Business Best Practices
Networking: How Jobs are Landed, Personal Brand- Part 2
Oct 24, 2016
If you read last week, you may recall me saying “Who you are and your goals will determine the networking techniques that will bring you the most benefit or yield the greatest return.” For job seekers, the greatest return would be landing the dream job. What is it that will help you achieve this? Do you remember?
Here’s a hint: connecting or interacting with others with the goal of exchanging contact information and, potentially, furthering or expanding your career opportunities. A social/ business network can be thought of as web—a continuous connection– of people.
If you haven’t guessed yet, I am talking about networking.
If you are a job seeker, getting face time with the hiring managers, supervisors, CEOs, or whoever you need to impress to land the job is of the essence. However, getting to this point is not always a direct path. This is where the web comes into play. The web is the idea that “everyone knows somebody that knows something about it.” If you haven’t already started spinning your web, today is the day. The people in your web—your network—with a little strategic planning, can be your path to “I got the job!”
Building your network begins with you. You are the center holding the network together, making the network exist, bring the network to life. Where do I start, you ask? You start with you.
Who am I? What do I have to offer? What is my knowledge base? How has my experience shaped me? What are my successes? What values define me? What motivates me? The answers to these questions wrapped up in your Sunday best is your personal brand. Your personal brand is the foundation of your web. It is the hub that will allow you to build connections with others.
You may have a previous perception that building your personal brand requires reshaping yourself into something you are not to impress the best of the best, but I am here to tell you that 1) That is not what personal brand is (rather that is role playing or a self-makeover) and 2) You should absolutely not do this. By attempting to reshape yourself or play a role you’re not you will be unable to build genuine connections with other people. It’s no secret human beings know when others are fake, and if that isn’t a red flag– even a strong repellant– I am not sure what is. Now, I won’t turn this into a love and embrace who you are message, but really, you should! A strong connection with your true self is sure to attract connections with other strong people.
Enough with the sappy, let’s talk about how you can develop your personal brand.
1. Define and understand who you are in terms of values, motivations, personality.
2. Bring your experiences and your knowledge base together.
3. Define your interests, your visions, your goals.
4. Know your successes and what you have to offer.
5. Be aware of your potential work environment and audience
6. Define your packaging—how your speech and your actions (your image) represent you (your brand).
By following these 6 steps, you will have a developed personal brand that will allow you to represent and promote yourself to others effortlessly. Essentially, the process of building your brand is simply getting to know yourself. Your personal brand in essence is your personality bringing your resume to life; revealing the person behind the resume. Building your personal brand is the first step to landing the job.
At HireLevel we know people are everything. Whether you’re the one looking to hire a candidate, or are the one seeking an opportunity, we’re your go-to partner. For more information, visit www.HireLevel.com.
