“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.” –Malcolm Forbes
In the last post in this series, we looked at using the personal branding approach and what you know about yourself to present a targeted resume.
But to really stand out, get ahead and be remembered, you need to do more—even before presenting your resume, in many cases. You’ll need to create some alternate career marketing documents to really showcase your value.
Following are the ones you’ll need, and a step-by-step guide on how to create them:
The Brand Skills Sheet
“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments.” –Jim Rohn
In the work you have done with the SWOT analysis and through the use of the specific recommended assessments and feedback groups, you’ve been able to identify what your peers and colleagues, managers and even friends and clients perceive as your key brand skills.
Now you can take these top skills and develop your brand stories around how you have used those brand skills in specific job situations with measurable results.
This becomes what I call, for want of a better description, a “brag” sheet. It gives the reader a real flavor for who you are, what you might bring to their company and how you have been successful in the past. Many hiring managers believe the best predictor of future success is past accomplishments, and you are giving them real-life examples of these achievements.
Your brag sheet (or Brand Skills Sheet) should aim to use as much relevant information as possible without compromising confidentiality. It should also be as measurable as possible, using the STAR structure below as a guideline.
Use the brief Achievements Worksheet to write down five significant achievements or success stories that come to mind. (Click here to download a form you can work off.) You can make it a mix of work and personal experiences, although many employers are looking for the work experience.
Review the results from the feedback you solicited from others—your stories should have some connection in that they are based around the key attributes, strengths and skills identified. Bring these forward and make them really stand out in your “stories.”
Start with a brief description. See the Memory Jogger List (click here for form), but also look at your feedback results and think of why these traits, skills and strengths were attributed to you.
Now, describe your achievements in more detail using this “STAR” structure and the Achievements Worksheet as a guideline:
Situation: Set the stage and lay the foundation for the story: Who or what were you working for/on? When? Where?
Task: What was it you needed to do, why did you need to do it and what challenge(s) did you face at the start?
Actions: What you did—use active verbs such as “developed” or “directed.”
Results: What was the measurable outcome? Wherever possible, relate this back to numbers and figures like dollars and percents.
For an example of a Brand Skills Sheet, see here, and for a guide to write your own STAR analysis, see here
The Branded Bio
“Everyone has talent.” –Erica Jong
Now, using the feedback about your differentiating attributes and strengths and merging that with a high-level view of your work experience, you can craft a one-page Branded Biography (click here for form) that again gives the reader a good sense of who you are, where you’ve been and what you’ve done, without the preconceptions of how long you were at company XYZ or why you took a drop in job title after leaving company ABC.
This Branded Biography should be a one- to two-page document that gives a clear but general overview of your experience and background. Typically these documents are written in the third person, as they’re normally handed to someone by way of introduction or referral or are posted on a public website.
This bio can quite often replace the need to post a resume on job boards, again retaining the control that you have over who gets to see your resume and when—and, more importantly, what—it contains.
Brand Testimonials
“You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.” –Henry Ford
An added bonus to the equation is that with the feedback you’ve gathered also comes comments from the people whom you’ve chosen to respond. The assessment itself is to allow for honest and objective feedback, but the comments can be great testimonials, and the positive ones can be used in the Brand Skills Sheet to highlight specific examples of a skill in action, as well as a third party’s reaction. (Click here for an example.)
The Brand Skills Sheet and Branded Bio can prove to be very useful documents that allow you the job seeker to be proactive and responsive to a request for more information, but still retain control over the specifics that can be saved for your tailored and targeted resume at the next stage of the conversation or process.
The content created in the skills and bio sheets can also be used as copy for profiles on networking sites such as LinkedIn, in the resume posting sections of job boards and certainly in any other type of Web presence such as portfolios or blogs.
These two documents should be the two that any job seeker reaches for in a networking or referral situation—or, indeed, anywhere that a specific role is not evident or has been posted or advertised. The resume certainly has its place; it’s just a little further down the application process.
What You Can Do Right Now
First, do not wait—personal branding is fast becoming an accepted term in the mainstream, we’re starting to see it become a regularly used term by journalists to explain a person’s style and most media have carried numerous articles and pieces on the subject.
Personal branding is something that every candidate, passive or active, should be using or starting to develop—the world of work expects it. Colleges and universities are even starting to teach personal branding as an extension of business programs.
And Remember…
Strong personal brands follow the “5 R’s” rule: they resonate with the right people, the message is relevant, there is a strong relation to the target audience, they’re memorable and remarkable and, above all, they keep it real (authentic).
Always remember the target audience—who you are trying to influence and affect with your brand.
Always look to highlight your uniqueness, but only if it’s genuine; don’t try to be something you aren’t or exaggerate. It will only come back to bite you at some point.
And finally, be true to your brand. As opportunities arise and people present you with options, take a moment to reflect back on the “VP’s” ( Vision, Purpose, Values and Passion). Is what you’re being offered true to those—and true to your brand?
Known by his clients as The Career Hacker, Paul Copcutt was described by Forbes magazine as a global leading personal brand expert. Paul helps people uncover their uniqueness and communicate it in an authentic way that gets them noticed and remembered, for the right reasons. Over the years, he has inspired and worked with thousands of people from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 executives, and he regularly speaks to business audiences across North America. Visit his site, Square Peg Solution, and find him on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
Image: Flickr
