What is Personal Branding and Why Is It Important?

Personal Branding has become a more common phrase of late and gets banded about in various circles - but what does it really mean? And is personal branding important for even the most senior job seekers?

I often think it’s one of those phrases that sounds good to say but there’s a danger that it becomes meaningless unless it is used in the correct context. We have been teaching the concepts of personal branding for years but sit very much on the practical side of the equation, helping Contractors to use concepts of personal branding to win more work.

What does personal branding mean?

In a nutshell, ‘personal branding’ is no different than just ‘branding’ - all companies have a brand that they define, develop, nurture, promote and protect and the theory is that professionals i.e. people like you and I should do the same.

We should be defining, developing, nurturing, promoting and protecting the way people perceive us to support our career development goals.

This becomes even more relevant to you as a Contractor for a number of reasons but not least the fact that you are operating as a company. Now your company may be just you, but nevertheless, you are a company and you do offer services to a portfolio of clients. Given this obvious fact, the argument is that you should be defining, developing, nurturing, promoting and protecting your brand just as much as any large company would.

Is personal branding the same as a business brand?

Yes. Personal branding is really no different to company branding.

Businesses have a product or service, a positioning in their market-place, a price point and promotional activity (in marketing terms, this is called the 4 Ps).

They all build a brand identity with core values and a brand image, with the aim of becoming a reputable brand in their industry. They want to keep their existing customers and attract potential customers through a strong business strategy.

How can job seekers start building a personal brand?

Apply this to yourself and think about your product or service i.e., when you work for an organisation, what do you do for them and what do you deliver?

Think about your positioning i.e., what is your value proposition (area of specialism) and key strengths that you want to build you career around?

Think about where you see your career going, i.e. what area do you want to specialize in? Think about how you are going to communicate all this to the job market i.e. how will you promote your experience, qualifications and skill set?

Bringing this all together, is really just a question of defining your skills and strengths, deciding how you want to position those skills and strengths and then communicating your worth through your CV, LinkedIn profile, cover letter and interview technique.

Building a strong personal brand: Your off and online persona

Statistically, 70% of employers use social media to screen candidates and 57% are less likely to contact applicants with no online presence. Creating a strong personal brand doesn't just happen overnight in the digital age.

There’s no escaping how important your online persona and reputation online is! Couple this with what you communicate through your CV and cover letter, and how people perceive you when they meet the real you, and we get your personal brand.

Personal branding is all about managing your own external image and PR; if you are aware of your external image and make a conscious effort to nurture and manage how people view you, you’ll be way ahead of many medical professionals who are blissfully unaware of how important this is.

How do you define your personal brand identity?

The starting point to all this is defining your personal brand in the first place which can be harder than it seems.

It’s all about identifying your target audience, your ‘go-to-market’ description, your value proposition, your service portfolio and the challenges you will help your clients overcome.

This should feed into an elevator pitch which equates to a Professional Summary on your CV and LinkedIn profile.

Use marketing principles to build a strong personal brand

From there, it’s all about using marketing principles to promote your brand to a potential client and this once again focuses around your CV and LinkedIn profile

It should also feed into how you present yourself in an interview and it may also relate to a website if you are utilising this channel to promote your business; but let’s stick to your CV and LinkedIn profile for the time being.

How contractors can build a personal brand

Relating to both permanent job seekers and contractors, The general gist is that to be effective in the job market, you must become a good self-marketer and know how to develop ‘Brand You’ through your personal marketing collateral (CV, LinkedIn profile, personal website, online profile, cover letter etc).

You should use your value proposition to build a personal branding strategy

Explaining to a potential employer or client how you can add value to their organisation is critical and simply listing your previous jobs with half a dozen bullet points describing each role just isn’t good enough.

If you are unfamiliar with concepts such as elevator pitches, keyword SEO, case studies, information architecture and recommendations, and how these relate to your CV, then you are missing out on some opportunities to promote yourself effectively.

The Quarter of a Million Pound Theory

A £50k candidate will cost their future employers over a quarter of a million pounds if they were to stay in their role for three years (three years being a reasonable stint in most people’s books).

If you add up salary, bonus, employer NI, training, travel allowances, pensions and other benefits; employers are on the receiving end of a hefty bill.

The point is - if an employer is investing this kind of money (in you) then you need to convince them that you can deliver return on investment.

This is equally important for contractors trying to justify a high daily rate. A cobbled together home-made CV and two hours interview preparation really isn’t sufficient when pitching for a job or contract at this or any level. Creating a CV which is more of a business case that explains why they should hire you is much more appropriate for the modern day job market.

Now most if not all Contractors will have a CV and LinkedIn profile but using the bog standard list of jobs / contracts with half a dozen bullet points describing each position isn’t going to support your endeavours to promote your personal brand.

This style of CV is simply too basic for a Contractor and will hinder your ability to market yourself effectively. We recommend three styles of CV depending on a host of factors but all three of these styles use marketing techniques that facilitate your ability to sell yourself in a more powerful way.

Marketing techniques our world-class specialists use

The four key techniques that we use are:

1. Elevator pitches

The elevator pitch takes shape through your professional summary.

2. Case studies

The case studies allow you to present your most impressive projects in a powerful and consistent way.

3. Context building

The context building information helps to optimise the information architecture of your CV and LinkedIn profile to maximise readability.

4. Recommendations

Recommendations can improve results three-fold.

How can medical professionals build a solid personal brand

How can medical professionals harness personal branding as a tool for raising their profile and attracting the right career opportunities?

Identify your specialist key skills and areas of expertise, e.g., diagnostic or research areas
Decide what kind of position your skills and expertise are best suited to
Define your value proposition i.e., the value you are proposing to offer to a future medical practice / pharmaceutical company / academic establishment
Work out how you are going to position your value proposition, skills and expertise
Write your medical CV, LinkedIn profile and cover letter in a way that promotes these points
Develop your interview technique so you can talk freely about yourself and experience
Make sure any posts on social media are positive and consistent with your personal branding

How can legal professionals create personal brands

When it comes to standing out from the crowd, it is important to know exactly how to brand yourself and your core professional offering, writes Karen Dunbar of The CV & Interview Advisors. You need your personal brand to attract your target audience, the recruiter.

In today’s legal landscape, many law firms and legal professionals look and sound the same, so how can you give yourself the best personal brand and stand out?

As a Personal Branding Specialist with over 8 years of experience writing (and reading) CVs, I can very confidently say that most CVs that I read sound the same. People use the same clichés, the same structure and the same achievements (or lack of!).

So, if a recruiter or hiring manager is trying to find the best candidate for a role, it makes things very difficult for them.

Don't let your personal brand (or lack of!) let you down

Often, the most talented, qualified and experienced legal professionals miss out on roles because their CV and LinkedIn profile lets them down.

However, before you give up completely and resign yourself to the fact you won’t secure that perfect new job, there are some simple things that you can do to make yourself stand out from the crowd.

Release your marketing prowess

Many legal professionals, despite not realising this, do possess the skills ideal for marketing themselves. These include a meticulous approach to writing using outstanding attention to detail, the ability to engage with diverse audiences from clients through to senior stakeholders and powerful influencing skills.

If you think about these strengths, then it makes sense that you can use these to help you create visibility and build a powerful personal brand.

When creating your CV and LinkedIn profile, what value do you offer your employer and clients? What is it that you can bring to the table that your peers can’t?

Evidence, evidence and more evidence

As a legal professional, your entire career is based on facts and evidence. So, why should your CV and LinkedIn profile be any different?

When it comes to making yourself stand out, you need a lot more than just fancy words. You need evidence to back it up. The people reading your CV and LinkedIn are not psychic and very likely, they don’t know you.

When it comes to personal branding, it isn’t enough to say that you are amazing at what you do, you must show them why. This means providing tangible results that back up what you say you can and have done.

Share your knowledge

Becoming a thought leader in your field is a great way to raise your personal brand.

Could you create articles or white papers to attract future opportunities to you?
Do you specialise in a certain area of the law?
Do you have any interesting insights or ideas when it comes to the legal profession?

Sharing your ideas is a great way to build your brand and your network, growing your online visibility.

Understanding what makes strong personal brands is crucial in recruitment

Hopefully, you now see the importance of having a personal branding strategy, whatever your sector and level of experience. Don't let your CV let you down if you've not thought about your personal brand.

Need some help with professional CV writing? Head over to our package deals.

In the meantime, you might find these helpful:

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Matt

Managing Director

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What is personal branding and why is it important?