Professional BrandingNaomi Kinert, M.A., MCDPCareer Focus, El Dorado Hills, CAwww.careerfocus4u.com

Well-Known Brands – What Comes to Mind?

Professional Branding Definition “Your personal brand also known as your

career or professional brand, is the way you are represented to prospective employers and business connections. Your brand is your professional image and it is reflected in your online presence – your LinkedIn profile, your Visual CV, your blog, social networking sites and your other visibility online.” -- Alison Doyle, About.com

Why is Professional Branding So Important? Employers today are savvy consumers. The

costs of making a hiring mistake are high. Many are turning to researching a prospective employee’s online presence as a way to determine if they even want to contact the candidate for a screening interview.

http://mashable.com/2011/10/23/how-recruiters-use-social-networks-to-screen-candidates-infographic/?goback=%2Egde_2115428_member_130284537#

Forbes Magazine – 3/12/12

“Like it or not, Facebook and other sites like it are becoming the digital proxies for our real world selves. Our profiles on Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, et. al. reflect our likes, dislikes, personalities, and best photo angles, and are likely more useful to employers in seeing what we might be like to work with than a short interview.”

Use Your Professional Brand as Reflected in Your Online Presence to Your Advantage in a Job Search

According to Dan Schawbel, author of “Me 2.0” and a personal branding spokesman for products like Reebok, LoJack and other brands, says your brand is:

“Your total perceived value, relative to competitors, as viewed by your audience. . .your audience is the hiring managers and recruiters that deal with thousands of resumes each day. Candidates are viewed as commodities, unless they provide some unique value, which competitors do not share.”

Discovering Your Professional BrandDan goes on to write:

“Brand discovery is about figuring out what you want to do for the rest of your life, setting goals, writing down a mission, vision and personal brand statement (what you do and who you serve), as well as creating a development plan. Have you ever been called intelligent or humorous by your peers or coworkers? That description is part of your brand, especially if you feel those attributed pertain to you. To know if you’ve discovered your brand, you need to make this equation equal:

Your self-impression = How people perceive you

Define Your Brand Gordon Fowler, CEO 3Fold Communications

What is your greatest/clearest strength?Creativity, intelligence, analytical abilities, insightfulness

What is your most noteworthy trait?Diligence, people skills, integrity, empathetic

What 3 things do people remember about you?Customer focused, intuitive, authentic, strategic, problem solver

Take a moment to answer these questions and share with a partner

Other Things to Consider in Defining/Discovering Your Brand How do you want to position yourself?

What do you want people to know about you?

How do you want to be recognized and for what?

What is your niche?

Examples for Discovering Your Brand How do you want to position yourself?

As an experienced researcher in the area of cognitive neuroscience

What do you want people to know about you?I have collaborated on, designed and led studies on attention, working memory and visual perception at such prestigious institutions such as the Center for Mind and Brain, at the University of California, Davis and at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University College in London

Examples for Discovering Your Brand How do you want to be recognized and

for what?As a leader in cognitive neuroscience research

What is your niche?Applying my knowledge in the high-tech gaming industry to better understand the user experience thereby allowing companies to develop more competitive, in-demand products

Other Things to Consider -

Your TurnTake a few moments to answer the following and share with a partner:

How do you want to position yourself?

What do you want people to know about you?

How do you want to be recognized and for what?

What is your niche?

When In A Job Search Professional Branding is “The Value I Bring”

I have a strong knowledge of:

The value I bring to a company is:

My top three achievements are:

The Value I Bring I have a strong knowledge of:

How to conduct high quality scientific research to uncover the factors that influence attention, memory and visual perception

The value I bring to a company is:Demonstrated success in leading scientific studies and research in cognitive neuroscience, the results of which can be used to design products that are based on sound behavioral data

The Value I Bring My top three achievements are:

PhD in Psychological and Brain Sciences from Johns Hopkins University

First author of multiple peer review publications

Ad-hoc review for publications such as the Journal of Experimental Psychology and the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

Your TurnTake a few moments to answer the following and share with a partner:

I have a strong knowledge of:

The value I bring to a company is:

My top three achievements are:

Now That You Know Your Brand, Market Your Brand

Establish yourself as an expert in your chosen field

Build a solid reputation within your industry

Increase your presence and improve your perceived value in the marketplace

Now That You Know Your Brand, Market Your BrandHere are some great tips from Alison Doyle:JibberJobber - Use JibberJobber to keep track of networking contacts and keep a log of how they have helped you.

LinkedIn - Create a LinkedIn profile and start connecting. Ask and answer LinkedIn questions to increase your visibility.

Write a Blog - A well-written blog focused on your area of expertise is another good addition to your professional branding package.

Now That You Know Your Brand, Market Your Brand Create a Presence - Comment on other

people's blogs, write some articles, go to industry meetings, conventions, and events, and make contacts in your field. Be sure that all your endeavors are focused and relevant to both your skills and your career goals.

Build a Web Site - Consider a web site to create and showcase your brand. Many web hosting services have built in web building tools and it's quick and easy to build a site that reflects your professional presence.

Now That You Know Your Brand, Market Your Brand Get Your Name Out There - Try to meet, either

online or in-person, the important people in your field. Send them an email or a message via their web site or networking profile. Over the years, I've met lots of the important people in the world of job searching and careers, many of them because I sent them a quick email introducing myself or vice versa.

Volunteer - If you have time and if there's a way to volunteer in a capacity where you can use your skills and expertise, volunteering is another way to gain exposure as an expert in your career field. It's a good resume building tool, as well. Professional associations are excellent venues for volunteering.

Now That You Know Your Brand, Market Your Brand: Online - Tips

Use the same photo for LinkedIn and all networking sites

Use your name as your URL whenever possible

Add links on LinkedIn to your website, your blog, use the share feature to upload presentations you’ve done

Tips from Dan Schawbel: Add a positioning statement to you profiles

including your expertise and primary market and a bio with your achievements, years of experience, job history and skills

Use industry keywords and buzzwords several times in your profile to optimize search engine results

Visit your social networking sites frequently and keep informed about your industry; participate in discussions

More tips from Dan: Have a strong online presence but don’t stay

online the whole time. Connect in person, when possible, with the right people in your industry to form stronger relationships.

Observe online etiquette:1. Customize your invitations to connect2. Offer to reciprocate with a recommendation

when someone writes a recommendation for you

3. Give back to your contacts – add something of value that will help them be more successful

Keep Your Personal Life Personal Make sure information you don’t want

the public to view, is protected by making sure you’ve set your privacy settings appropriately

Google your name every couple of months to make sure all information that surfaces is what you want

Branding is an On-going Activity “Building your brand isn't a one shot

deal. It takes time to build a solid presence and should be an ongoing endeavor. Keep your profiles up-to-date, stay in touch with your contacts, build and maintain your network, and work on your branding on a regular basis.” – Alison Doyle

Resources QuintCareers – this website contains

dozens of articles on personal/professional branding http://www.quintcareers.com/branding_sel

f-marketing.html

References

Alison Doyle, Your Professional Brand, About.com Guide

Dan Schawbel, Gain a Competitive Edge by Establishing a Personal Brand, About.com