Personal Branding Feb 2009

It really is all about you:

Introduction to Personal Branding

Sarah WelsteadDirector, User Experience

23 February 2009

Agenda What is personal branding, anyway? Why it’s important Why you should care Building a personal brand

What is ‘personal branding’, anyway?

Think of yourself as a chocolate bar All chocolate bars are just 50g of sugar, cocoa and

additives, put together in different ways - even the price is the same

If they’re all the same, how do we know which one to choose?

The answer is branding: it helps us differentiate between ‘a nice light snack’, ‘giving ourselves a break’, or ‘eating the red ones last’

Making choicesThink of brands as:

Shortcuts to making the right decision

A ‘personal brand’ works the same way A personal brand is a unique set of attributes or

characteristics that differentiate you from others These characteristics can be ‘functional’ (like having a

particular degree or proficiency in typing) or ‘perceived’ (like being a go-getter or thought leader)

Remember, ‘unique’ means that there aren’t lots more like you!

Why is a personal brand important?

It’s a shortcut and a ‘story’ Like a chocolate-bar brand, a personal brand is really

just a shortcut - it allows employers to make a decision about you, quickly

You can also think of it as a ‘story’ that gives you a context

In the olden days... Most people had one ‘career’ with one employer - and

you moved up within the same company or office You didn’t have to ‘sell yourself’ because you only had

one interview You could pretty much count on working 9-to-5, 50 weeks

per year, in the same city, until you retired at 65 You had a ‘mentor’ within the company who helped you

map out and achieve your career goals

These days... During their working lifetime, most people will have 2+ careers

and work for 5+ companies – sometimes in different countries On average, today’s under-30 workers will take an ‘extended

absence’ once every 7 years You are expected to ‘manage’ your own career and growth Competition for jobs is fiercer than ever

An important distinction In the ‘olden days’, they used to say that “What you

know is less important than who you know” These days, it might be more important to add “What

you say is less important than how you say it”

Where ‘personal branding’ comes inEssentially, personal branding delivers benefits in 3 ways:

Making sure you stand out from the crowd Personal brands are ‘shortcuts’ to help employers

see hiring you as ‘the right decision’ Allow you to tie your experience, education and

interests together in a coherent package

Why you should care

Three reasons: More than ever, you are in control of your own career -

and life goals Everyone is busy - employers don’t have time to ‘figure

you out’ You’ll get better jobs, faster

You are your own mentor There is no longer one ‘correct path’ to workplace

success – you can define your own However, this means that you can’t just ‘follow’

someone who’s gone before you A personal brand can help by carving out a unique,

definable career path for you

Make it easy to ‘get you’ A personal brand can help explain career transitions or

seemingly disparate choices: “My BA is in Latin but my practical experience is in studying bugs – my goal is to become the world authority in bug taxonomy.”

No one has time to puzzle over your resume or your personality

Better jobs, faster It’s a truism that if you know what you want to do, it’ll be

easier to find those jobs When other people have a good understanding of what

you’re looking for, they can ‘plug you in’ more appropriately

You spend less time interviewing for the jobs you don’t want, and more time on the ones you do

You are your own sales force Think of your resume as an ‘ad’ for you, and your

interview as a ‘sales pitch’ The best salespeople don’t just tell you what they’re

selling – they also tell you why you should care, and how it’s going to help you

Remember, if you don’t believe in your product, how can anyone else?

Building a personal brand

5 basic steps1. Take inventory2. Map out your goals (in writing!)3. Create a ‘story’, a brand4. Ongoing learning: on and off the job5. Ongoing networking: on and off the job

Step 1: Take inventory Look at your skills, education, experience If you have them, take a look at performance reviews, even as far

back as 10 years – is there a pattern? Do they tell a story? Is there a story you’d like them to tell? Get feedback from friends, family, colleagues: What do they think

are your biggest strengths, weaknesses and traits? (And make them give you honest answers!)

Don’t forget to examine ‘soft skills’

Step 2: Map out your goals Where do you want to be in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years

(and don’t give yourself the ‘interview’ response) Write it down!

Step 3: Create a story/brand So you’ve got a degree in geography and you’ve spent

7 years working in fashion design – what’s the connection?

Create what salespeople call the ‘elevator speech’: a 1- or 2-sentence ‘blurb’ that you can use to sell someone on you during the time it takes to ride to the 10th floor

You must believe in it!

Step 4: Ongoing learning If your ‘story’ is that you want to be the world authority

on taxonomy, you’ve got to keep ‘up to date’ There is no such thing as the ‘end’ of learning Brands evolve – look at KFC!

Step 5: Ongoing networking When all you did was move up in the same company,

the only people you had to know were your colleagues These days, you never know who’s going to be where,

who they’re going to know, or when they’ll be in a position to offer you the ‘perfect’ job (or tell you about an opportunity)

As your own ‘salesperson’, you need to get out there and tell people about yourself

Summary Think of a personal brand as a ‘story’ or ‘shortcut’ to

explaining your career In a world where everyone has less time, shortcuts can

make the difference between getting a job and not getting it

You are your own mentor and salesforce – you control your own career

Questions