Emily Worden • Next Act Career

Hi Emily,

I have been a career coach for eight years and I’ve never seen a market this wild.

It’s an employer’s market: Because there are too many people competing for a limited number of jobs, employers have the upper hand. They can offer below-market salaries, put you through seven rounds of interviews, ask you to do special projects, and then ghost you. 

Plus, the job search has completely changed over the last few years. Today’s job search is unlike any I’ve seen before. I’ve written about why the job market is tough and why the job search is broken, but the bottom line is that people who have had no trouble landing jobs in the past are now struggling to get interviews.

I have a five-step process to approach the job search and I feel this process is more important now than ever before. The most important step in my five-step process is Step 3: Personal Branding. I call this the “secret sauce” of the job search. 

WHAT’S YOUR BRAND?

I define “personal brand” like this: How you talk about your career story in a way that appeals to your target employers, and how that’s reflected in your resume and LinkedIn. 

You might scoff at the idea of a “personal brand” - isn’t a brand just for businesses? Nope.

In fact, you already have a brand. It’s your reputation. It’s what people think about you when they hear your name. 

A strong personal brand is essential to your career development - it helps you find a new job easier and get promoted faster. A personal brand is not selfish. It is job security. 

So what do you want people to think about when they hear your name? 

HOW TO CREATE YOUR BRAND

Make two columns: 1) How I am perceived today 2) How I want to be perceived in the future. Now, when you’re working on your brand, be intentional about how you want to be perceived. 

For example, if you’re switching industries - say, from banking to HR - you want to shed the banking identity as your brand and become more well known for your interest in HR. 

Likewise, if you’re happily employed and want to get promoted this year, you might aim to shed any negative associations with your “old brand” and focus on how you can position yourself for a promotion. 

THE MAGICAL PHRASE 

If you can answer this, you’ve got your brand nailed …

I help ___ achieve ___ by doing ___. 

It’s deceptively simple. It’s difficult to write. Companies will spend weeks coming up with the perfect tagline, and you will too. Keep writing different versions of this sentence. Write paragraphs if you need to. Get the ideas out. You can always edit later. 

I help ___: Who are your target employers/clients?

achieve ___: What do these target employers/clients get as a result of hiring you? 

by doing ___: What is your process to bring these results? How does your background/skills/talents/experience help? 

JOIN ME TOMORROW!

I’ll be live on Zoom on Thursday, January 16 at 12:00 pm EST. I will be co-hosting with the talented Devon Bruce, and together we’ll talk about your personal brand. I hope you can join us! Click to purchase your ticket.

Can't attend live? No problem, the event will be recorded and shared for those who cannot attend.

Get ready to take notes - we're going to cover a lot. 

To your success,

- Emily

Emily Worden