Take Charge of Your Online Profile Using These Tips
Employers can learn a lot about you before you ever step foot in the door for an interview by doing a simple online search. According to the BBC, 70 percent of employers screen job candidates using social media. What they find is your personal brand, which dictates the first impression someone will have of you. If you do an internet search for yourself, what shows up? Do you see professional achievements and accolades? Or do you see old stories and irrelevant social media posts that do little to showcase your professional skills and abilities? If you are not intentional about developing your personal brand, it will end up being created based on the information available about you online. That means that anyone and anything can influence how people perceive you. Instead, take control of your brand by purposely crafting an online profile that accurately reflects your accomplishments.
Be Authentic
Creating a personal brand that genuinely represents your values, beliefs, knowledge, and skills is essential. There is no point in creating a brand that does not accurately reflect who you are. Use your natural voice when writing blog posts or crafting content to publish on social media. People can see through inauthenticity. Employers will not think highly of you if the person who shows up for a job interview speaks and acts entirely differently from the person they had researched online.
Focus Your Message
It’s far better to build your brand around one message than to try to capture everything you have ever experienced.
Consider what you want to be known for and build your brand around that messaging. For example, if you are searching for a job in a tech company, you may decide to create a personal brand that reflects your in-depth knowledge of and passion for technology.
This can include everything from serious discussions about web development to fun posts highlighting your favorite tech gadgets to use in your leisure time. You can build on your focus as your career and interests evolve.
Select a Target Audience
Who do you want to engage with as a brand? In the short-term, you may be trying to impress employers. However, it’s essential to think more long-term about who you want to connect with. Start by asking, who will be searching for you? Maybe your target audience is executives who can benefit from your expertise. Perhaps you want to reach customers who are interested in learning more about a particular industry. Another option could be to reach larger conferences and organizations that want to bring in industry experts as panel participants or keynote speakers. Focus your messaging toward this audience, even if others end up reading your content and hearing your story. As Energent Mdeia CEO Jennifer Spencer notes, crafting a personal brand is not something that can be done overnight.
It takes careful planning and precision to execute a branding strategy. Collaborating with me at Kassog International in personal branding will efficiently help you determine how you want to be portrayed and who will benefit from your expertise. From there, you can develop a strategy that meets your objectives and launches your personal brand into the world.
Dedicated to your Progress, focused on your Success.
Kind regards,
Gabriel Kassowicz
