Have you ever googled yourself? If you’re trying to get a new job, you should. It’s common practice for recruiters to google candidates’ names, making it important to build and nurture your personal brand. It’s a great help to be the first result when someone searches your name, but it’s even better if the search results are something you’re proud of. After all, you don’t want a potential recruiter to see a photo of you having a little too much of a good time during a night out with friends. But how can you build a personal brand?
Take Advantage of LinkedIn
LinkedIn is an excellent way to show your work and build a personal brand. Generally, one of the first results that appears after searching for someone’s name is their LinkedIn profile. It’s also the most used website by recruiters when screening candidates, so always keep your profile up to date. But LinkedIn is more than just a place for recruiters to see your CV. By sharing your opinion on current events happening in your industry, you show profile visitors that you know your role’s ins-and-outs. Additionally, LinkedIn is the perfect way to expand your network, as you can connect with people in your industry, join groups with shared interests, and more.
Curate Other Social Media Profiles
As well as LinkedIn, your Facebook and Instagram profiles will show up when someone searches for you. We know that both of these platforms are more personal, and it’s ok to be more relaxed about posting. However, it’s crucial that recruiters don’t have access to it, as you might not want them to see your more personal photos before an interview. You can easily do this by playing with the platform’s privacy settings and only let people within your friends list access your profile. This way, even if a recruiter is able to find your Instagram, they will only be able to see your profile picture and description.
Showcase Your Expertise
Businesses need to show that they are the best providers on the market by showcasing their competitive advantages. In the same way, you need to prove that you’re an expert at what you do. Having a professional blog is a good way to start, as it allows you to offer more insight into who you are and what knowledge you have. For instance, if you’re a content writer, you can easily share some tips on how to increase sales through content marketing. Blogs are extremely affordable – there are even free platforms like WordPress – making them perfect for building a personal brand.
You can also go the extra mile by using platforms like Quora, where users answer each other’s questions. If you’re a regular user and often help people working in your industry, you’ll quickly create a name for yourself. Better yet, if anyone goes to your Quora profile, they can see all the answers you’ve provided, which is the perfect way to showcase your expertise.
How Employers Can Help
Your current employer can be extremely helpful when building your personal brand. After all, everyone’s going to believe that you’re good at your job if your boss says so. From informal interviews to recommendation letters, there are many ways your employer can help. It’s also worthwhile to ask your coworkers to join your LinkedIn network and endorse your skills to show that you’re good at what you do.
If your employer doesn’t have this practice, you can recommend it to them by showing how much businesses gain from their employees’ personal brands. Companies want to be considered experts in their fields, and there’s no better way to showcase this than to show that their employees are experts themselves. So, helping workers improve their personal brands also increases the company’s industry authority.
It’s never too late to boost your career by improving your personal brand. Take advantage of all your experience to land that next job opportunity or get the promotion you deserve.
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