Why Is Personal Branding Important?
Personal Branding – The Definition
Personal branding is the practice of marketing yourself and your career as brands. It is telling employers why they should choose you instead of someone else. It is communicating your value. It is making a positive and memorable impression.
Why Do I Choose Crest Instead of Colgate?
I have received many questions about personal branding. People have heard the term a lot but don’t fully understand how it relates to them and their job searches.
Here’s how I explain personal branding, and it seems to get through to everybody.
Both Crest and Colgate offer whitening toothpastes. The formulas are about the same. Pricing is about the same. And the results are about the same. So why do I choose Crest?
Because through its advertising and marketing messages (branding), Crest made me believe it is better than Colgate.
Make Employers Believe You Are the Best
It is the same with your personal branding. Your skill level, college degree, and experience may be almost exact matches with other job applicants. If you want to be the one hired, you must make the employer believe you are the best choice. You must set yourself apart from all of the others by communicating what makes you special (your personal branding).
Here is an example of a personal branding statement in the resume of a client who applied for a job as a real estate developer.
“Real Estate Developer who turned a mall slated for closure into a thriving shopping and recreational center that is a top regional employer and hosts 4M+ visitors annually.”
Who wouldn’t want to talk to this guy? He knows how to turn lemons into lemonade.
His personal branding will get the attention of companies looking for real estate developers. It will get them to pick up the phone and call him.
Sue Montgomery is founder and president of Resume Plus (www.resumeplus.com). She is a professional resume writer and career coach who markets people for the jobs they want. Contact Sue directly at 937-254-5627 or email sue@resumeplus.com.