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Personal Branding for the Job Seeker

“All of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.” – Tom Peters

Does personal branding really matter? This is it: whether you are a job seeker or entrepreneur, your personal brand and online presence has immense effect on you. A recent survey by Jobvite stated that more and more recruiters are turning to social media to aid them in their job recruitment, and that an individual’s online presence is one great determinant for securing a job.

“Candidates best watch what they put on their social profiles, as an overwhelming majority of recruiters form negative opinions from posts flaunting drugs, alcohol, and profanity—and 42% of recruiters have apparently reconsidered an applicant (either positively or negatively) based on what a social profile revealed.” ~ Jobvite

The shocking revelations, confirms lots of the point and concerns raised in the book. The simple guide helps readers, to use the Four D’s (4 D’s) and Four P’s (4 P’s) to build their personal brand. Let’s take a quick overview:

1. Discovery – Personal Discovery ~ Purpose.
2. Development – Working on your talents ~ Preparation.
3. Design – Platform building, Career and work life ~ Positioning
4. Deployment – Service and execution ~ Publicity, Promotion

Here are some action tips for the job seeker:

• Identify your key strengths in the area of your talents
• Sharpen your gifts, polish your craft. Seek knowledge in those areas, to become an expert in your chosen field.
• Join a mastermind group – a community of like-minded people.
• Be open minded, listen, learn and be adaptable to changes, especially technological change.
• Build quality networks, and attend professional networking events.
• On social media, keep a professional profile, bio and picture, and share your expertise.

The goal is to build a brand base on authenticity, value creation and service. Here again, according to the bayt.com report, about 9 out of 10 search for people’s profiles online after they have applied for a job or about to meet in person either for business or other activities. It’s proves that personal branding and having an online presence is really important in this age, and that it can either work for or against you. From the report it stated that, “In fact, even something as simple as a photograph could influence decision-makers, with eight in 10 (79.6%) respondents of the belief that their online photo effects how they are perceived.” The crust of the matter is that these polls were not conducted anywhere than East and North Africa. It’s now time to take your personal brand seriously. Don’t be left out.

This is what an international Best seller had to say concerning the book:

“With the speed of changes in the world today, success has no geographical borders. In this engaging book, Bernard Kelvin Clive shares principles from his own success in Ghana that can inspire and guide readers anywhere in the world. With a gentle and humble spirit, he reminds us that building a name for ourselves is most easily done not by manipulating and pushing but simply by serving others. I highly recommend The No Nonsense Guide to Personal Branding for anyone who has a voice to be heard.” Dan Miller, author of New York Times bestselling 48 Days to the Work You Love.

Remember: It’s time to make your career and brand count. “#SocialMedia can get you the attention you want but not the trust you need. You got to build trust. #PersonalBranding” ~ If you are interested in learning how to position yourself properly online, a copy of the book “The No Nonsense Guide to personal Branding for Career Success”

Your brand matters.