Has anyone ever told you that you should be managing your personal brand better? If you’re like most of my clients, these are words that strike you as a little bit gross and perhaps just a little too corporate.
The thing is, it’s actually a really good idea, even if we need to word it a bit differently.
I promise, this doesn’t have to be a smarmy, hard-selling, suit-wearing approach. The basic idea is simply to curate what people see when they look at your materials and you aren’t in the room. So it includes your application materials, your social media presence, and any portfolio or other online platforms. In essence, what do you want people to walk away knowing about you? What’s the lasting impression you want to give?
When you know that, the whole personal branding conversation gets a little easier. Is what you’re putting out there consistent with how you want to be seen? If not, think through what you want instead. Maybe your LinkedIn profile is a good representation of what you used to do, but not what you want to do. Or maybe your resume uses buzzwords that someone told you are super-important but they don’t feel like how you’d actually talk. Does your portfolio showcase the stuff you’re proudest of?
You get the idea. Your so-called personal brand can actually be, well, personal. You should get a sense of satisfaction when you look over what you’ve created. Ideally it’s pretty consistent language from place to place. Your documents should have something of a signature look to them: same format of your name and contact information on your resume, cover letter, references page, and whatever else you submit. Maybe it’s even the same look that you have on your website or GitHub. What if you printed up some business cards with that same signature look, along with the headshot you use in your LinkedIn profile?
You can also rethink how you talk about all this to yourself. It may seem silly, but simply calling it your signature look or your intentional impact or whatever else you come up with can make it feel a lot better. Try some phrases on! And then dive in and make those changes.
