When you are doing a job search, it is important you realise that you are trying to sell yourself to employers & recruiters. In essence, you yourself are a brand like all the name products you buy from clothing, technology to your home products. You have to make yourself an attractive option to the industry, employers & recruiters.
So what helpful thing can you do to help create your brand to stand out to your target audience (employers & recruiters)? To help assist you, below there are a few helpful suggestions on the basics you can do to start creating and establishing your brand in the job search market.
Google Yourself
Whether you realised it or not, we all leave a digital finger print online. It would be very helpful to yourself to Google your name to see what the internet comes up about you. Is there pictures of you that may hurt your image? Are you associated with anything that could proving damaging and put employers/recruiters off you? Employers etc will Google you to see what turns up so it always wise to do this regularly. That way you can hopefully erase what you can and anything you can’t you can be ready to explain.
Social Media
We all use our social media outlets to share our lives and life events with our friends. Sometimes we will upload comments, photos and videos that may seem funny at the time but later could prove to be not only embarrassing but also character damaging. Many organizations search for employment candidates’ social media and other online presence to learn more about their background and to decide whether they want to invest the time interviewing and possibly hiring them. If you want certain social media profiles to be private then make sure you look and review the privacy settings so you are in control of the content that can be found online.
LinkedIn
Building a complete profile on LinkedIn is a must to creating and establishing your brand in the job search. Your professional profile on LinkedIn is essentially your living resume, and it should be as good as — if not better than —your real resume. You must make sure that you include a professional photo of yourself (not of you showing off holiday tan), a complete career/employment history, all your education and skills and a headline that helps sell you. Start by connect with others you know. Then start to gradually engage with others and make new connections. Key aspect is to make sure your profile contains the key words necessary for other professionals, recruiters, and head-hunters to be able to find you!
Meeting in Person
Networking is an important job search strategy that helps you not only find those hidden jobs but also allows you to promote your brand to individuals and groups who could help you achieve your goal of getting a job. Despite how popular and effective online networking is, nothing beats engaging in person. Networking professionals thrive on person-to-person interactions at industry and association events. Find events where you can network and start to promote the brand which is you to individuals and groups that matter. Whether it career/job fairs, industry events etc, get yourself out. Strike up conversations with professionals and show genuine interest in them, so that you can not only learn little by little how other professional established their own careers but also start to share your brand to the people who can help enhance it.
A Blog
Sometimes with the resume, LinkedIn, social media profiles etc, we can only express what we capable of to a certain extent. Some believe that their job search can benefit if they enhance their brand with an example of their skills & abilities. A blog is a good way to achieve this! Networking professionals think for themselves, have opinions, and are not afraid to share those opinions and thoughts with others. If you want to stand out in the crowd of potential employment candidates and associates in networking, start a blog and write blog postings at least monthly.
Don’t be afraid to read others’ blogs and take part in discussions that will help you expand your knowledge and expertise plus help promote & show the brand which is YOU!
So what helpful thing can you do to help create your brand to stand out to your target audience (employers & recruiters)? To help assist you, below there are a few helpful suggestions on the basics you can do to start creating and establishing your brand in the job search market.
Google Yourself
Whether you realised it or not, we all leave a digital finger print online. It would be very helpful to yourself to Google your name to see what the internet comes up about you. Is there pictures of you that may hurt your image? Are you associated with anything that could proving damaging and put employers/recruiters off you? Employers etc will Google you to see what turns up so it always wise to do this regularly. That way you can hopefully erase what you can and anything you can’t you can be ready to explain.
Social Media
We all use our social media outlets to share our lives and life events with our friends. Sometimes we will upload comments, photos and videos that may seem funny at the time but later could prove to be not only embarrassing but also character damaging. Many organizations search for employment candidates’ social media and other online presence to learn more about their background and to decide whether they want to invest the time interviewing and possibly hiring them. If you want certain social media profiles to be private then make sure you look and review the privacy settings so you are in control of the content that can be found online.
Building a complete profile on LinkedIn is a must to creating and establishing your brand in the job search. Your professional profile on LinkedIn is essentially your living resume, and it should be as good as — if not better than —your real resume. You must make sure that you include a professional photo of yourself (not of you showing off holiday tan), a complete career/employment history, all your education and skills and a headline that helps sell you. Start by connect with others you know. Then start to gradually engage with others and make new connections. Key aspect is to make sure your profile contains the key words necessary for other professionals, recruiters, and head-hunters to be able to find you!
Meeting in Person
Networking is an important job search strategy that helps you not only find those hidden jobs but also allows you to promote your brand to individuals and groups who could help you achieve your goal of getting a job. Despite how popular and effective online networking is, nothing beats engaging in person. Networking professionals thrive on person-to-person interactions at industry and association events. Find events where you can network and start to promote the brand which is you to individuals and groups that matter. Whether it career/job fairs, industry events etc, get yourself out. Strike up conversations with professionals and show genuine interest in them, so that you can not only learn little by little how other professional established their own careers but also start to share your brand to the people who can help enhance it.
A Blog
Sometimes with the resume, LinkedIn, social media profiles etc, we can only express what we capable of to a certain extent. Some believe that their job search can benefit if they enhance their brand with an example of their skills & abilities. A blog is a good way to achieve this! Networking professionals think for themselves, have opinions, and are not afraid to share those opinions and thoughts with others. If you want to stand out in the crowd of potential employment candidates and associates in networking, start a blog and write blog postings at least monthly.
Don’t be afraid to read others’ blogs and take part in discussions that will help you expand your knowledge and expertise plus help promote & show the brand which is YOU!