Branding? Have you created a professional brand that matches your career objectives

depth and is more encompassing of the concept. Personal branding puts more of the emphasis of marketing your identity to others rather than just quickly “selling” yourself in a brief encounter.

Personal branding allows you to control how others see you and this control allows you to determine your own path and goal setting.  Personal branding can also be compared to your own personal mission statement in that it is a clear statement of who you are, who you want to be and how you are planning to obtain it.  Not only will it keep you on track for the results you have set for yourself, but it also allows you to ensure how others view you and your career goals.

When creating your personal brand have a particular goal in mind (job, career, company) and be mindful of their image, as well as, that which you have for yourself.  Qualities that may be considered a strong personal brand with one company or career type may not be compatible with another and may need to modified and customized appropriately during a job search – always make sure it is relative and compatible.

When creating your personal brand carefully consider what words describe you, what your achievements have been and how you want others to view and describe you.  This is also an opportunity to really look at yourself and make sure you are the individual you strive to be.  Do you have any expert qualities? Are you consistent with who you want to represent? Do others view you the same way you view yourself? Before committing to a personal brand, you may need to take a hard look at some of these traits and make any modifications necessary to yourself to fit the brand you visualize for yourself.

Once  you have decided how you want to brand yourself make sure everything that you do fits that brand.  Your actions, projects, goals, clothing, personality and more must fit into the brand you have designed for yourself.  For a complete branding of yourself make sure all areas of your life run parallel and reflect the vision.  With our modern technology today this means not just your work life, but also includes your personal life, and your social media life.  With that being said, it is imperative that you be present and up to date on social medial (Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn at a minimum), but your postings must match your personal branding. This means tasteful and interesting posts online; reviewing your account settings to avoid any involuntary photo tagging or postings being viewed by potential employers that may not be consistent with our brand image.

Employers are using social media more and more in their search for new employees, so much so, in fact, that your social media profile can be the difference between getting an interview or being overlooked during the early stages of the interview process.

Taking the time to create a brand image and consistently living up to those standards you set for yourself will allow you to advance your career within in the directions you desire, with exceptional career opportunities.

Michael DeSafey is a leading executive recruiter for professionals in the construction, engineering and environmental industries. He is currently the President of Webuild Staffing (www.webuildstaffing.com). To learn more about Michael or to follow his Blog please visit www.michaeldesafey.com