An increasing competitive job market in recession years has led to the birth of the idea of personal branding for job seekers. As a job seeker an individual must be able to answer the questions: why should I hire you and why are you special?
There are two things the person in the other side of the table is trying to find. One, fit: this is the motivational and behavioural profile of the job seeker and capability which deals with competencies and skills of the job seeker.
There are several ways by which a job seeker can increase his relevance through personal branding. The followings are some of the highlights. The rest will be made available in my soon to be released personal branding e-book.
- Professional reputation: Be ready to demonstrate your skills and capability. Do not apply for jobs you do not have a skill for. You may end up embarrassing yourself.
- Passion over money: Money is a major motivation for many who are seeking employment, but you can differentiate yourself by showing passion over money.
- Online presence: many have not considered this in our environment, but the earlier a job seeker begins to build online presence the better. Having a domain name is becoming cheaper but its ROI is greater. Try and google your name and see what comes out.
- Sharpen your communication skill: This is not only necessary for job seeker but for everyone. Communication skill enhances personal brand rating.
- Elevator speech: be able to coin your difference in one paragraph at most.
6. Have soft copy of your resume: always be ready for your opportunities. Have soft copy of your resume ready for distribution when the need calls for it. Soft copy is better than hard copy because one can misplace it but the soft copy is always with the person you give it to except the person chose to delete it.
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