Whether you’re scrolling through Facebook or staring absentmindedly at an advertisement on public transport, you’re vulnerable to branding. It’s everywhere. Even your best friend is probably using their Instagram profile to brand themselves in one way or another. Maybe they’re branding themselves as sporty, fun-loving and sociable. Maybe they even use particular brands to represent what they stand for.
The question is: Why is job-seeking approached any differently? According to Sprout Social, “graduates are now advised to work on how they present themselves to a potential employer” via social media. You want to look professional and intelligent. You want to come across as a team-player and as someone who works diligently alone. Coming across as someone who owns all of these traits and more is just an old-fashioned type of branding.
So why should you treat yourself as a brand when job-seeking?
You’re trying to sell yourself as the best option
Looking, applying and being interviewed for jobs is essentially a way of trying to sell yourself to potential future employers. Across all forms of social media we see celebrities collaborating with particular brands and working with particular people. These are well-thought out moves that are part of a bigger strategy. As a job-seeker you want to adopt this approach. Play the part and you might win the job.
For whatever roles you’re applying for on the daily, employers are looking for a certain kind of person to meet the expectations of the role. Of course there’s variation and you’re rarely expected to fit the requirements perfectly but branding yourself as a suitable─and excellent─candidate is vital in even standing a chance.
How to brand yourself to suit a role
- Move around your CV so your most relevant experience is at the top and edit it to be as extensive as it can possibly be
- Highlight and expand on relevant experience in your cover letter
- Insist you’ve the qualities for the role in your cover letter
- Wear suitable clothes to interviews
Job-seeking is a competitive arena
In this day and age, personal branding can set you apart from the crowd. Especially as a graduate, you’re up against applicants upon applicants just like you. Maybe they’re degree-qualified with an internship or two under the belts too. For this reason, the way in which you choose to brand yourself matters.
Consider every stage of job-seeking as a competition with other candidates that fit the bill. Use your “brand”─who you are and what you stand for─to ensure your application shines brighter than the rest.
Branding is promoting
When we see celebrities endorsing particular brands, they’re naturally promoting them; encouraging whoever sees to invest in them too. Seeing job-seeking as a chance to promote your personal brand is simply a way of promoting your experience, qualities and suitability for a role. It should never be considered arrogant to sell yourself to potential employers so it should never be considered arrogant to treat yourself as a brand when job-seeking.
If you see yourself as a brand when you’re job seeking, you’re likely to more confidently and coherently present yourself. If you consider yourself a brand you can probably more clearly see what your skills are, how you’ll be an asset to a company and why you’re perfect for the job. If you can see all of these things, you’ll promote yourself well and maybe even land an interview and then a job. Choosing to see yourself as a brand means you have a clear idea of the type of person and qualities you want to promote.
Job-seeking is a tiring, frustrating and often a lengthy process. Graduates are no strangers to the job-seeking slog. Choosing to treat yourself as a brand, however, could make the job-seeking process quicker. If you’ve a pre-constructed idea of who you are as a person and a candidate, you’ll more easily define yourself and move along your job-seeking journey.
Brand yourself and do it well.
Kathryn Terry writes for Inspiring Interns, which specializes in finding candidates their perfect graduate jobs. To browse our internships London listings, visit our website.
The post Why You Should Treat Yourself as a Brand When Job-Seeking appeared first on Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career.
No comments:
Post a Comment