Your Personal Brand As A Transferable Skill

By Cecile Peterkin

Although it is a newer concept by now most people are aware of the idea of personal branding, and just how important it can be to your career if you can establish a strong one for yourself that is consistent and impressive. What you may not be aware of though is just how to use your personal brand as a transferable skill, one that can help you secure that new job you want or finally make the career change you have had in mind for years!

Your Personal Brand as a Transferable Skill – Your Resume – However much the world of work has been changed by technology and by things like social media, your resume is still probably the first chance you have to make an impression on a potential new employer. Listing all of your skills and past achievements is great, but you still need to make sure that your resume as a whole accurately reflects the personal brand you have worked so hard to build. What personal branding is all about is presenting a complete picture of yourself to the world even on something as seemingly mundane as a resume!

Make sure that you point out exactly what it is about you as a person that makes you an ideal fit for the position you are seeking and that you reemphasize that in every cover letter you send as well. This is especially true for those who are seeking a career change. Personal branding can help you demonstrate that although you may lack the formal “on the job” training that others might have your overall traits make you someone well worth considering.

Your Personal Brand as a Transferable Skill – Your Social Media Presence – In just a few short years LinkedIn has grown from being a small network of tech savvy professionals looking to connect in cyberspace to a powerhouse that even many Fortune 500 recruiters admit to using regularly to help them screen candidates and source talent. Therefore it is important firstly that you have a profile at all, even if in your personal life you are not a huge social media fan, and secondly that it reflects your personal brand as accurately as possible.

Fortunately the site offers a great many tools that allow you to do just that. The best place to begin highlighting your personal brand is in the Summary section, where you can state what your personal brand is all about and how the past skills and positions above it relate to who you are today and where you want to go in the future. You can then reiterate that further by participating in groups that match your brand which will give you another way to let the real you come across.

Your Personal Brand as a Transferable Skill – Consistency is the Key – When talking about personal branding it can never be emphasized enough just how important consistency is. Your resume may go a long way to establishing your brand with potential employers but the tone of cover letters, thank you notes and even quick email notes should match it. You should in fact even take that consistency to a meeting or interview with you. The high standard of language that you have no doubt used on your resume needs to be reflected in person and even your outfit should be consistent with the impression you hope to achieve with your brand.

One more note though. Your personal brand should not be a static thing; it should change and evolve as you do. That is why it is a good idea to review it and everything attached to it on a regular basis to make sure that it still truly reflects everything you have to offer to a potential new employer.

About the Author: Long before Cecile Peterkin opened her own career coaching and mentoring business, she was already a coach and mentor to a number of individuals. For Cecile, it’s just a way of life, a natural skill set that she fully utilizes for those searching for their own life or career path. Cecile provides one-on-one or team counselling services in career and leadership coaching, mentoring, training and personal development.

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