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Putting the reader benefit into your Personal Brand

If you read the bios of some pretty successful people, you’ll see why truly effective personal branding during job search can be such a bear. Here’s how it often sounds:

“Bob Smith is the Vice President of Really Important, Co., leading five divisions nationwide.”

“Jennifer is the author of Business Book.”

“Marc holds a Bachelors degree from Columbia and a MBA from Harvard University.”

Ooh, we think. Impressive.

And so as we go out to find our new jobs, oftentimes our resumes start to smack of hyped-up corporate bio.

We list titles, awards, education. In short, it’s all about credentials. “See where I’ve been before? Isn’t it great?”

When what the recruiter is looking for is less where you’ve been and much more what you’ve done, and what you can do for them.

Let’s take an example. Imagine you need a sales pro and you need them to be able to run on their own with little guidance. You get two resumes:

“Terri has sold B2B technology solutions for 10 years.”

or…

“John has delivered 20%+ sales growth for each of the past five years.”

Which would you call?

The fundamental difference here is that Terri’s bio plugs a credential, while John focuses on the reader benefit. John makes his statement about the benefit that his employer received. And if it’s a benefit that the new employer wants, they’ll be interested.

So here are some examples of mini-makeovers to focus on reader benefit in our branding and job search messages:

Before: “Allison has five years experience in insurance brokerage, with three years supervisory experience.”

After: “Allison has successfully landed five new clients in the past two years, doubling her book of business.”

Before: “Jamie is a driven, competent communications professional, with strong skills in direct marketing, writing for web, and multimedia content development.”

After: “Jamie has written, edited and produced print and online campaigns totaling $1 million revenue annually.”

Or…

“Jamie has successfully maintained key client relationships for years through her excellent work and relationship building skills.”

So, look over your branding messages. Are you speaking in credentials? Or are you connecting with what the reader really wants?

Kristi Daeda shows mid- to senior-level professionals how to get better jobs faster. Her blog, Career Adventure, shares advice on job search, management skills, leadership, personal branding and more to help savvy career adventurers make it to the top. She invites you to find new opportunities through her ebook, 51 Places to Find a Job.

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Write your own Manifesto: Letting your passion kick up your Personal Brand

dg8w2x5s_123g7xq2398_bIf I asked you if you’re doing work that you’re passionate about every day, what would you say?

Would you ask me why it mattered?

There are jobs, and then there are callings. There’s a career, and there’s a natural path. And they feel very different.

A job: You show up, you do what’s expected of you, you head home. You have good days and bad days. Sometimes you win, sometimes not.

A calling: You’re excited to get to it. You think about work a lot when you’re not there — not because you’re stressed, but because you have new ideas. You excel at the core parts of your job almost without trying, because it comes naturally to you.

See the difference?

When your work is your calling, you will naturally excel. You will deliver great results, and be happy while you’re doing.

So I ask you… is there anything else that could be as good for your personal brand?

Sure, it may seem unrealistic to think that you can choose to bring passion into your work. But if you make it a priority to actively seek out roles that play to your natural talents and motivators, you’re far more likely to find yourself in a job that aligns with your passion.

Wanna get started? Write a manifesto.

manifesto ( \ˌma-nə-ˈfes-(ˌ)tō\) – a written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer

The definition is a beautiful thing, because it spells out two incredibly simple but key techniques for bringing passion into your life.

1.  A manifesto is written

The process of writing can help you clarify your thoughts, brainstorm concepts you hadn’t thought of before, and serve as an ongoing remonder. So take some time to write down what motivates you, what you’re best at, and what you want from your future employment.

2.   A manifesto is publicly declared

This is where your manifesto links to your personal brand — in the communication. As you develop your manifesto — your statement of purpose, mission, values, etc. — you can start effectively communicating it, in your resume, cover letters, online profiles, elevator pitches and more.

So go out and write your manifesto

Get really clear on what makes you tick and what would make the world work.  Write enough for a tweet or a treatise.  And find one person or a hundred to tell about it.

What’s your manifesto?  Who have you shared it with?  What has it given you?

Kristi Daeda is a career coach and writer who blogs on creating an inspiring career, job search, leadership and more at Career Adventure. Be sure to check out her free report on 51 Places to Find a Job.

photo via flickr – credit: altemark

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5 Day Plan to Take the Personal Branding Plunge

PlungeMany job seekers find themselves plunged into the world of personal branding by default. You need to find a job, so you have to market yourself.

But many of those job seekers have never had to conduct a real job search before. Maybe you’ve had a corporate job for 15 or 20 years, or maybe you’ve had a series of them but have always been recruited into your new role. It’s entirely possible for a person with an advanced career to have never written a resume.

So if you find yourself building your personal brand from scratch and it’s gotta get done now, here’s a 5 day guide to creating a professional presence that will get you a job.

Day 1: The necessities – Resume, cover letter, elevator speech. These are the three things that you must have in order to successfully search for a job. Truthfully, you should be using the elevator speech first and much more often, but this order – resume, then cover letter, then elevator pitch – is a common procession for putting together the information. Don’t go crazy with your resume at this stage. Find a good reference, and go from there. If you don’t have a resume, build one from scratch. If you do have one, spend the time updating and targeting it for your next role. Write a good, basic customizable cover letter. Then, develop a 30-second speech that tells people who you are and what you have to offer in a professional, compelling way. Sure it’s good to have a good finished product here, but remember that this process will help you prepare for future networking and interviews by reminding you of the great things you’ve done in the past. The process is just as important as the result.

Day 2: Develop a networking plan. The old adage is that “people buy from people,” and it’s just as true in hiring. People hire people, not resumes. So while the resume is an important tool to support your efforts, you’ll get a job much more quickly if you can get a lot of face time. On Day 2, make a list of all your options for networking, including professional associations, general networking groups, faith-based organizations, meetups, yahoo! groups, social networking and more. Figure out how much networking you can realistically do, alloting time for travel, events, and follow up with each of the people that you meet. Consider moving beyond attending into volunteering or even speaking. Develop a general outline of how you can make the most of your time through events and programs that will support your networking goals.

Day 3: Manage your online image. Google yourself. What do you see? If it’s less than flattering, or if you don’t see yourself at all, make a proactive plan to address the problem. Start a blog on a topic related to your field, create a profile on LinkedIn and other sites that are indexed by Google so that they appear in the search results. Tweet. Write articles and submit them to blogs, article sites, etc. Whatever it takes to get your name associated with your professional work online.

Day 4: Create your brand message. Do you have a tagline? A mission statement? How do you explain who you are and what you do? Work to create various ways to express your value. Have a business card that captures your message. Have a tagline. Revise your online and offline materials to answer the question, “Why should I hire you?” Have that answer ready.

Day 5: Get feedback. Ask people that you know and trust to review your materials, online and off. Make them commit to giving honest, impartial criticism. Enlist them in helping you be the best that you can be. Ask them what your resume says about you, if they find your cover letter engaging, whatever makes sense. Internalize their criticism and make it your springboard for excellence.

Of course, personal branding is not a 5-day effort. Effective personal branding requires cultivation over time. But this 5-day plan will kick start your job search efforts and help get you started on the way to success. Once you’re on your way, just keep moving. Eventually, you’ll get the superstar status that you deserve.

Kristi Daeda is a Success Coach and creator of Career Adventure, a blog which helps professionals in the pursuit of their inspiring work. To receive her free report, 51 Ordinary and Extraordinary Places to Find a Job, sign up for her free Career Kick Start newsletter.

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10 Ways to Write a Standout Resume

2605794078_cfdc780f87Save a recruiter’s weary eyes. Write a fresh, unique, straightforward and easy to read resume, and you’re much more likely to get it read. Here are ten tips on how to keep your resume professional and effective.

Prove every word. Lots of resumes will claim that the candidate is “team oriented” or has “excellent communications skills.” So many that most readers don’t believe it anymore. If you want to make the claims, back them up with evidence. Write accomplishment statements that demonstrate your soft skills, like the fact that you’ve presented at industry conferences or facilitated team building events that produced business results. If you can’t prove it, you may want to skip mentioning it. Besides, they’ll judge your communications skills the minute they get you on the phone.

Put the reader on the scene. Help them taste the ripe, dripping orange or see the sunset, crimson fading into violet behind the silhouette of an Alpine forest. It’s how a fiction writer draws the reader into the scene, and you too can use detail to help the reader see, hear and experience the work you’ve done in the past. Offer enough concrete description that they can imagine themselves in your shoes.

Own your impact. If you delivered results, stand up and shout it. Words like “facilitated,” “coordinated,” “managed,” and “functioned” sound like you took a back seat while the rest of the team were at the wheel. Being part of a winning team is an accomplishment of itself. Talk about the teams results, share your part of the big win, and take credit where it’s due.

Keep it simple. What are the essentials to understanding the situation and your impact? Describe your work according to the CAR method (challenge, action, results) without getting into the minutiae. You can give additional context when you get to the interview.

Ditch the adverbs. Many adverbs dilute the power of your words. Look for any word ending in “-ly” and ask yourself if it’s necessary to maintain the meaning of the sentence. If not, use that red pen and mark it out.

Axe passive voice. An employer wants to know what you did, not what happened to you. Resume statements should start with an action verb (“delivered,” “developed,” “achieved”). Most of your work can be rephrased to show the action you took. One that is harder is “was promoted.” Good thing that’s the only time what happened to you is an accomplishment.

Pique their interest. If you can write an accomplishment that shows that you delivered impressive results, and leaves them with the question, “how did she do that?”, you just may get an interview so they can learn your solution to the problem. Think of what you can do to leave them wanting more.

Eliminate corporate speak. If it would show up on a Corporate Bingo game board, leave it off your resume.
Alright, you may not be able to avoid using “customer service” but other words, like “synergy” and “transparent” you should be able to skip. In fact, if you Keep it Simple like in rule XX, this one shouldn’t be a problem. If you find your resume sounding more like a technical manual and less like the engaging, successful person that you
are, corporate speak is often to blame.

Use white space. Ample white space–the margins and breaks around your text–makes your resume look more professional and polished, as well as easier to read. Many are tempted to try to jam in that extra sentence or two, and end up sacrificing the reader’s first impression for that content.

Use reader-friendly formatting. Bullets, indenting, bold, etc. all help the reader scan and process the information on the page. Use the tools available to you to make it easy on them, and highlight the areas of the document that you think are worthy of notice.

Kristi Daeda is a Success Coach and creator of Career Adventure, a blog which helps professionals in the pursuit of their inspiring work. To receive her free report, 51 Ordinary and Extraordinary Places to Find a Job, sign up for her free Career Kick Start newsletter.

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Personal Branding: It’s Not What YOU Say.

There’s a lot of personal branding advice out there, much of it really good.  There are guides to SEO for your personal brand, The Brand YU Life, how to answer “What do you do?” to support your personal branding efforts, and how to brand yourself on LinkedIn.  All of these are focused on what you put out there — your marketing message.

But your marketing message is only one part of a cohesive personal branding effort.

Think of the last time you had a crappy experience with customer service — something you really got your panties in a wad over.  How do you feel about that company today?  Have you ever considered egging someone’s office?  Written a strongly worded letter?  Wanted someone fired?

Bet that perspective isn’t anywhere in their brand messaging.  But it’s definitely a part of the brand experience.

Your brand is more than a summary of your resume, a polished professional photo and a strong handshake.  It’s even more than well-crafted copy and a cohesive online presence.  It’s a feeling.  It’s a relationship. Where effective personal branding truly comes into play is when you can align what you say with what you are.  That’s when you have a strong,
integrated brand.

Do you know what other people think about you?  What they perceive as your talents and your weaknesses?  How they think you fit into the world?  Their estimation of your competitive value?

If you don’t, you’re not effectively managing your brand.  Understanding how you’re perceived can help you improve your value, and better understand the value you’re already delivering.

How do I know how others experience my personal brand?

  • Ask. Find a few trusted advisors who might be willing to give you some honest feedback and ask them what they think of you.  Try the following script:
“I was wondering if you might be willing to help me with my [business development, job search, etc.] by giving me some feedback.  Would you be open to that?”

(Get agreement.)

“Great.  It’s really important to me that you feel comfortable giving me completely honest information.  Please don’t worry about hurting my feelings.  The more direct and honest you can be for me, the more helpful it will be.  Just a couple simple questions.  First, what do you think of when you think about me?”

(Give space for reply.)

“Fantastic.  Thank you.  That’s very helpful.  One more question — is there anything that you think I can do to improve?”

(Give space for reply.)

The key to success here is to be relaxed, open and comfortable with the conversation.  The person you approach may be nervous.  So, the more you can convey that the information is both important to you, and also not a big deal, the more likely that you’ll get an open, honest assessment.

  • Listen. Even without asking straight out, there are clues delivered all the time.  In what contexts does your name come up?  What are peoples’ reactions when you ask them for or offer help?  Do people say the same things to you over and over?  (“I know you must be swamped” might indicate that you’re perceived as overworked or not open to participating in new projects.  “I know you’re the person to go to for X” may show your perceived expertise, or perceived willingness to help.)  Look for trends or themes.
  • Notice. What results are coming your way?  Are you often invited to participate in groups, or do you seem to be missed?  Are you getting new assignments?  Is training available to you?  Or do you feel like you’ve stagnated?  Seeing opportunity come your way is a positive indicator of your brand, and seeing it pass you by is a negative.  It’s up to you to determine exactly what part of your brand is bringing success and what is getting in your way.

Take an interest in how you’re perceived, and you’ll learn how to better market yourself.

Kristi Daeda is a Success Coach and creator of Career Adventure, a blog which helps professionals in the pursuit of their inspiring work.  To receive her free report, 51 Ordinary and Extraordinary Places to Find a Job, sign up for her free Career Kick Start newsletter.

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