Advertise Your Personal Brand

Learn Six Self Branding Techniques,
to rise above the competition

Your resume is a reflection of you, a personal brand to communicate your unique value to the potential employer. Personal branding statements allow you to create interest and intrigue; this will help you stand out with the recruiter and increase your chances for an interview. It is crucial to remember that a resume should be designed to secure and interview, not a job. It is crucial to provide information that communicates why the recruiter should meet with you and branding statements can help you promote yourself.

Create Your Personal Brand

A newspaper headline is designed to capture your attention and encourage you to read the entire story. Similar to news headlines, the time you have to capture and hold an employer’s attention is very brief.  Your own personal branding statements highlighted at the top of your resume will get the attention of your prospective audience. Creating your personal brand for your career choice involves some honest self-reflection. Ask yourself the following questions; "Do I have the relevant credentials, skills, knowledge and experience to succeed in this position"? "What were my major achievements in my previous job? , "Did my personal attitude towards colleagues and superiors provide value to the organization?” If you are satisfied that you have the skills, experience, attitude and desire for this position, then you can begin creating personal branding statements.

Your personal brand should effectively communicate the value you offer. Your personal brand should include how you will contribute to the organization and the position you are interested in.  Identify how you will add value in the following areas:

• Creativity
• Results
• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Integrity
• Professionalism
• Positivity

Personal Branding Statement

When you have reflected earnestly on your character and what sets you apart from other candidates, it is time to develop your personal brand. Your "personal branding statement" is a culmination of everything you want to communicate broken down into one or two sentences that will grab the attention of your target market and describe why you are the person they want to meet with. This actually sounds more difficult than it is, just spend some time reflecting on why you believe you are the best person for the job. Naturally, every other applicant will be doing the same thing, so you will need an added advantage. It is prudent to include a statement about the company and position you are applying for to demonstrate that you have a keen interest in the organization and that you have done your research. Keep in mind that this branding statement is not a replacement for a well thought out cover letter, it is to entice the reader to review your entire submission. In order to grab the attention of a potential employer, create your personal branding statement keeping your reader in mind. 

Using a personal branding statement that clearly highlights your credentials, knowledge, experience and professional communications skills will make a positive impression that may lead to an interview.

Here is an example how a personal branding statement on the top of the resume can get the attention of the hiring person right away and become a reason of an interview call. An experienced graphic designer with web developing expertise is applying for a job advertised as, “Hiring Experienced Graphic Designer”. Web developing is listed as a “preferred” skill to perform the job. So the closest personal branding statement on the top of the resume for this job can be, “Senior Graphic Designer with Expertise in Interactive Web Development”. This example is food for thought only; every individual is unique, with a myriad of skills. The objective is to generate an interest but communicating your skill set relative to the position you are applying for.

Brand's Features and Benefits

Your resume is your opportunity to open doors for the interview call, every employer is searching for a "star candidate", so highlight your brand's, benefits by showcasing your achievements. Your brand's benefits demonstrate that you are an achiever and have a solid track record of delivering above and beyond the normal job description.

Your qualification, credentials, education, license or certification are your brand’s features, however what you have accomplished with them are your brand's benefits. Your brand's benefits will communicate why you are the best match for the job and the best choice for the company.

Compliment Your Personal Brand's Characteristics

Having the right mental attitude is the first thing an employer is seeking when they are looking to hire a potential candidate. Add your personal and professional attitude in your resume such as; your volunteer work for community organizations, fund raising or charity project involvement. Include information about coaching and mentoring peers and new hires. If you have participated in focus groups, steering committees or contributed to the launch of a new product or service. Although this is not part of a branding statement, it is part of branding yourself and employers are interested to hear what candidates have done to improve themselves by helping others.  

Network Your Personal Brand With Social Media

In today’s technological and social media world, resumes have gone beyond paper presentation to social networking sites; networking with professional social media sites will expand your personal brand marketing to the right potential employer in minutes. Many HR personnel do an online search of the job applicant’s profile on various social networking sites including www.Linkedin.com. It is very important that your paper resume should mirror your LinkedIn professional profile in order to promote your brand professional image online.

Through LinkedIn you will be able to connect to a huge hidden job market where quality HR personnel and recruiters post jobs for quick response from high quality job seekers. Whether you are prepared or not to create social media profile, eventually you will have to promote your personal brand online so why not take strategic steps now and join the professional social media networking world.

Critique Your Personal Brand

After establishing your personal brand, ask yourself, does your personal brand stand out from your competitors in a 10 second scan test? Is your resume good enough to shine amidst a flood of resumes within the first 10 seconds? Like mentioned earlier, with the news headline analogy, there is approximately a 10 second window of opportunity to become noticed and create an impression that lasts long enough to secure an interview.. Remember your resume is your first meeting with your prospective employer and first impressions are lasting ones.  As in most cases, HR departments are thinly staffed with tight deadlines and they have precious time to spend on reviewing resumes in detail, so if your personal brand fails in the first 10 second scan test, the HR professional will short list others who are able to pass the initial 10 second scanning test.

This may sound like a daunting task but it can be achieved by determining what your key strengths are and what you makes you the best person for the job. Add a little creativity to the mix, just enough to grasp the reader’s interests so they will want to learn more about YOU.

Request Professionals To Create Your Personal Brand

Creating personal brand or writing a professional resume is another skill, if you are interested to develop a professional resume or to create a personal brand then you need help from professional resume writers. Search online you will find many resources to help you, professionally write your resume or to create your personal brand. Professional resume writers know how to present your skills and experience on the paper, so you can stand out from your competitors and your resume open doors for your interviews calls. Professional resume writing services varies from $150 to $600, creating a personal brand resume require a lot of creative work so cost varies from $500 to $1000 dollars. However One Voice Canada offers professional resume writing and creating your personal brand services at 50% reduced cost. 

Our special rates for resume writing are as follows:

• Professional Resume Writing: $75
• Creating Personal Brand Resume: $150