Personal Branding In 2024 – How Do I Sell My Skills?
Personal Branding IS Selling Your Personal Skills
We’ve probably all done it at least once, if not multiple times. I’m talking about forming an identity tied to the job title we held at a company we’ve worked for. And what happens when our identity and personal branding is secondary to a role subordinate to someone who decides our fate?
We lose sight of it and take the news of a job loss much harder than we should.
I’m here to tell you that the role you held was just a stepping stone on your way to your best job yet. You are a big deal in your own right and your personal branding should reflect that.
“I don’t know how to put this but I’m kind of a big deal.”
– Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Your personal skills are either natural talents or skills that you’ve spent a long time mastering. Consider your skills (hard or soft) to be your greatest assets. Allow yourself to flow with the idea that what you already do well can guide your job search. Don’t try to force your skills to match a role that isn’t fitting. You don’t want to use your personal branding to sell the wrong personal skills to an employer that isn’t the right fit. Save yourself the trouble and get to know what will feel good to do in your next job.
Personal Branding Questions To Ask Yourself
I recommend that you ask yourself some questions to understand where your hard skill (technical) and soft skill (social) strengths lie. We all possess a mixture of hard and soft skills that are both natural gifts and learned behaviours.
Learned talents may come to mind easily, your resume will likely list many of them. Your natural talents are what will make you jump out of bed in the morning. The best way to access them is self-reflection. To get started, try asking yourself these questions from my book Let Go? Let’s Go!
- Am I ridiculously good at something – what is it?
- What skills come naturally to me?
- Do people often tell me I’m good at doing something – what is it?
- What do I like doing for fun?
- Do I like to entertain?
- Would I prefer to work on my own or with others?
- What types of books do I like to read?
- Is it my preference to work inside or outside?
- Do I like working with my hands or my head (ideas)?
- Is dressing up important to me or do I like to be casual?
- Am I routine-oriented or would I rather my job allow for flexibility?
If you can incorporate what you like to do into your job, you’ll be excited to work. Your personal branding will give you clues as to what that job might look like, and help you get the job once you know what to look for.
Building Your Personal Brand
Can you list 10 of your top personal skills? Give it a try – jot down all the things that you know you’re very good at as well as the things that come very naturally to you. Here are a few examples; organized, great speaker, strong leader – these skills are personal branding clues that can help you find the career of your dreams.
Once you’ve identified your skills, it’s time to work on your personal brand. Don’t get caught in the trap of being “everything to everyone” – it’s ok to narrow your scope and target your ideal goal. You don’t need to cast a wide net if you know exactly where to get what you’re looking for.
Identifying what you stand for will help others see your worth and where you fit in their plans.
A solid personal brand will focus on your strengths, and it will demonstrate what makes you unique in your chosen field. Build your brand to omit your weaknesses, avoid confusion, and demonstrate that you have a clear description of what you offer.
Why It’s Important To Understand Yourself
Having the ability to pinpoint what you’re looking for will save you time and allow you to quickly identify professional opportunities and that will bring you joy in your life. To identify your personal brand, think about what makes you unique in what you do. List the top 5 adjectives that others would use to describe you. Think about the best feedback you’ve received in your most recent performance reviews. Ask yourself (or your peers) what words they would use to describe you. What projects have you worked on and enjoyed? Why did you enjoy them?
“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” – Simon Sinek
Your personal brand should be a living intention that celebrates your strengths and demonstrates the reason why you love what you do. Whenever you make a career change your brand needs to align with the change. Understanding yourself helps you to make career transitions that count.
Personal Branding Is Believing In Yourself
If you want to sell your skills, you’ve got to believe in them. Know that you are a powerful and intelligent creator who has a lot to offer. Put yourself in the spotlight and remember that others will be interested in you if you’re interested in you.
You are not the title you had at your last job – a former employee of your former company. You are a unique individual on this planet with amazing skills and characteristics to offer the world.
If you’ve lost your job believe in yourself because the skills and attributes that make you great are yours to keep. You can’t box them up and leave them at the door on your way out, these components of your personal brand will follow you to your next job. And hopefully help you find and land it!
Believe in yourself, live your brand because it’s you!
Turning A Job Loss Into A Job Win
If you’d like to read more about building your personal brand, I’ve written a book with an entire chapter on the subject and much of this article has been excerpted from it. You can purchase a copy of my book, Let Go? Let’s Go! on Amazon here.
Let Go? Let’s Go! is a book about turning a job loss into a job win.
Personal branding is a big component of the job search process, especially after a job loss. Losing a job is never a pleasant experience, so it’s important that we build ourselves up after we’ve been fired. Working on your personal brand is a great way to see the things about yourself that you want others to appreciate and applaud. Highlighting your strengths will help you form a clear vision of the right job for you. Your job search will be easier, and you’ll have the confidence to truly sell yourself during your next job interview.
Check back next month for more snippets from my book, connect with me for help developing your personal brand today.
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