about me?” If you were to put your name into a Google search engine what information could a potential employer find out about you on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or perhaps even your Blog?

It’s important for you to know that it’s becoming more and more common for recruiters and potential employers to Google names of individuals and make up their own assumptions before they even consider a meet.

So, bearing this in mind it goes without saying that when looking for work it’s vital for you to portray a professional image. Below I have listed 5 different ways in which you can start creating your personal brand:

Be Authentic What are your passions, desires and dreams? In order to be authentic you have to be real, genuine and not false. You should be able to provide evidence and facts with regards to your experience and show that you are reliable and trustworthy too.

Contact Details You must ensure that an email address or a mobile answer message is simple and professional. Create a simple Yahoo or Google email address and remember to check this on a daily basis when looking for work.

Social Networking Be aware of anything derogatory on Facebook and if need be ask your friends to take down photos that include you. If you haven’t already then I would recommend that you set up and complete your profile on LinkedIn, a social network for professionals www.linkedin.com

Tell Your Story Prepare and practise a 30 second speech or pitch so that you can explain what sets you apart from other candidates, what makes you different.

Personal Appearance It’s important that the clothes you wear portray the image you want to give. I would recommend that you always attend both internal and external interviews in smart business dress even if you know that they have a policy of ‘dress down’

Branding Test

1. Identify three brands that you like and write them down on a piece of paper

2. Why do you like them? Write down specific reasons for liking each one.

3. Do you notice any common themes across all of your three brands? You may have chosen your brands because they represent “quality” or “reliability.” The traits that come up repeatedly are likely to match your own personal brand values.

4. Now that you know some of your personal brand values, use them as the basis of messages that you could use to advance your career. Write down your brand messages.

5. Review your brand messages. Are they powerful and convincing? Why not show them to your boss, close colleagues or perhaps even your clients and ask them for honest feedback.

Leave a good impression and start to create your personal brand now.

A good read is a book called ‘Brand YOU’ written by John Purkiss and David Royston-Lee

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brand-You-Talents-Winning-Formula/dp/0955116422/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284639554&sr=1-1

Nikki Hutchison, founder of Chilli Pepper Global www.chillipepperglobal.com advising you on every aspect of the job seeking process guiding you step by step whether you are looking to move internally or externally.