The Personal Brand Toolkit—A Multistep Guide to Creating a Successful Personal Brand

Now that another school year has come to a close, it’s the perfect time to reflect upon and refine your personal brand. A personal brand can best be described as how you differentiate yourself from others and demonstrate your personal and professional attributes. Key to building a personal brand is self-evaluation—understanding your strengths and weaknesses will help you be more effective as you self-assess.

7 Factors That Contribute to a Great Personal Brand
Multiple factors contribute to your personal brand, including:

• Clarity—is your personal brand clear and concise?
• Authenticity—is it genuine and a true reflection of who you are?
• Consistency—is it the same across all channels and platforms?
• Relevance—does your brand address the needs of your target audience?
• Differentiation—does your personal brand set you apart?
• Authority—are you conveying your knowledge and experience?
• Engagement—does your personal brand foster a connection with those you want to reach? 

Building a Personal Brand Statement
Including a personal brand statement in your work is one way to build your brand. This statement should be a one-sentence summary of what you plan to bring to a company if they choose to hire you, or the vision of the professional that you want to become. This is a perfect way to cover the attributes that you value most about yourself and make sure that an employer remembers key words that would make you great for the role. Remember to use a limited number of words for maximum effect. Some examples of a successful personal brand statement include:

• “A writer who is able to blend communication and critical-thinking skills to illustrate solutions to common problems.”
• “A creative problem-solver who can combine mathematics skills and science expertise to help develop sustainable energy sources.”
• “A production manager who implements soft skills to continually promote client-based directed deliverables while maintaining the highest standards.” 

Where to Start? 
To create a personal brand statement, start with these four steps:

1. Step One: Define yourself. Think about what words others use to describe who you are and come up with as many descriptive adjectives as you can.
2. Step Two: Generate a list of your skills and tie those into your career goals. By determining what kind of field you hope to work in, you can identify field-specific skills that you may be able bring to the table, or work on developing.
3. Step Three: Create concise yet descriptive phrases that describe your qualifications, work ethic, and work style. This step could be thought of as your “why” step. Why should the company want to hire you, and why are you the best candidate for the position?
4. Step Four: Create the statement. Combine steps 1-3 to create an overall description of yourself as an employee—and you’ll have your personal brand statement! 

Where to Use a Brand Statement 
After you have created a brand statement that you are happy with, use this statement where it makes sense—your resume, a cover letter, applications on Handshake, your LinkedIn profile, and anything that you might use to network. This statement is a great way to advertise yourself and connect with your target audience. 

Add an App
Using an app such as Handshake that is a direct connection between job seekers and employers is a popular way to further your personal brand. Handshake provides many opportunities to expand your network, search for job-specific openings based on your desired location, and get detailed resume feedback if needed. This personalized experience makes taking the next steps in finding a career easy and efficient.

Create a Personal Commercial 
Also known as an elevator pitch, the personal commercial is a 30-60 second window of time to explain your background and what makes you stand out. Preparation is key when it comes to personal commercials, because it puts you in a great position to make a lasting impression on a potential networking contact.

To create a personal commercial, follow these five steps:

1. Step One: Review your personal brand statement to understand the backbone of what your personal commercial is going to cover.
2. Step Two: Create a summary of your educational and professional background and include your soft and hard skills. Write a brief paragraph with your highlights. Include one or two skills that represent you best.
3. Step Three: Think about exactly what you are looking to gain from those you meet. Whether it be expanding your network or finding potential job opportunity, have a clear idea of what you are looking to get out of this conversation.
4. Step Four: State the goals that you have for the future of your career; it could be a great connection point if there are similarities as you meet people.
5. Step Five: Write down your elevator pitch to be able to continuously practice and keep your personal commercial up to date. 

Rehearsing your personal commercial is crucial to making sure that your delivery is just how you want it. The best way to prepare is to practice in front of a mirror or ask someone you know to listen to and record your commercial, and then post the final draft to social media.  

Now You’re Ready! 
By being able to successfully produce a personal brand statement and a personal commercial, you’re ready to express your personality, skills, and experience, along with your career goals. It’s also a great chance to reflect upon your strengths and learn to be comfortable promoting yourself in the best way possible. 

If you’re an educator looking for resources to develop the skills your students need to find employment, G-W can help. Connect to Your Career presents proven strategies to find a career, develop a career plan, build a personal brand statement, create a career portfolio, and work on a roadmap for the job-search process. Free Previews are available. Reach out to your G-W Educational Consultant if we can help you along the way.

Recent graduates and job hunters can purchase this resource directly from our site.

Have fun building your personal brand!

Source for this blog: Connect to Your Career