As a professional, you effectively serve as your own marketing department. This is the case whether you work in engineering, finance, information technology, or any other field. Of course, marketing becomes especially important when searching for a job, but spending the effort to build your own brand pays benefits throughout any career.
What follows is an overview on how to craft a personal brand that pays dividends when it comes to your career growth. Leverage these insights to keep your professional life trending upwards until your retirement day.
Create a Plan for Building Your Professional Brand
As with many other career development tasks, crafting a personal brand requires planning. Perform some self-analysis and make a list containing a few short and long-term goals for your professional life. For each goal, determine what you need – skills, experience or branding – to help successfully achieve it.
While it’s important to plan before starting to build your brand, understand this process never truly ends. As your career evolves, goals change as does your brand itself. Remember to always strategize before making any significant changes to your career path.
Create a Professional Online Presence Reflecting Your Brand
Whatever your ultimate career goals, having an online presence that reflects and advertises your personal brand is a must. Depending on those goals, building your own website is an option worth considering. It’s likely a requirement if you hope to position yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
At the minimum, consider writing a few articles to publish on LinkedIn and other sites, highlighting professional experiences that add value to others in your field. An active social media presence on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and elsewhere also helps build your online presence.
Your Online Image Matters
When considering your online personal brand, image definitely matters. As such, have a professional photographer capture a few images of you: a headshot, and perhaps a few while at work. Use the headshot as a profile photo on your social media accounts, while the “action” shots are appropriate for the About section of your website.
Even if you don’t go to the effort of building your own website, take care to remove any unprofessional posts or images from your social media accounts. Don’t let an embarrassing post hamper your branding efforts.
When you need advice on building a great career, speak with the knowledgeable recruiters at Venteon. As one of the top staffing agencies in the Midwest, we also know the companies looking for talented professionals like you. Check out our open jobs today!
