People form opinions and make decisions based on a combination of factors. The information that is available to them formulates their perception which is what they know, what they believe, and most importantly, how they feel about something or someone. Personal branding lets your control those perceptions.
If someone is making a decision that has an impact on your life, then their perception of you is your reality. Their perception is going to be formulated by the information they find about you on LinkedIn, other social media accounts, and in Google search results. Good or bad, what they see and learn about you through these channels will be the information they use to decide where you stand in relation to other candidates… your competition.
What have you done to make sure that a decision maker is going to be impressed and remember you in a positive way from those few minutes they spend learning about you? What can you do to make sure that they are not only impressed by you, but they also want to learn more about you.
#1 LinkedIn:
In today’s competitive world, LinkedIn has become an expectation. It is a minimum requirement that you must have to even be considered as a candidate. If you don’t have an optimized LinkedIn profile then you are most likely going to be eliminated from consideration for any opportunity right away. So your first step is to make sure you review your LinkedIn profile, and take all the necessary steps to optimize it so it shows you in the best possible light.
#2 LinkedIn is not enough:
While an optimized LinkedIn profile is crucial, it is not enough. Because LinkedIn is now a minimum requirement, you can safely assume every other person with your skill set and qualifications is going to show up there as well. If you really believe that your LinkedIn profile is enough by itself to make you stand out above all the other people, then you should already be working at your dream job. However, there is an answer if you do want to know what actions you can take to make yourself stand out and from the competition, and be memorable.
#3 Establish your personal brand:
When a decision maker has a surplus of seemingly qualified candidates, then they start looking for the intangibles to help them make decisions about who they want to look into a little further. The majority of the time, they are going to type your name into Google to see what comes up. Are you going to be visible? If you are visible in the search results, will the information that come up help you or hurt you in the mind of a decision maker? You can take control of what information shows up in Google search results, and you can choose to present yourself the way you want to be seen.
By taking control over what people will see, you can control their perception of you. Personal branding is all about how you market yourself. It is presenting yourself the way you want to be viewed. It is being know for what you want to be known for. When you take control of what people learn about you, you can also control what they learn from you, and that is when you start to make an impression on someone.
Invite opportunity to knock on your door with a robust digital brand.
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