Building Your Brand – is an important part of your personal message to the labour market you are pursuing and to the professionals that will be considering you during the process. Identifying your brand and demonstrating it are equally important.Your personal brand begins with deciding what to say to someone and then crafting your message. Out of this preparation should come an introduction, an elevator pitch or a proposition statement that will communicate your focus and something compelling others need to know about you (in 21 seconds or less).
Your written documents will then take shape and follow shortly after with the development of a business card, resume (especially the profile or highlight section) and your cover letters. These need to display a message that aligns with your networking conversations and should display a consistent expression of design, voice and a demonstration of industry competencies. There is something very attractive about having documents with consistent wording, spacing, fonts, messaging and even graphics (within reason).
Your brand then will have a chance to be put on display during an in-person meeting = the interview! Here employers are trying to determine if what they read about you is actually true and if what they liked about you evolves into a mutual fit once they hear you speak about your career focus, relevant skill set, education success and work experiences. This face to face meeting needs to give them more than they knew before and further establish your personal brand.
There is one final chance to enhance your brand and/or cause your brand to further resonate with the decision makers trying to decide if you are the right person. Your follow up. After spending all that time doing your research, identifying your focus, preparing your messaging, documents and interview answers, it just makes sense to protect that investment with a little follow up. A memorable thank you note containing another prepared message further strengthening your brand could very possibly be the piece that gets the final buy in to select you.
So plan well, be intentional, be thorough, be consistent and be the brand they are looking for!
Good Luck!
Some of the above information is covered in Step Four of the Sauder Career Success Cycle. There you will find many resources to get you going. In addition, you can attend the Career Workshops specifically designed for DAP students. The last two sessions on April 12th and 19th covered this very topic and was part of the seven sessions being provided to help DAP students create a momentum that will help them have career success. The next session on March 26th is on Getting Connected and will give information on how to make those most important connections well and turn them into meaningful steps leading to your career success. You can register on COOL. Good luck!
Russell Garrett is the Owner of Protocol Business Solutions, a Certified Career Consultant and your DAP Career Coach. He is currently delivering one hour workshops from January to April and is applying the steps of the Sauder Career Success Cycle specifically to DAP students along with other advanced concepts. He can also be reached at dapcareersupport@sauder.ubc.ca to arrange an online career appointment.