Toxic Executive Job Search Beliefs: Personal branding is not for me

You’re faced with an executive job search.

You hear a lot about personal branding, but you don’t think it’s for you.

Is this your mindset?

“I don’t need personal branding. I’m not a brand. I’m a person!”

True. You’re not a brand, but you HAVE a personal brand. We all do. We’re known for being certain kinds of people, with certain strengths, passions, values, and attributes. People rely on us for those things.

Personal branding is no longer optional in job search. It’s so important because it ties in with targeting and identifying how you are uniquely qualified to meet the needs of your target employers.

You may dismiss the value of personal branding because you think it’s a frivolous, ego-stroking pursuit. If that’s your mindset, then you don’t understand what it really is, and how it can position you as a good-fit for your target employers.

Simply put, branding is all about:

Defining and knowing what makes you unique and valuable to the employers you’re targeting, and clearly communicating what differentiates your value from your competitors when you network and interview for jobs, through brand communications (verbal, digital, and online) that resonate with them.

Instead of dismissing personal branding as merely ego-stroking, think of it as educating others – and yourself – about who you are and what you have to offer.