how powerful that would be?
But Alfred must have cringed when he read the headline of his obituary. It labeled Alfred “The Merchant of Death” because of his work with dynamite and detonators. He realized in that single moment that
everything he had done would forever associate his personal brand with death — unless he took control and did something about it.
So, he decided to change his personal brand. He made a plan to develop the Nobel Prizes for five topics he really cared about — Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, and Peace. When he died in 1895, Alfred Nobel left the bulk of his millions to the establishment of those prizes. He didn’t want his name, “Nobel,” to stand for destruction and death. And look what the name Nobel stands for today — the most prestigious prizes awarded for outstanding achievements in those five important categories.
You’ve no doubt heard of the Nobel Prizes, right? But you probably didn’t know the other work that Nobel had done in his life. That’s because Alfred Nobel was successful in changing his personal brand so that his name could stand for what he wanted it to stand for.
You can change what you stand for, too, by creating your own personal brand and using it to invigorate your job search. As author Carl Bard said, “Though no one can go back and make a brand-new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand-new ending.”
Did You Know You Already Have a Personal Brand?
When I speak to individuals or corporate groups about the topic of personal branding, occasionally someone will say, “Oh, that sounds interesting, but no thanks. I’m actually not into self-promotion. I don’t have — or even want — a personal brand.”
It’s then that I break the news to them: You already have a personal brand (even if you haven’t done anything as earth-shattering as invent dynamite!).
Yes, it’s true. To have a personal brand, you don’t have to be an inventor or even sit down and give your personal brand any thought. Just by virtue of being you in an interview or in your current workplace, you have a personal brand. The question is whether you have the personal brand you want. If not, you’re leaving a lot more of your job search to chance than necessary. But fortunately, just like Alfred Nobel, you have the power to change your personal brand.
The bottom line is: If you don’t take control of your job-seeker personal brand and make a conscious decision about how you want to come across in interviews, you may be leaving an impression that undermines your success.
Personal Branding and Your Job Search
Whether you’re someone who wants out of a dead-end job or you’re someone who has been out of a job for a while, defining your job-seeker personal brand can be the missing link to helping you find the kind of work you’ve been daydreaming about. Knowing who YOU™ are — the trademarked you — will give you renewed confidence and a clear edge in your job search. In fact, once you carefully define the job-seeker personal brand you want to communicate in interviews, you will be able to look at your job search with new meaning. It will help make every moment of your job hunt count. (And, yes, even though it’s hard to believe — you may actually begin to find interviews fun.)
The ultimate goal of this book is to eliminate once and for all that groan you emit when the alarm goes off in the morning (you know the one we’re talking about). I want you to be in a job that keeps you happy, fulfilled, and motivated.
But it really is up to you. If you want a better job, a successful career, and a more satisfying work life, you have to do something about it. Otherwise, nothing will happen. I can almost hear you saying, “But Brenda, I have no control over whether an interviewer likes me or not. If they decide not to hire me, what can I do?” Even though it may feel as though your job search is at the mercy of employers, a significant part of your job search success is in your control, and the foundation of that control is learning how to master your job-seeker personal brand. In How YOU™ are like Shampoo for Job Seekers, we will focus on the key parts of your job search that are in your control.
My Personal Branding System
So, let’s recap. Here’s the reality: You already have a job-seeker personal brand. Every time you have gone on an interview, you’ve presented that personal brand, maybe even without knowing it. Now, it’s time to take control and learn how to manage it, leading to better success in the interview process and — ultimately — landing a great job.
How YOU™ are like Shampoo for Job Seekers is a do-it-yourself, nononsense guide to getting the job you want through successful personal branding. It’s simple, easy to read, and it works. I have designed the personal branding system in this book to take the guesswork out of figuring out your job-seeker personal brand and how to use it to help you get the job you really want. It’s all about practical application. Through an innovative, proven step-by-step process which utilizes
exercises and worksheets, you will define a powerful job-seeker personal brand.
Most importantly, your brand won’t just remain a nice idea in your head. After all, it would make no sense to spend time defining your brand and then just leave it in a desk drawer while you continue on the same as always, right?
No, you need a roadmap to help you communicate your brand to potential employers so that it serves you well. This is how you find that dream job you’ve always wanted. This is how you take the steering wheel of your career and drive it where you want it to go.
Through reading this book, you’ll learn specific ways to communicate your brand to potential employers before, during, and after your interviews. We will work together to:
•Define your personal brand using a Job-Seeker Personal Brand Positioning Statement format modeled off the six core elements used by the most successful name brands in the world.
•Communicate your personal brand through a Job-Seeker Personal Brand Marketing Plan so that potential employers will see you as you want to be seen. This will help you effectively master the five activities you do throughout your job search that most impact your personal brand and your ability to get the job you want.
•Avoid damaging your job-seeker personal brand by learning from the mistakes others have made in the job search process. This is one of the most unique and fun parts of the system — our top 20 most damaging Job-Seeker Personal Brand Busters™. These will help you bypass the most common pitfalls others have experienced while hunting for a job. In other words, you’ll know what to watch out for before you even get there!
•You will hear the input of dozens of recruiters and human resources experts that I have interviewed for this book. They’ve been in the trenches and seen it all!
•We’ll use the graphic labeled “The Proven Pathway to Getting YOU™ a Great Job” on page 16. It serves as a map to explain each step of our personal branding system. Don’t worry if it doesn’t make sense to you yet. It will — I promise.
As you read these pages, I hope that you will experience that “ah-ha!” moment that comes from the power of thinking of yourself as a unique personal brand. I hope you’ll see how you can use personal
branding to make real changes in your life that can lead to a better job with increased income, job satisfaction, and exciting career progress.
Input Equals Output
How YOU™ are like Shampoo for Job Seekers is an interactive, actionoriented experience, but your job-seeker personal brand won’t be handed to you on a silver platter. I can guarantee you one thing for sure: What you put in to defining and communicating your job-seeker personal brand is exactly what you will get out of it. The more time and energy you devote to this process, the faster you will get the job you want.
Get ready to feel empowered as you take charge of your job-seeker personal brand and become the Brand Manager of YOU™. Let’s discover how to help you get the job that will fulfill you for years to come.