Branding and Your Career

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

When you purchase detergent to do your laundry, have you ever stood in the aisle of the store, looked at the list of ingredients, and said to yourself, “Hmm. The laundromat

interrelationship between the chemicals in this one will make my wash much cleaner than the ones in this one?”

Of course, not. You buy detergent because it is cheaper, you have a coupon, you’ve seen a commercial or your Mom or Dad has used a particular type of detergent, rather than based upon the efficacy of a particular brand.

Thus, you have made the case for why branding is such an important criterion for why people make decisions and why you need to invest in building your career brand NOW before you consider your next career change. After all, the person who gets ahead isn’t always the smartest or work the hardest . . . although those are great qualities to have. Sometimes, opportunities are internal to your firm. Mostly, they are external.

Now, I certainly don’t expect that you are going to purchase ad dollars to create the impression of yourself as an expert but I do believe that you can invest in your career to create real estate in peoples’ minds and be seen as a subject matter expert.

Have a blog of your own. Recruiters love to find thought leaders for their clients.
Have a video of yourself presenting to a trade group or business group about your expertise.
Post the video on YouTube on the publishing platform and share it with your contacts one time and with the public multiple times.
Once a month, write an article for LinkedIn. Follow the steps above after you have it on LinkedIn.
Share your videos and articles on Twitter and Facebook
There are many podcasts that search for expert guests for their shows. Contact the host. Often, an email address is available or they may reference their LinkedIn profile on their shows. Ask the host what they will want to interview you about. Most will do a brief pre-interview to get a sense of you as a potential guest. When your appearance goes live, place it in your blog just like anything else and share it with your readers, as well as on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
Become a speaker for your expertise. Doing the above items will help you get on the radar for conferences and events nationally. These organizations sell tickets to events based upon the brand of the people who will be presenting. You may not be on the mainstage the first time but you can evolve there with time and effort.

Years ago, a friend of mine spoke with me about doing career planning for the next 10-15 years of his career. As a low-level officer with a regional bank, he knew he had to step up in class both in terms of role and organization.

“We want search firms reaching out to you, not the other way around. We have to position you as a thought leader and get you on the speaking circuit.”

His first move came less than a year later when he was approached by an executive search for a VP role at a large US bank. Part of his negotiation was receiving permission to continue to speak on the subject. “My success will rub off on you,” he told them. He survived several bank acquisitions and was eventually hired as a partner with one of the major consulting firms. His salary, exclusive of bonus, had increased by seven-fold during this time. His bonus doubled his salary.

Most of us have heard the fable of the three little pigs, each of whom builds a home with different materials. While “the big bad wolf” can blow the houses down made of straw and wood, he is unable to demolish the piglet’s home that is made of brick.

Most people build careers made of inferior materials and, then compound that mistake by outsourcing responsibility for their careers to employers whose focus (and rightly so) is not on them but the success of the business.

Knowing that you are responsible, do you think you should take the lazy way of abdicating responsibility for their careers to employers or look out for themselves and build a solid career of brick?

ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. He is hired to provide No BS Career Advice globally. That can involve job search, hiring staff, management, leadership, career transition and advice about resolving workplace issues. Schedule a discovery call at my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us

He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 2500 episodes.

I do a livestream on LinkedIn, and YouTube (on the JobSearchTV.com account) Tuesdays and Fridays at 1 PM Eastern. You can send your questions about job search, hiring better, management, leadership or to get advice about a workplace issue to me via messaging on LinkedIn or in chat during the approximately 30-minute show.

Website: www.TheBigGameHunter.us

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