Integrating your personal brand into your resume is one of the best things you can do to maximize the effectiveness of your resume and increase the overall success of your job search. Unfortunately, the majority of job seekers do not utilize personal branding because it is an intimidating process that overwhelms many of them. However, there is no need to view personal branding as a daunting undertaking but rather as a valuable strategy that will enhance your value to potential employers.
As a job seeker it’s important to stay ahead of the game and incorporating your personal brand into your resume is one way to position yourself over other candidates that have similar experience and qualifications. By identifying and developing your brand into your resume you will be translating your value in a way that speaks to employers on a level that your competition doesn’t.
Discovering your personal brand does not have to be difficult; it’s not something you will need to create from scratch, you already have a brand you just need to identify it and put it to work.
Your brand is a partnership between your personality, passions, professional experience, values, principles, and strengths that when combined creates a cohesive and unique marketing strategy. By identifying and developing a personal brand you are capitalizing on the components exclusive to you that will make you stand out above the rest.
To find your brand it is helpful to take a look at yourself and examine what you stand for, what your goals are, how you deal with challenges, your personality, how you work with others, etc. If you are struggling to come up with your brand ask some friends, family, or colleagues to help out by describing you or giving you feedback on their impression of you. The perception others have of you is an important part of your brand. If you believe that you put off a warm, outgoing vibe but others perceive you as standoffish and hard to approach you will not have an authentic brand.
To try and clarify how a personal brand differentiates your resume from the crowd think of it this way: If you are applying for a position in Human Resources your skills probably include employee relations, communication, and HR policies. However, those skills are not going to make you stand out since everyone applying for the same position is probably going to have a very similar skill set. This is where your personal brand will come in to play and make your resume stand out.
Personal branding statements have become a valuable prelude on resumes. A succinct yet powerful statement at the top of your resume can quickly get across what you’re all about and grab your reader’s attention right away. To give you an idea I’ve included a few examples of branding statements:
- “Devoted and innovative health education expert dedicated to the promotion of physical and mental well being that strengthens individuals, families and communities.”
- “Creative, passionate and dynamic sales leader with a flair for orchestrating effective sales campaigns, developing strategic partnerships, and executing top-level presentations.”
- “Tenacious, quality focused project manager with comprehensive expertise leading large-scale construction projects, creating practical solutions, and maintaining safety standards.”
by Megan Koehler
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