Friday 08, May 2009
ISSN:1835-8551
Volume XXXVI, Issue 53
Published every fortnight on Friday. To change your subscription, see link at the end of the email.
Career Communiqué x-Press
supports people in
accelerating their level of
success in the job market
and the workplace so they
can secure their dream job,
love their work, and get
paid what they're worth.
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Welcome to another issue of Career Communiqué x-Press, and especially a warm ‘hello’ to all of our new subscribers. We consider it a real privilege to have you join us! Please drop me an email to let me know how we can continue supporting you.
Melbourne’s (Australia) mornings and evenings are certainly getting colder. Unfortunately I’ve not be able to escape the general sniffles, coughs and colds that often come with the milder weather - thank goodness for throat lozenges and warm lemon drinks.
Despite my crackling voice, we’ve been able to take Career Communiqué Radio on the road, appearing on Mornington’s Community Radio Station – 3RPP. One of their hosts – Casper Davies is going to feature podcast snippets from our show for their listeners. Being that one of our goals is to have Career Communiqué Radio syndicated on radio networks and podcasts across the globe, this is very exciting. Here’s a photo of me prior to going live on air.
Anyway, onto this issue’s article:
Discovering your authentic personal brand
Are you in the job market and want to position yourself ahead of your competitors but not sure how to do this? Have you heard mention of the term ‘personal branding’ but are unclear on how to discover and define your personal brand? This fortnight’s article provides some key steps to get you started on discovering your authentic personal brand, so that you can stand up and stand out in the job market.
Surviving a
Redundancy:
10 tactics to get you and your career back
on track:
Loosing your job can be a frightening
situation, particularly if you have been out
of the job market for some time and unsure
about the whole job search process.
Never before
has it been more important to have a
professional marketing document (your resume), a
clear job search plan and action plan to support
you in re-entering the job market with
confidence. And, of equal importance is that you
maintain a positive mind-set throughout your job
search – something that’s becoming difficult to
maintain with all the negative imagery being
portrayed by the media.
This webinar will identify key
job search strategies to ensure you're able to
survive and thrive within a tightening job
market.
Bringing
you empowering career
related topics to support you in accelerating your level of success in the job market and the workplace
across the globe.
Co-hosted by Annemarie Cross and Keith Keller. When: Every Monday
at 8.00am AEST
Social media and social networking is rapidly becoming an important tool and strategy in a job seeker’s job search. If you’re not familiar with social networking or are not using this as part of your job search, then this show is a must listen.
Join Annemarie Cross and Keith Keller as they interview Thomas Shaw from Recruitment Directory and discuss how you can maximise your job search efforts by using Twitter and social networking in your job search efforts.
Annemarie, Keith and Thomas will also be discussing the upcoming webinars they plan to run as part of National Career Development Week (Australia) and how these workshops can support you in finding a job that is truly satisfying and rewarding.
One of our Career Communiqué Radio Community members asked a great question in the Personal Branding forum which I thought I’d concentrate on in this fortnight’s article.
Heather asks:
“How would you go about creating your Personal Brand? This is something I get stuck on because I'm not sure which direction I want to go.”
Great question Heather – let’s start by asking what a ‘personal brand’ is exactly?
Whether you realise it or not everybody has personal brand. I like to think of personal branding as being your reputation - the perception that others have of you. Your personal brand is what make you exceptional and unique and is what can set you apart from everyone else around you. Unfortunately however, the perception others have of you can also be negative, so it’s very important to be both strategic and authentic in the way you position and promote your personal brand.
When working with clients (through Your Executive Brand program) to unearth their personal brands and bring them out into the world we follow three steps:
Discover – defining your ‘authentic’ personal brand.
Develop – creating your marketing material to get your personal brand message out into the world.
Declare – creating a strategic action plan that allows you to continue communicating your brand – prominently, professionally and proactively.
In this article, I’ll be covering some of the steps we use when taking our clients through the personal branding process in Step One: Discover & Defining your Personal Brand, to get you started on the journey of defining your own authentic personal brand.
Strength & Passion Mining:
So often when asking clients what they believe their strengths are they find it difficult to respond. I think this is because truly innate strengths and talents come so naturally to us that we often take our talents for granted. We believe that these talents are something that everyone can do (and therefore we tend to discredit them) which is often far from the truth.
Identify your strengths by listing three separate situations where you delivered a really great outcome for the team or the company. What was happening? What were your actions? What was the result?
What was happening:
What were your actions:
What was the result:
Do you have a calling drive? Have you ever had a feeling that you are called to do something big in your life? Is there something that you believe you were called to do?
Consider a time in your life when you were confronted with an obstacle. Nevertheless, you worked through the obstacle to achieve your goal. What strengths did you use? What resources did you tap into? What was the outcome?
What was the obstacle:
What strengths/resources did you tap into:
What was the outcome:
Looking at each of your examples, what common themes/characteristics appear?
Differentiating your personal brand:
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that everyone else has the same strengths, characteristics and abilities as you. While your colleagues could have been performing well within the similar duties as you were, what’s important is for you to identify the unique characteristics and qualities that you bring to the table. While it may seem easy to (try and) emulate someone you admire, it’s important to understand that it is quite difficult to copy a personal brand that is authentic to someone else.
Thinking about your colleagues; how are you different from them? What consistently sets you apart from them in your work approach and in your achievements?
List three words that you would use to define yourself (that can also be quite distinct from people around you).
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
As a Career Coach & Personal Branding Strategist the three words that I would use to encapsulate who I am and what I want the world to know about me are: inspiring, caring, people-focused.
In fact, if I were to sum up myself in one word it would be ‘inspiring’ as this resonates with me, feels authentic, and is what my personal brand is all about. This is the message that I want to consistently and constantly portray about myself - inspiring and empowering others to reach successes beyond what they had ever thought was possible. Therefore every article, every program and every interaction I have with people around me must be inspiring and motivating so that people feel empowered to take action towards achieving their goals.
So what is authentic to you? What do you want the world to know about you? What are your unique strengths, characteristics and abilities that can become the foundation of your personal brand?
If you’re seriously interested in gaining clarity around your personal brand so that you can promote your authentic personal brand professionally and prominently in a competitive job market to gain that edge over your competition check out our Your Executive Brand – Discover process.
For Career Communiqué x-Press subscribers, we’re offering a special discount of $100.00 off the normal price until the 22 May 2009. If you’re interested – email me at success@yourexecutivebrand.com.au
Want to
use this article in your ezine or
website? You can as long as you include this complete copy with it:
Career & Personal Branding Strategist
Annemarie Cross is widely
considered a personal change agent and
success catalyst by her high-achieving
executive, professional, consulting and
entrepreneurial clientele.
Annemarie’s motto ‘Your catalyst to
success’ perfectly encapsulates what she
desires for everyone she and her team
works with. If you're ready to
experience real career success, find
your dream job and get paid what you're
worth go to:
www.a-e-c.com.au
Want to
see more articles like this one?
Click through to Annemarie's
newsletter archive
About
Annemarie Cross
Annemarie Cross is a Career Management & Personal Branding Strategist, Speaker, Consultant, Radio Broadcaster, and Author of ’10 key steps to Ace
that Interview'. She also heads the
firm - Advanced Employment Concepts,
which offers powerful programs for people
desiring career success and fulfilment, as well as savvy companies committed to building/retaining their most important asset – their staff.
Your can learn more about
Annemarie's products, programs and
services by visiting:
www.a-e-c.com.au
I am in IT and have been for 10 years and have been a Project Manager for the last 5 years. I have known for a long time this was actually not my vocation and I needed to be in a position where I am working with people, in a team and helping people on a daily basis. I have finally made my mind up to do something about it this year and am trying to move to a role in social care work. I would like to secure a role on a scheme or project working with the elderly / vulnerable adults where I can play my part in bringing about a real difference and raise the profile of services available and bring about efficiency and effectiveness. -- Moira.
Hi Moira,
Building up your skills in your 'preferred' job is certainly a recommended move, so well done! This information can be used within your resume to demonstrate relevant transferable skills and abilities and more importantly your achievements and successes. How you have contributed and made a difference within your work is extremely important so should be highlighted within your resume. And, the resume (generally a job seeker’s most powerful and influential marketing tool) is often where the issue lies.
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Advanced Employment Concepts are thrilled to announce their partnership with JibberJobber Career Management 2.0 – the gold standard in career management technology.