Your New Favorite Brand
Amazon, Apple, and Google consistently top the global brand ranking charts. They do pretty much everything right and we buy into it. It’s easy and natural for us to think about companies like those big names as brands. They make things and we buy those things. What we seldom do though is think of ourselves as brands. I want to help you make that shift within yourself because it will be a game-changer for your career.
As a career coach, I help people with all aspects of landing their dream careers but there’s probably nothing more significant in career success than how you view yourself. If you start seeing yourself as a brand, and even better, as your favorite brand, you will be blown away by what will happen for you career-wise.
I know this is a big shift in thinking for many of us and there are several things to consider in how you create and manage your brand. To keep it simple, and to get you started, I’m going to give you what I think are the three first steps to thinking about yourself as a brand:
1. Get clear on who you are and what you want. If you don’t know who you are and what you want, how are you ever to going to convince someone to hire you? It’s that simple. An easy way to do this is to write a 2-sentence summary about yourself. This is for you to get clear on what you’re all about but it’s also perfect as an overview statement on your resume.
Here’s an example: ‘Bilingual electronics expert with a strong background in finance, accounting, and customer service. Looking for a challenging finance position at a growing electronics brand.’
The first sentence should be about you/your background and the second sentence should be what you’re looking for career-wise. When you write your version of this think about what makes you unique and what strengths/expertise you can highlight.
2. Get really good at telling your own story.In a professional setting, when someone asks you about yourself, I suggest you have 3 versions of that answer: 10 seconds, 1 minute, and 3-5 minutes.
For the 10 second version, a good guideline is to say what your background is and what you’re doing now. For example, “I’ve work in tech for the past 3 years. I’m currently working for a robotics start up on the research side.’
For the 1 minute version, I’d add to that other interesting details such as where you’re from, perhaps where you went to school, and where you’ve worked.
Then the 3-5-minute version is typically reserved for interview situation when you’re asked, ‘So tell me about yourself.” The goal here is to share your story but weave it together in a way that aligns nicely with the position you’re applying for.
No matter which version you’re sharing, be authentic, memorable, and don’t read off a memorized script – you’ll seem like a robot if you do that.
3. Manage your online presence. The most important piece of advice when it comes to managing your brand online is to have a great LinkedIn profile. It is your virtual billboard and it’s free so it’s a no-brainer to do it. Make sure you have a professional headshot, a strong background image, a great headline, a compelling ‘About’ section, and your work experience laid out with details about what you did not just job titles. On my blog there are several articles about how to optimize your LinkedIn if you want more advice.
Seeing yourself as a brand is one of the most important steps to achieving your career goals. The sky is the limit if you start to shift your thinking and be more intentional with how you manage your brand. Stop wondering when great things are going to happen for you and start making them happen.
Want more advice to help take your career to the next level? Check out my book or my online course.