The ICT Job Hunter Blog

When companies create their brands, they know all too well that they are going to have to get out there and promote them if they are to achieve their aim of bringing in more sales.  They might place advertisements in magazines or newspapers, or even on the television, radio or on billboards.  They might prepare brochures or flyers or sponsor an event, and they will almost certainly use their website to spread the word.  As an individual who has created his or her own brand, however, what can you do to attract the right kind of attention in your direction, whether in order to help with your job search or to further your career aims?

Irrespective of whether you are actively job hunting, have just started a new career or have been in the same job for years, one of your best promotional tools is your resume.  In the case of the job hunter, obviously your resume (along with your cover letter) is what the recruiter is going to use to assess your suitability for the position, but it is also your means of selling yourself at job fairs and copies can be left with networking contacts too.  Laser-focused on all your key accomplishments, skills and abilities, and targeted as closely as possible to the precise job that you are seeking, your resume is like a company’s advertising brochure and should tell the reader about all the wonderful benefits that you have to offer and present a compelling proposition that no employer would want to pass up.  Be sure to incorporate your personal brand statement and to display yourself in the most positive and professional light.

Resumes, or at the very least the most recent achievements which they should contain, are also extremely important for existing employees too however.  It is often easy to assume that your current manager knows just what a superstar you are and all the great things that you have done, but this isn’t always the case and you need to make sure that you promote your brand right on your own doorstep.  When it comes to the end of the year and your performance appraisal, always make sure that your manager is left in no doubt as to precisely what you have accomplished.  Where possible though, don’t leave your self-promotion efforts until this single, annual event, but also try to find ways to let your manager know of your successes throughout the year.

Over the course of my next few posts, I will look at some of the other ways that job seekers and workers can promote their brands.