What’s YOUR brand?

What’s YOUR brand?

BNA Staffing

 

As we all know, the NYC job market is more competitive than ever with qualified candidates often struggling to secure even entry-level jobs. In a couple of our past articles we have written about tactics on how to succeed at securing a job. However, one of the most important things any job seeker can do is to differentiate yourself from the competition by creating a personal brand.

But wait – before you get started we must make it clear that having a personal brand is not just about posting you opinions about industry happenings on social media. And, its not about self-promotion – this isn’t an opportunity to showcase everything you have accomplished or done… that is what your resume is for. Having a personal brand is about defining yourself, and making a commitment to being a valuable voice/asset that those around you that you may be interacting with and potentially working for. It is the total experience someone (an HR rep, staffing firm associate and potential employer) can have with you and what you represent as a professional.

Why do you want a personal brand? Whether you have an IT blog or post how-to videos on YouTube, personal branding is about identifying then creating and communicating what makes you unique and relevant for your target audience so that you can reach your career goals.

How do you get started? To have a successful personal brand there are three very simple steps that will get you on the path to having a strong personal brand – just remember, this is an on-going commitment, one that extends far beyond securing that next job.

  1. Decide your goals – A new job? More knowledge? More experience? These can be career goals or just general professional goals that will guide your branding success.
  2. Decide how you are going to communicate your best attributes to the desired target audience. You must fully understand who you are trying to communicate with – potential employers, peers, IT experts – in order to chose the best communication strategy.
  3. Reflect your brand in everything you do. Whether you chose to publish your own IT blog or start a YouTube channel or volunteer, you must be consistent throughout each, so that you appear as a knowledgeable and professional leader in your field of expertise.

In the end, if done successfully (which means without self-promotion and clutter), a strong and authentic personal brand can be very powerful in the eyes of a potential employer. It will send a clear and consistent message about who you are as a person and professional and what you have to offer, setting you apart from everyone else.