“It’s a Brand-YOU World” … so says Jeninne Lee-St. John, writing for Time magazine (Nov. 6, 2006 issue). The article caught my eye — I’m totally into the value of branding, for business *and* for individuals — from the subtitle: “Need a Job? … Personal-marketing consultants can help you stand out from the crowd.”
While branding consultants for individuals are relatively new as a vocation, branding has been around for a long, long time. Even in my private practice (23 years and counting), I’ve been using these concepts to work individually with clients from the get-go.
Key questions everyone answers: “What are your signature strengths? What differentiates you (your performance) from everyone else? Why should Company A want to hire you? What value will you bring?” And so on … and so on. All of these queries get at the core of what drives the individual — and, hence, allows for the creation of authentically branded copy that can be used effectively in marketing materials and resumes.
If you’re intrigued about how you might compare with colleagues or friends when it comes to criteria ranging from “if you were a car, what would you be?” to “what kind of breakfast cereal would people say describes you?,” visit William Arruda’s website, www.reachcc.com. He’s the creator of the 360Reach personal-branding questionnaire and former branding guru to such companies as IBM, Lotus, and KPMG. I had the opportunity to meet him several years ago at a professional conference and I was more convinced than ever of the importance of personal branding.
So, what is it? A Cooper? Or the big Cadillac 4×4?
- Jan Melnik, MRW, CCM, CPRW, President, Absolute Advantage … Don’t forget to check out http://careerhub.typepad.com for the best in career search advice from the career industry’s top experts and http://careers.beyond.com for valuable career management expertise