Career Articles

Stand Out by Branding Yourself

In today's economy, career placement is rigorous and exhausting. There's a growing pool of qualified workers and an ever-shrinking amount of them.

With every sector being affected by the downturn, obtaining the skills and credentials for a high-demand career is just the beginning. You also need to market yourself effectively. This begins with tapping into your own brand identity.

We gathered information from some of our most successful Ashworth College Alumni for job landing tips:

Create a Print Ad for Yourself:
Resume writing can be tricky. You can hire a professional writer on Craigslist. Show it to a friend who's good with words. Or head to your local bookstore and check out some of the sample resumes in books. Remember, even a comma in the wrong, place, can, make you look bad. Try to be as concrete as possible. Consider adding graphic elements. This is an ad for your self. You are a brand. You have a personality, identity, benefit, attribute, style, name, sometimes logo i.e. Prince. Really figure out a way to communicate your strengths, in your own words, that doesn't sound cliché.

Create a whole ad campaign
To complement your new self-branding piece, consider creating a website, portfolio, business cards, stationary and reference documents. Write letters, also known as direct mail or e-mail cover letters and résumés to businesses that inspire you.

Cash in on social networking:
Join a professional association. Keep expanding your contact base through Facebook and other social networking sites. The more professionals you connect with, the better your exposure to new opportunities. Take the time to pump up your LinkedIn profile by creating a bio. And get your friends and coworkers to write recommendations.

Register with job posting sites:
You've seen their commercials. You know their names. Point blank, they're a great way to pursue fresh job leads. Sign up for job posting alerts. Just punch in a few key words and they'll email you a posting with the job title of your choosing — the second it hits the web. That way you can be the early bird. And you know what that means — you get the worm.

Add to your arsenal of skills:
Create an industry blog. Look out for volunteer opportunities that will allow you to give back to your community, while gaining invaluable experience. Continue your education online. Then, follow-through by brainstorming different ways for you can apply your new real world skill. How we market ourselves to others is changing. By employing these different methods, you're in essence creating a brand for yourself. Today, you can start a blog, join associations and social networking sites that can go a long way in helping you make a name for yourself.