You have heard it and you know your reputation counts in your job search. It is a given that employers will check your references. Employers and recruiters will ask you and others about your experience, how you work, the quality of work you deliver, and many other questions to help them determine if you are the right person for the current opening in the organization.
Do you know what others say about you when asked? Do you know how others view you?
Your reputation – who you are and what makes you tick all help you communicate your value to an employer. What others share about you is critical. Do you understand how others view you?
When you have a keen understanding of yourself and how you are communicating who you are, how you work, play and do all things it is much easier to communicate your value in a way that paints a clear picture for others. When you also have an understanding of how others view and value you, you are better able to market and leverage your brand.
After all your reputation (your personal brand) is about what others think of you, not only what you think. Do know what others value about your knowledge, your experience, your skills, your style, your value in the workplace, your vision and your values?
What would happen if you did?
All of these items are elements of your personal brand and who you will be as an employee. These elements make up ‘fit’. “Fit” for the job is one of the critical factors in hiring a new employee. Employers want not only the skills need to do the job they also want employees who “fit” on the team and within the organization. Don’t you want “fit” too?
One of the best indicators of future performance is past performance, and most if not all hiring managers know this. Therefore, as employers seek employees for new or open positions they not only identify the skills and experience needed for the job, employers seek to discover how you have performed in the past and they seek information from others to learn about your possible ‘fit’.
When you began your job search you probably updated your résumé, your LinkedIn profile, contacted a few key people in your network, maybe asked for a reference or two, posted your résumé online, and set up a few online search agents to send to you emails of job openings in your field. Then you may have made a few calls to see who might be hiring, and began to look at the job openings online. You submitted a few applications or emailed out your résumé and now you are waiting to the phone to ring or the emails asking you to set up an interview. Does that sound like your marketing efforts and your search plan so far?
If so maybe it is time to leverage your reputation and actively market yourself. Here are the steps to leverage your reputation (your personal brand) and actively market yourself and have a better understanding of your personal reputation and how to market and communicate your ‘fit’ to employers who will value you.
- Get feedback on your reputation. Learn about what others think of you and how they communicate your strengths. Assessments, interviews and conversations will help gather feedback.
- Review the feedback. After you selected those to provide feedback and gathered enough data, you will want to review the data. This type of feedback will often provide valuable data to help you create a very on target message to share your value.
- Review the feedback with a trusted advisor or coach. To look at your reputation and grow and leverage your personal brand you will need help. Companies hire teams of experts, don’t short change yourself by lacking the benefits and insights of having a trusted advisor or coach help you review the data you have gathered.
- Establish your brand aspirations. Your reputation evolves. This occurs with or without your intention. How can your reputation and your strengths help you achieve your goals? How will you communicate these as you continue to grow and evolve? Strong personal brands grow and evolve and your personal brand is a tool to help you market yourself and to achieve your goals. What is your desire for your brand? How would you like to communicate your desire?
- Plan and execute. Ideas, Thoughts, Aspirations are great, however without planning and action nothing happens. Develop your plan to leverage your reputation, make a commitment to yourself to take action, now execute and market yourself communicate your value and use your reputation and what others say about you to demonstrate your “fit” for the job you want.
