Episode 1 : Personal Branding

What is Personal Branding? 

On average a recruiter or hiring manager will spend just 6 seconds screening your CV… but some may not even bother to give you the 6 seconds, if you haven’t presented your personal brand well beforehand!

We don’t mean a fancy logo with a punchy slogan, or some kind of ‘art deco’ CV; we are not graphic designers after all! What we mean by personal brand is your reputation, who you are and what you do via the various channels’ that recruiters are using today!

Now, our day to day lives are transmitted, monitored, and communicated through social media and yet, when we are applying for jobs, how often do you consider the image your online presence has?

With more and more employers using social media to screen candidates during the hiring process and to check on their current employees’ antics! The days of your first impression being your first interview have gone. Your employer will know everything about you before they even pick up the phone.

Founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, explores a great way to think about your personal brand, he explains, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room”. What do you think your previous employer would say about you?

 

Where to start?

Before even considering your CV, LinkedIn is a good place to start! Largely because this is the first method of communication 99% of recruiters will have with you (in viewing your profile) and we all know how important first impressions are!

Having a good presence on LinkedIn is so important for the many reasons we have discovered in this article. But your employers search doesn’t stop there, have you considered your other social channels? 

You might have a perfect LinkedIn account but then we head over to Facebook and there is a completely different story or even Twitter, displaying some of your interesting views from Brexit to Wayne Rooney or a charming picture of Bob’s brilliant stag do, that now isn’t so brilliant 

Whatever it is, you must ensure that your personal brand is consistent throughout your online presence and minimise the chance of your future employer not making that call!

Having a great Personal Brand should be at the top of your list when starting the search for your next role!

 

Next week...

We will be exploring the 5 best ways to improve your Personal Brand so stay tuned for that!