Everyone is looking for a better chance for education, work, development which can all sum up for “a better chance for life”. But the circumstances now are more challenging than ever! The world economy is going down, oil prices are falling, systems are changing at the speed of light, companies are shutting down and a new start-up is built every 48 hours! Competition is very high and there’s a real war for talent out there! And because you are “the average of the five people you spend the most time with” (Jim Rohn), the possibility of you getting your dream job that offers you fulfillment, development, and meaning can be really low.. unless you make it!
Because dream jobs aren’t stumbled upon, they’re created!
In some of our previous posts, we have introduced the concept of personal branding and explained why and how people can build and sustain their brands. Today, we’re going to discuss personal branding from a purpose-based perspective that hopefully can help you think of it as a way to boost your career and make better opportunities.
“We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc” (Tom Peters). To build a strong personal brand, you have to start thinking of yourself as an enterprise. To make it clear, let’s have a look at how alike you and company X are.
| Company X | You |
| Offers products/services.
|
Offer your expertise. |
| Wants customers and prospects to know about its products/ services. (Brand awareness). | Want employers to know about your unique skills and abilities. (Brand awareness). |
| Wants to become customers’ #1 choice. | Want to become employers’ #1 choice. |
| Markets the features and benefits of its products. | Market the benefits of working with you (your added value). |
| Improves its products and comes up with new ones. | Develop your skills and gain new expertise in new areas. |
| Expands business and increases sales. | Receive higher pay, move to a better position, and get recognized. |
Since the purpose of building a personal brand is to land better job opportunities and pave the way for a successful career, and because you are an enterprise, as we’ve just proven, you have to deal with your brand the same way companies plan and create their marketing campaigns. Building your personal brand is done over three stages that, as we’ll see later, can go backward or intersect:
- Before: People don’t yet know who you are.
- During: People are doing work with you.
- After: People express their experience of working with you.
Every stage of these is built around a set of key elements but we’ll discuss that in All You Need to Know About Personal Branding Part 2 so stay tuned.
