Think Like an Executive Resume Branding Pro – What Is Personal Branding ... Really?

Part 2 – What Personal Branding Is and Is NOT

My mission in this 5-part series is to help you get inside the head of a personal branding strategist and professional executive resume writer.

In Part 1, you learned about the first critical steps in writing your executive resume – targeting and researching for the “hidden job market”.

Today, I’ll discuss the next step – understanding personal branding.

Here’s how I’ll wrap up the series:

Part 3 – Differentiate Your Unique Value Proposition and Build Personal Brand Content

Part 4 – Strategize the Content and Write Your Personally Branded Executive Resume

Part 5 – 10 Resume Do’s and Don’ts – Insider Tips To Capture Attention and Land Interviews

What is Personal Branding and Why Do I Need It?

Before you can define – and begin to build and communicate – your personal brand through your resume, you need to understand what branding is all about.

Simply put, personal branding is a way to:

Define and differentiate the unique promise of value you offer your target market, over others competing against you.

Your brand is your unique combination of driving strengths, areas of expertise, passions, values, vision, and purpose. The things that set you apart from everyone else. These are the attributes you’re known for . . . the things people rely on you for . . . the things you tap into every day, as you navigate your work day and personal life.

Likewise, a brand-reinforcing, interview-generating resume is all about differentiating your value to the employers you’re targeting over everyone else competing for the same job(s).

First, you need to understand that today’s executive resume is not a career history. It is a personal marketing document designed to sell you to employers.

The purpose of a resume, and your mission in creating your own, is to showcase the best you have to offer, align it with the imperatives of your target employers, and package it all in a concise, vivid, and compelling way that will capture attention and help you land faster.

Personal Branding Is No Longer Optional

Hiring decision-makers and executive recruiters reviewing resumes are looking for good fit, so chemistry is very important to them. Branding creates chemistry. It also makes for interesting reading, unlike the possibly hundreds of similar, lifeless resumes the reviewer may have in front of her.

With the high cost of hiring, a branded resume helps the reader determine whether you’ll be a good fit in terms of leadership and management style, how you get things done, and what you can always be counted on to deliver. Executive branding is essentially a pre-qualifier that provides insight into your potential value to your next employer.

When writing your resume, many factors will converge that need to be weighed, balanced, and strategized to breathe life into an otherwise dry, flat document and make you come alive on the printed page or screen.

Ready to sit down, work on your personal brand, and start writing your resume?

Coming up – Part 3 in this series, in which you’ll learn how to differentiate your unique value proposition and build personal brand content.