Your Career Brand: Who Are You? Employers Want to Know

Your Career Brand: Who Are You?
Employers Want to Know

Printer-Friendly Version

by Wendy Terwelp

The legendary rock back The Who posed the immortal question: "Who are you?" They aren't the only ones who want to know. Potential employers and network connections will ask you the same thing and you need to be ready with an answer that makes you look good and stand out from the crowd.

Here's what typically happens at networking events. I was the keynote speaker for a group of financial leaders, primarily Chief Financial Officers (CFOs). Before my presentation, individuals were asked to introduce themselves briefly. The introductions sounded like this:

"Hello, I'm John Smith, and I've been a CFO for 25 years..."

"Hello, I'm Mike Miller, and I've been a CFO for 17 years..."

"Hello, I'm Fred Jones, and I've been a CFO for 22 years..."

While I've changed the names and varied years of experience, the introduction phrases are real. If an employer wanted to hire one of them, they'd surely want to know more information.

Sometimes when we're in a group or working with peer professionals, colleagues or students, we fall into the "group think" mode: "Well, John said his name, title, and years of experience, that's what I should do." Instead, think about what sets you apart. When all things are nearly equal (like years of experience, education, job duties), it's your personal brand, who you are, that sets you apart, and those are the reasons an employer will hire you. As one staffing-industry CEO told me, "Companies want to know what kind of contribution you can make to their success -- not how many years you've been working." Not only do your achievements with quantifiable results set you apart, soft skills do too. One labor-relations director told me she hires for attitude over skill every time. "You can always teach a skill, but never an attitude," she said. And she is not alone. Here are some questions to ask yourself to help you identify your differentiators:

What makes me a star? Translation for employers: "Why should I hire you?"
What are my greatest strengths? If you're not sure, go on an Attribute Treasure Hunt™. Survey your closest friends, family, and colleagues and ask them what they feel are your greatest strengths. Then ask them what three words come to mind when they think of you. Their feedback will give you a great head start on identifying your brand attributes and differentiators.
What are my top five greatest achievements of all time? What are the skills, abilities, and values used to achieve them? What's the common thread running through each?

Answering these and similar questions can help you identify your personal brand. By knowing who you are, what you want, and what makes you unique, you will be able to clearly communicate your goals and unique value to people in your network and to potential employers. (For more questions to help you uncover your brand and other job-getting tips, check out Rock Your Job Search™.)

Final Thoughts
As for my group of finance executives, luckily, my presentation was about how to create an effective sound bite (elevator pitch). Needless to say, attendees took action. I look forward to hearing about the personal branding action you take next and your results.

Go get 'em!

To better understand how these marketing terms apply to job-hunting it helps to first understand the terminology. To that end, go to our Marketing Concepts Glossary. And for a general introduction to marketing and career development, read: Using Key Marketing Tools to Position Yourself on the Job Market.

Questions about some of the terminology used in this article? Get more information (definitions and links) on key college, career, and job-search terms by going to our Job-Seeker's Glossary of Job-Hunting Terms.

Wendy Terwelp, Quintessential Careers Career Mastermind

One of our Quintessential Careers Career Masterminds, and known as the Rock Your Network� Coach, Wendy Terwelp of Opportunity Knocks™ is an innovative career coach with an expertise in networking, both online and off. She is the creator of the Rock Your Network® system, helping execs network without begging using just five minutes a day, and the Rock Your Job Search™ program, which takes job-seekers through the job-search process from startup through salary negotiation. One of the world's first Reach Certified Personal Branding Strategists and dubbed "LinkedIn Guru" by The Washington Post, Wendy has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Business Journal, More Magazine, Redbook, Careerbuilder.com, Monster.com, ABC, NBC and other major media.

Enhance Your Brand! Find all the great tools and resources for developing your personal career brand, as well as key self-marketing technqiues to get hired or promoted, that we offer at Quintessential Careers: Personal Branding & Career Self-Marketing Tools.

Maximize your career and job-search knowledge and skills! Take advantage of The Quintessential Careers Content Index, which enables site visitors to locate articles, tutorials, quizzes, and worksheets in 35 career, college, job-search topic areas.

Find a New Job

What:
Where:
jobs by

Job-Hunting Tools:

Career Tools:

Career Categories: