Brand with the best!
BRANDING in simple terms is all about building an image that captures the imagination of your target audience. And yes, branding is no longer restricted to consumer goods anymore. The `brand' new addition to the bandwagon is career branding.
This is what management guru Tom Peters, in his book `The Brand You50' has to say about career branding, "Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are the CEOs of our own companies: Me, Inc." He adds, "You're not defined by your job title and you're not confined by your job description."
In a world of cutthroat competition, a strong career brand can highlight the value of investing in your talents/services to potential employers. This will make you stand out in a crowd of contenders. Why does a particular customer prefer Pepsi to Coke or Nike to Pepe? Is it because of the brand image? Is it the pitch and publicity? Personal taste perhaps? Well, most likely a mix of all three.
It is the same when it comes down to hiring. Job-hunting and marketing are analogous and an interview is your sales pitch; the resume is your publicity pamphlet; the interviewer- your customer and you are the brand!
The biggest advantage of building a brand image for yourself is that it helps define who you are, and why you are the right fit for the job. Career branding is in effect your reputation and good name. Just as a strong brand image keeps the customer coming back for more, a strong career brand will create opportunities by setting you apart from the competition and creating a compulsion in the employer's mind to hire you.
So how does one go about building that ideal brand image that will make the employer choose you over all the others in the fray? Read on:
Every successful brand has a solid product to bank on. Your career brand is no different. If your brand image has to be strong and unbeaten, it must be founded on truth and authenticity. Take time to plan and focus on what you want your brand to be.
Track past accomplishments that reinstate your brand, plan to improve on your weak areas and try to gain experience and add achievements that will give value to it.
Conduct some analysis to determine what the market conditions are if your brand has to succeed. Is there a market for what your brand has to offer? Are companies hiring in that area? What about competition, and more importantly the quality of competition? Your brand might need some fine-tuning based on these inputs.
Success in any career calls for a high degree of specialisation. Although you may possess adequate qualifications, education, skills and specialised training, authentic certification can greatly enhance your career brand. If you are unsure about your brand image and feel you need to add more value to it, you can take advice from a mentor or someone who has achieved a high degree of respect and success in the field that you have chosen.
Promotion and publicity
Even the best brands need publicity. There is nothing wrong in promoting yourself when you have real achievements to back it up. Devise campaigns to reinstate your brand whenever you get the opportunity. If you can get your name recognised by writing articles, speaking at association meetings, requesting to work on high-profile projects, serving on projects where you'll be seen by a number of people, then do it! Your brand also needs to have a strong online presence.
This is because the Internet is the quickest and most easily accessible source of information for many people. Develop an online portfolio. Consider investing on a personal website or you could market yourself on a quality blog site and let the world know about you. It's all good PR, and you never know what it can lead to.
The whole process of hiring is tilted in favour of people who are able to sell themselves and it is important that you be able to catch the attention of your prospective employer with an interesting USP. You should prepare your sales pitch in writing, then rehearse it and practise it rather like an actor or a salesman, until it sounds natural and not memorised.
Condense your life and career history into a 30 second capsule that defines who you are, what you do, with a few key points about your background, skills, and experience- and make it sound convincing and interesting.
Yes, the Image
You must be careful about the brand image you want to convey. Branding will either add to or take away from the image you want to create with the potential employers. While a lot of contrived exertions go into building a brand, the best brands manage to make it look almost effortless. If you can do that, you can be sure your brand has delivered!
BINDU SRIDHAR
faqs@cnkonline.com
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