Switching Jobs? Don't Forget Your Personal Brand

Projects & Dreams for 2008, a photo by the Italian voice on Flickr.

By now it’s no secret that our backgrounds are accessible everywhere. I remind my children, as they prepare for acceptance into college and the working world, that our profiles are embedded into the footprint we leave on every Facebook wall and in every blog response. It is inerasable, and it behooves all of us to watch our written words.

But there’s more that needs to be done when you are seeking out a new job. Yes, avoiding irreverent, political or religious rants is a given. But I’d spend more time being concerned with the written and verbal messaging that will actually enhance your personal brand and get you hired.

LinkedIn profiles should exude professionalism—not desperation.  To figure out what you should include in yours, think about who your audience is and how you want them to help you change jobs. You’ll want to be seen as a Subject Matter Expert, whether you’re a junior Customer Service Rep or the VP of Accounting. With a few carefully crafted lines, your profile should demonstrate how you’ve succeeded as you moved from role to role. Even if you had the job from Hell, find something good that came out of it. At the same time, your profile should also exude warmth, noting your career accolades in a soft-spoken but authoritative way.

I’m on the fence about LinkedIn profiles that include any taglines about how they’re looking for a new role. Unless you’re an in-demand Actuary or Engineer, you’re better off omitting this. Believe me, recruiters and Hiring Managers will seek you out if your skills match their needs, regardless of this extra push. Just check off the subtle box that indicates you are open to new opportunities, if you wish. But the body of your profile should closely resemble a perfect resume—a list of accomplishments, where you achieved them and what you're great at. Include Keywords and a few strong endorsements from present and former colleagues, and your personal brand is established. And don’t forget to add a professional photo.

Don’t stop there—branding should include your cover letters, job applications and networking, too.  It’s important for your brand message to be clear and consistent in every form when you network for a better position. When you get actual face time with someone who can help you find a job, be clear with him about what your strengths are. Don’t tell him about your needs—tell him about the value you can add to his company. You can be more vague about what your desired new role is (so you don’t pigeonhole yourself if that role is unavailable at the time) but feel free to tout what you’ve accomplished so far and how you can make a difference to their bottom line. This is especially important during a 1:1 dialogue, but the same message should come through in your cover letters, emails and job applications.

One exception to repeating the same message is on your resume. The resume should be adjusted to the job you’re applying to. You might have five core accomplishments that will appear in any resume you send out, but their order may change for each new role you apply to. There may be emphasis on specific accomplishments over others.

Most people looking at your resume will only give it a few seconds before they move on to the next one. Tailoring a resume to your audience doesn’t change your strong brand; it just makes it easier for recruiters and Hiring Managers to see you as an immediate match.

Inconsistencies in personal brands are common and recruiters and Hiring Managers see them all the time—cover letters that don’t match up to the conversation with a job candidate, indecision over the level of the role they desire, or even worse, a resume that looks completely different from the LinkedIn profile. This tells the interviewer that you might not have figured out where you belong in your career. Or maybe you’re just sloppy. Either way, your message will be lost until adjustments are made.

In your crusade for a new job, make your personal brand a priority. Hack away at the extraneous parts until you've distilled it down to a message that is easy for anyone to find you. Then make sure you are consistent with that message.