Personal branding for job seekers
In Ireland, when strangers meet, they ask two questions: where are you from and do you know x person… The first few minutes of conversation is taken up with finding a common connection. A real life person that they both know. And the amazing thing is, they will ALWAYS find someone they know in common, and then they’ll start talking about that person. In Ireland, where it seems like everyone knows everyone else, word of mouth rules, and your reputation goes ahead of you. Whether you know it or not, and whether you like it or not, you have a personal brand.
What is personal branding?
The term personal branding was coined in 1997 by Tom Peters, but before that it was quite simply your reputation. Jeff Bezos said “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Susan Chritton says “it’s the way people remember you through your actions, your expertise and the emotional connections that you make.” These days, people have online/offline reputations and personal/professional reputations. To be authentic, they all need to line up and be consistent:
- Your offline personal reputation. What your friends and family think and say about you.
- Your offline professional reputation: What you boss and colleagues say and think about you.
- Your online personal reputation: This includes your private social media accounts, such as Facebook and what is said about you when you’re not in work.
- Your online professional reputation: In terms of social media, it’s what’s said about you in a professional capacity. It could be your LinkedIn profile, a Facebook personal brand page or your blog.
What personal branding does is bring all these reputations together to create one consistent image of you, the person.
Why personal branding for job seekers matters?
Well, when you apply for a job, potential employers seek character references from previous employers (your offline professional reputation), but what they also do is Google your name and some personal details about you. Then they look at both your personal and professional online reputations. Research has shown that:
- 46 percent of candidates were passed over because the candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information
- 41 percent of candidates were passed over because the candidate posted information about them drinking or using drugs
- 28 percent of candidates were passed over because the candidate had discriminatory comments related to race, gender, religion etc.
- 22 percent of candidates were passed over because the candidate was linked to criminal behavior
On the other hand, a positive digital footprint led to candidates being hired:
- 45 percent found that the job candidate’s background information supported their professional qualifications for the job
- 43 percent found that the job candidate’s site conveyed a professional image
- 30 percent found that other people posted great references about the job candidate
- 24 percent found that candidate had interacted with the company’s social media accounts
(Source)
What can you do about it now?
Look at how you present yourself offline. When you show up for work, are you dressed appropriately? Do you do what you say you’re going to do? Do you do a good job or a great job? What do your colleagues say about you?
To check out your online reputation, do what employers would do and Google your name and personal details:
- does your LinkedIn profile show up first? If not, have you personalised your URL?
- click on the images tab and see what images you have been tagged in. If they are unflattering, then can you untag yourself or delete the image?
- click on the videos tab. Again,
What can you do from now on?
Think about what you want to be known for professionally:
- Ensure that offline, you work to build your professional reputation.
- Identify what you’re good at, and what people come to you for help with, and build on it.
- Learn what you can about your sphere of expertise. Read, watch videos, get training.
- Know your strengths and manage your weaknesses.
- Develop your own personal style and maintain it.
- Treat others as you’d like to be treated. Remember “You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.”—Malcolm S. Forbes
- If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing.
- Lock down your private online accounts and keep your personal life private
- Facebook – review what posts are public and think about the impact they have on others. Change your settings so that only your friends can see your posts. Make sure that your Facebook friends are actually people you know.
- Twitter – remember everything on Twitter is public. You can create a private account and only allow people you actually know outside your professional life follow your tweets.
- Review your online professional brand and ensure that it reflects what you want to be know for
- On LinkedIn, make sure your image, headline and summary reflect your professional brand
- Check if your name is available as a domain name and buy it.
- Build a website that is brand you. Blog about your area of expertise.
Whether you like it or not, at work everyone is watching you and judging you. If you can develop and build a professional brand, then in time, you’ll stop being a job seeker, and instead, you’ll start to become a job magnet.
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See you here tomorrow where we’ll look at how you can go about creating a personal branding statement.
Take care for now
Karen x