Do you dismiss personal branding for your executive job search because you think it’s all about self-promotion, and you don’t like to boast about yourself?

You’re not alone.

If you’re like many executive job seekers, you think:

“Branding is for products. I’m not a product or a brand. I’m a person!”

Well, you’re partly correct. You are not a brand, but you already HAVE a brand.

You’re known for being a certain kind of person, with certain strengths, passions, values, and attributes. People rely on you for those things.

That fear of tooting your own horn and resistance to personal branding may explain why you’re having difficulty writing your own resume and LinkedIn profile.

To gain the competitive edge, this content writing requires a close look at your personal brand.

You may think that showcasing your achievements and best-fit qualities for your target employers amounts to boasting.

Instead, think of personal branding as educating people about who you are and what you have to offer.

With so much misinformation about personal branding bombarding us across social media, you may have the wrong idea about what it really is.

Branding is about defining and knowing what makes you unique and valuable to the employers you’re targeting.

When you know your brand, you can clearly communicating what differentiates your value from your competitors when you network and interview for jobs.

You can create brand communications (verbal, digital, and online) that resonate with the employers you want to work for.

And it’s up to you to understand personal branding and take control of your brand.

First, you have to do the back-end personal branding work. Use my 5 part series on building your brand.

10 Things You May Not Know About Personal Branding

Once you understand your brand, here are some of the benefits that come with knowing and communicating your brand:

1. Vision, purpose, values and passions

Your brand helps you reconnect with your vision for the world, personal purpose, values and passions. This helps you move toward career fulfillment and a better work vs. personal life balance.

2. Authenticity

Your brand empowers you to gain clarity about your authentic self. It helps you understand the talents, skills, strengths, and areas of expertise that make you unique and valuable in the marketplace.

3. Introspection and Reflection

Your brand forces you to be introspective and reflective, and to examine (and improve, when possible) the weaknesses that may be holding you back.

4. Targeting and Competitive Intelligence

Your brand helps you identify good-fit target employers and your competition in the marketplace. It helps you create personal marketing materials (resume, biography, LinkedIn profile, etc.) designed to resonate with those employers.

5. Personal Attributes

Your brand helps you assess the personal attributes and qualities that make you a good culture-fit for your target employers.

6. Perception of You by Others

Your brand propels you to solicit feedback from those who know your value best (peers, management, staff, employees, clients, mentors, etc.). This helps you understand the true measure of your brand — how you’re perceived by the external world.

7. Chemistry

Your brand helps you generate chemistry and excitement about you as a candidate through written and verbal brand messaging that has personality. This gives a feel for the kind of person you are and how you make things happen.

8. Brand Communications Plan

Your brand leads you to create your brand communications plan, built around:

• Being clear about who you are, who you are not, who your competitors are, and who your target audience is.
• Consistently express the same personal brand message across all communications channels you decide to use.
• Proactively keeping you and your personal brand top of mind with your target audience.

9. Subject Matter Expertise

Your brand helps you establish yourself as the “go-to” person for your industry thought leadership and subject matter expertise.

10. Value Proposition

Your brand helps you clearly communicate your value proposition and good-fit for your target employers when you network and interview for jobs. This boosts your chances of landing the job you want or advancing your career.

More About Personal Branding and Executive Job Search

10 Best Ways to Build Your Personal Brand Online

Personal Branding, Resume or Job Search Targeting: Which Comes First?

5 Reasons Your Personal Brand Loves LinkedIn

Toxic Executive Job Search Belief: Personal branding is not for me